"Oregon Quality Education Model-2000"

January 2000

Elementary School Prototype (340 students/school): Total cost per student: $6,472. Total cost per ADMw ["weighted average daily membership" (ADMw): see Methodology below]: $5,448.

Middle School Prototype (500 students/school): Total cost per student: $6,538. Total cost per ADMw: $5442.

High School Prototype (1000 students/school): Total cost per student: $6,650. Total cost per ADMw: $5,615.

Raise school funding total from $6.89 billion to $7.80 billion for the 2001-2003 biennium, including $110 million for a discretionary "School Improvement Fund."

Continue to revise the model in order to improve accuracy (notably in estimating teacher/administrator salaries and benefits) and include significant funding elements left out of the QEM 2000. The 2000 model incorporated quality indicators such as smaller class sizes, teacher knowledge and skills, and structured learning time into their funding proposal, and recommended that other "quality indicators" such as teacher quality, effective instructional programs, leadership, and school safety be incorporated into future Quality Education Models.

Develop model that would streamline and improve the distribution of the QEM 2000 funding to individual school districts.

The Quality Education Model 2000 has not been implemented.

The Quality Education Model 2000 was prepared by the Quality Education Commission, which was appointed by the governor and state superintendent in 1999 to improve the original Quality Education Model, completed in April of 1999. After the Quality Education Commission of 2000 issued their report, the Legislature created a Quality Education Commission by statute. The commission was charged with refining the QEM 2000 and making biannual recommendations for adequate school funding in Oregon. The QEC was to solicit input from educators, policymakers, and the public in order to determine the most accurate and encompassing model possible.

Though the QEM 2000 developed components of a prototype school, it did not dictate how schools would spend awarded funds, noting that education is a local endeavor that varies widely from district to district.

The Quality Education Model 2000 described itself as a "modified professional judgment model." The QEC gathered input from educators, policymakers, and school finance experts to designate elements of a "prototype" school at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The prototype school was used because it would allow legislators, educators, and parents to easily understand and calculate actual costs of policy adjustments.

Once the components of the prototype schools were identified, their costs were determined based on average current expenditures by Oregon schools. The cost of these components was broken into a per-student figure, and then multiplied by the number of students in Oregon to estimate the total statewide cost.

The QEC offers two figures; cost per student and cost per "weighted average daily membership" in Oregon schools. Additional weight is assigned to students with special needs and at-risk students, defined in Oregon as: Special Education, English as Second Language, Pregnant and Parenting, Students in Poverty, Neglected and Delinquent, and Students in Foster Homes. Some Kindergarten, Elementary, and Union High students also receive varying weights.

The QEM 2000 notes that these weights are the result of a political compromise, and are thus unlikely to accurately reflect cost differences for educating these populations.

 

The QEM 2000 did not provide for expenditures related to capital improvements, but notes its operating budgets assume a basic standard for facilities. The report recommended a separate investigation of district facilities needs, as well as an examination of the state's accountability model and the structure of Oregon High Schools, which lagged behind elementary and middle schools in test score improvement. The model did not consider preschool funding, but did provide staff for Special Education and English as a Second Language programs, as well as funds for student transportation.

The QEC conducted a poll to determine public attitudes towards education and priorities in educational expenditures. The results of the poll did not have had any specific impact on the model.

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and Schools Superintendent Stan Bunn.

Oregon Quality Education Commission.

Oregon is one of only three states to conduct internal costing-out studies. The other two states are Maine and Washington.