Enable java in your browser. Or use the links below. Send us your Feedback For our privacy policy, click here . For our user agree- ment, click here . The arena is the Oregon Legislature, where our lawmakers are now struggling to put together a fair and balanced biennial budget.
Balance is the key word.
Dollars for the state's public colleges and universities came from state income taxes, in amounts determined by the Legislature. During those years, taxpayer support paid for close to half of the University of Oregon budget. With that level of support we could keep tuition low and open our doors to as many Oregon students as possible. Then in 1990 came Measure 5, which limited property taxes for K-12 schools and turned the state's education funding system on its head. Suddenly we were in a situation in which K-12 education and higher education competed for the same limited dollars.