General Discussion

the money comes from State taxes and is based on the number of students in each school district (average daily membership). Most districts throughout Oregon have been experiencing declining student numbers in recent years -- so it's getting harder for the district bargaining units to get the teacher salary increases they target in negotiations -- ergo a lot of disappointed teachers. Kotek has come out against making the majority of Oregon's Rainy Day fund, also called the "kicker" (surplus taxes collected over the State's bi-annual budget available to fund teacher pay hikes.

Oregon has other important funding issues at the moment, one of the biggest being state highway funding. Oregon has a huge state highway network, much of which requires frequent repair due in part to the western Oregon being a geologically young region with extremely mobile soils... lots of landslides, slumping, wash outs, etc., every winter. --- I don't specifics, but I'm guessing federal funding to Oregon in support of schools, transportation, prisons, law enforcement, etc., is declining especially under der fuhrer at the same time.

So ... Kotek's getting the brunt of teachers' anger most likely for her position on use of the rainy day fund -- she is probably perceived by them as favoring highways over them at the moment. She's in a tough spot. Me? I think she's a pretty good Governor and support her generally ... and I served on our local school district board for 12 years in the 90s thru early 2000s.