Title: Sager v. Myers
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: S46117
State: Oregon
Issuer: Oregon Supreme Court
Date: May 20, 1999

Filed:  May 20, 1999

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON

JAMES SAGER and JOHN CHASE,

	Petitioners,

		v.

HARDY MYERS, Attorney General,

State of Oregon,

	Respondent.

(SC S46117)

	En Banc

	On petition to review ballot title.

	Argued and submitted March 5, 1999.

	Paul B. Gamson, of Smith, Gamson, Diamond &amp; Olney, Portland,
argued the cause and filed the petition for petitioners.

	Richard D. Wasserman, Assistant Attorney General, Salem,
argued the cause for respondent.  With him on the answering
memorandum were Hardy Myers, Attorney General, and Michael D.
Reynolds, Solicitor General.

	KULONGOSKI, J.

	Ballot title certified as modified.  This decision shall
become effective in accordance with ORAP 11.30(10).

	KULONGOSKI, J.

	In this original proceeding, petitioners challenge the
Attorney General's certified ballot title for proposed initiative
29.  Petitioners are electors who timely submitted written
comments regarding the draft ballot title.  ORS 250.067(1). 
Consequently, petitioners are entitled to seek modification of
the proposed ballot title in this court.  ORS 250.085(2).  We
review for substantial compliance with the requirements of ORS
250.035.  ORS 250.085(5).  We modify the Attorney General's
ballot title and, as modified, certify it to the Secretary of
State.  

	The Attorney General certified the following ballot
title to the Secretary of State:

"AMENDS CONSTITUTION: JOB PERFORMANCE MUST 

DETERMINE PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER PAY, 

JOB SECURITY

		"RESULT OF 'YES' VOTE:  'Yes' vote requires that
job performance, not seniority, determine public school
teacher pay, job security.

		"RESULT OF 'NO' VOTE:  'No' vote rejects
requirement that job performance, not seniority,
determine public teachers' pay, job security.

		"SUMMARY:  Amends Constitution.  Currently,
seniority and postgraduate study may determine public
school teacher pay, job security.  Measure requires
public school teacher's pay, job security to be based
on increase in students' appropriate knowledge while
under teacher's instruction.  Allows performance-based
pay increases, certain across-the-board cost-of-living
increases, retention of most qualified teacher of
subject when layoffs occur.  Prohibits automatic pay
increases, job retention based on seniority.  Applies
to new or extended collective bargaining agreements
signed on/after November 7, 2000."  

		Petitioners challenge all sections of the Attorney
General's ballot title.

CAPTION

		Petitioners first object to the caption.  A caption
must "reasonably identif[y] the subject matter of the state
measure" in not more than 10 words.  ORS 250.035(2).

		 The subject matter of proposed initiative 29(1) is a new
constitutional requirement that "job performance," defined as the
"degree to which the appropriate knowledge of the teacher's
students increased while under his or her instruction," would
determine the pay of public school teachers.  In addition, "job
performance," as well as teacher qualifications, would determine
public school teachers' eligibility for job retention. 

		 Petitioners argue that the caption is misleading,
because it fails to recognize that proposed initiative 29 uses
the term "job performance" in a different way than that term
commonly is understood.  See Witt v. Kulongoski, 319 Or 7, 15,
872 P2d 14 (1994) (omitting the word "clearcutting" from ballot
title when proposed initiative used term in "a very different and
uncommon" way from that in which it ordinarily would be
understood).  Petitioners contend that, in ordinary usage, voters
would understand a teacher's "job performance" to include
multiple factors, such as the teacher's knowledge of the subject
matter, ability to work in a cooperative manner with school
administrators and other teachers, the number and quality of the
teacher's contacts with parents, and other factors that the local
school district might deem appropriate.  The Attorney General
responds that ordinary usage of the term "job performance"
includes, along with a number of other factors, the teacher's
accountability for his or her success in the classroom in
imparting the subject matter to his or her students.  

		Petitioners' argument is well taken.  Proposed
initiative 29 defines job performance solely as "the degree to
which the appropriate knowledge of the teacher's students
increased while under his or her instruction."  Because that
definition excludes all other areas of professional performance
that might be considered in assessing a teacher's job
performance, the Attorney General's caption is misleading. 
Accordingly, we modify the Attorney General's caption to reflect
the unique definition of the phrase "job performance" in the
proposed initiative.    

