SALEM, OR – Staring down the barrel of a $50 million budget deficit, the Salem-Keizer School District is hoping to flip the table on how the Oregon legislature formulates school funding.
Salem-Keizer has more students in poverty and more with disabilities than many Oregon districts. At their most recent school board meeting, Superintendent Andrea Castañeda said their advocacy plan for the 2027 legislature has to be about meeting the funding needs for their student population.
“The communities that Oregon’s funding formula is failing are higher poverty communities like ours and rural communities,” Castañeda said.
Castañeda says they’re facing an expected budget shortfall next school year and aren’t going to be able to without serious public school funding reform. The board will vote on their legislative agenda later this month.
