© 2002
The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Schools await fate of funding measure
By Jim Cornelius

Sisters schools stand to lose $150,000 if voters reject Ballot Measure 19 on September 17.

The measure would convert Oregon's education endowment fund to an "education stability fund" and allow the legislature to tap the fund for $150 million to shore up badly depleted school budgets.

The fund would be replenished with lottery dollars at a rate of $10 million per year -- with a corresponding reduction in lottery funding for other programs.

Sisters schools included the Measure 19 funds in the budget last spring. The measure's failure at the polls would trigger cuts.

Proponents of the measure argue that the funds are urgently needed to stave off cuts that would raise classes sizes and eliminate programs.

Opponents believe that the measure is an accounting gimmick that allows the legislature to avoid real efforts to create long-term, stable funding for education.

The fate of Measure 19 is only part of a grim financial picture for Oregon schools -- Sisters included. Revenue forecasts continue to be revised downward as economic recovery remains elusive.

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