		Petitioners next argue that the word "performance" is
inaccurate as it relates to the concept of job security.  The
Attorney General's caption states that "Job Performance Must
Determine * * * Job Security."  Petitioners argue that proposed
initiative 29 also permits a school district to consider the
individual teaching qualifications of a teacher when making a
staff reduction decision.  The Attorney General argues that this
court should not consider that argument because, at the comment
stage, petitioners failed to suggest that the draft caption was
inaccurate in that way and, therefore, failed to satisfy the
requirements of ORS 250.085(6).  Our review of the record made by
petitioners at the comment stage satisfies us that petitioners
raised a concern about the use and relationship of the terms
"performance" and "job security" in their objections to the
Attorney General's draft ballot title.  

 		We agree with petitioners that the Attorney General's
certified caption is inaccurate.  Under proposed initiative 29,
teaching qualifications, as well as job performance (again,
defined by the measure as student learning), may determine
whether a particular teacher would be retained if a staff
reduction should occur.  The proposed initiative forbids reliance
on seniority in determining the order of staff reduction.  We
again conclude that some modification of the Attorney General's
caption is required.  We modify the Attorney General's caption as
follows:

AMENDS CONSTITUTION: STUDENT LEARNING DETERMINES 

TEACHER PAY; QUALIFICATIONS, NOT SENIORITY, 

DETERMINE RETENTION

 RESULT STATEMENTS

		Result statements shall be "simple and understandable"
statements of not more than 15 words that describe the results if
the proposed initiative is approved or rejected.  ORS
250.035(2)(b), (c).  

		Petitioners argue that the Attorney General's result
statements have the same shortcomings as the caption, because the
result statements use the term "job performance" in an uncommon
way.  Petitioners challenge the use of the term "seniority" for
the same reason. 

		Proposed initiative 29 defines the term "seniority" in
two ways:  (1) "retaining one teacher over another teacher based
on time on the job shall be considered job security based on
'seniority'"; and (2) "increasing a teacher's pay based on the
teacher having completed one or more postgraduate degrees shall
be considered pay based on seniority."  The first definition
reflects the common use of the term "seniority."(2)  The second
definition reflects an uncommon, if not unique, use of that term. 

		The Attorney General concedes that the use of the term
"seniority" in the result statements is inappropriate.  That
term, standing alone, fails to make clear that proposed
initiative 29 would preclude basing teacher pay decisions on the
education level of the teacher, as well as what ordinarily is
considered to be "seniority."  Contrary to the Attorney General's
argument, the summary does not correct that error.

		Accordingly, we modify the Attorney General's result
statements to read:

		RESULT OF "YES" VOTE: "Yes" vote requires student
learning, not seniority, determines teacher pay;
qualifications, student learning determine retention.

		RESULT OF "NO" VOTE: "No" vote retains current
laws for paying, retaining teachers by qualifications,
including performance, education, seniority.

	SUMMARY

		The summary is "a concise and impartial statement of
not more than 85 words summarizing the measure and its major
effect."  ORS 250.035(2)(d).  We have considered each of
petitioners' objections to the Attorney General's summary, and we
conclude that the Attorney General's summary complies
substantially with the requirements of ORS 250.035(2)(d). 
Therefore, we decline to modify the summary. 

		We certify the following ballot title to the Secretary
of State: 

AMENDS CONSTITUTION: STUDENT LEARNING DETERMINES 

TEACHER PAY; QUALIFICATIONS, NOT SENIORITY, 

DETERMINE RETENTION

		RESULT OF "YES" VOTE: "Yes" vote requires student
learning, not seniority, determines teacher pay;
qualifications, student learning determine retention.

		RESULT OF "NO" VOTE: "No" vote retains current
laws for paying, retaining teachers by qualifications,
including performance, education, seniority.

		SUMMARY:  Amends Constitution.  Currently,
seniority and postgraduate study may determine public
school teacher pay, job security.  Measure requires
public school teacher's pay, job security to be based
on increase in students' appropriate knowledge while
under teacher's instruction.  Allows performance-based
pay increases, certain across-the-board cost-of-living
increases, retention of most qualified teacher of
subject when layoffs occur.  Prohibits automatic pay
increases, job retention based on seniority.  Applies
to new or extended collective bargaining agreements
signed on/after November 7, 2000.

		Ballot title certified as modified.  This decision
shall become effective in accordance with ORAP 11.30(10).

1. 	The Secretary of State designated this as proposed
initiative 29.  He designated the companion proposed initiative,
discussed in Chase v. Myers, ___ Or ___, ___ P2d ___ (May 20,
1999), as proposed initiative 30.

2. 	"Seniority" means "a status attained by length of
continuous service."  Webster's Third New Int'l Dictionary, 2066
(unabridged ed 1993).