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Home > Learn > What Works > Voter Education
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Voter Education Leads to Historic Turnout
Portland, Oregon
Challenge
The Portland public school system was about to reach a breaking point. The failure of a budget in the Oregon legislature meant that Portland Public Schools would need to cut five weeks of classes from the school year. There was simply no money to keep the schools open and the staff paid. With the threat of losing valuable instruction time, teachers, parents, and residents had to act fast to ensure that students in Portland would be able to complete the remainder of the school year. The proposed solution-a county-wide referendum that would increase local taxes to provide more funding for public schools.
Strategy
The task before them would not be easy. The county's high unemployment rates and personal income tax rates would make mobilizing support a difficult challenge. In addition, they would need to convince voters throughout Multnomah County, many of them outside of the Portland Public School system, to support a referendum to benefit the Portland Public Schools.
Community groups, including Portland Schools Foundation (PSF), Help Out Public Education (HOPE), Stand for Children, Parents for Public Schools, Portland Schools Alliance, and the local teachers union, immediately began organizing efforts in support of the referendum. These groups spread throughout the community to educate parents, residents, business leaders, and other community members about the budget crisis and the proposed solution.
To begin to mobilize support, a group of parent leaders came together to discuss the ramifications of the referendum and the most efficient way to gain support from residents unfamiliar with the financial distress in the Portland Public Schools. Cynthia Guyer, the executive director of PSF, said 'We wanted to educate them and show them that political action was a more strategic approach that would give more bang for the buck.'
Working side by side, groups invested in the issue began canvassing the county, getting signatures on petitions, raising money, and organizing approximately 60 school leaders to make the case that they should support the tax increase. 'We really worked hard to engage this key constituency,' Guyer notes. 'We reached out to many people who would normally oppose a tax increase and many of them worked to raise money for the campaign.'
Outcome
Working together, the education and community groups in Portland were able to convene key allies, raise money for the campaign, and convince residents to make their voice heard by voting. As a result, voters in Multnomah County passed a 1.25 percent personal income tax increase by a solid 57 percent majority to support schools and other social services.
Voter turnout for the referendum was one of the highest in Portland's history and groups have been continuing their efforts to ensure that Portland's public school system never reaches 'rock bottom.' 'No one is going back to their lives as usual,' said HOPE co-founder Nancy Hamilton. 'People who have never been an advocate before in their lives are just chomping at the bit. They see an opportunity to really influence change.'
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