In the past few years, I have become increasingly active in our local schools to advocate for the best interests of my child and the other children who attend our schools. I currently serve as the president of the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) at Academy of Arts and Academics (A3). In this role, it has become clear to me how critical adequate funding is for our students to succeed.
Two years ago, the Oregon Legislature passed landmark school funding with the Student Success Act, and parents like myself cheered in hopes that our students would finally have the resources needed. Now, the Legislature is considering breaking that promise by underfunding the State School Fund by hundreds of millions of dollars.
As students, teachers and parents work together to overcome the impact this past year has had, we know we will need more resources, not less. By underfunding the State School Fund, we are risking our ability to recover from this pandemic and reducing the amount of funds our schools have to maintain current service levels for students.
In the Springfield School District alone, providing anything less than $9.6 billion to the State School Fund could mean the loss of dozens of teaching positions or cutting school days from our calendar. Now is not the time to shortchange our students and schools like this.
Please join me in calling on our legislators to only support a State School Fund of $9.6 billion – and nothing less.
Darcy Guhl
President, A3 PTSA
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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