Bethel pushes school bond levy.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

For boosters of a five-year, $1.4 million local option levy on the May ballot in west Eugene's Bethel School District, recent election history offers cause for both confidence and concern.

Five years ago, three in five Bethel voters gave a thumbs-up on the capital bond measure that paid for two new schools plus building improvements districtwide. Just as important, 54 percent of voters cast ballots - a crucial part of the equation given Oregon's "double majority" rule for nongeneral elections. At least 50 percent of registered voters have to vote in order for a financial measure to count.

But two years later, Bethel voters flatly rejected a city tax levy - a levy that since then has been found by the Oregon Tax Court to be partially illegal - to support schools' art and music instruction, librarians, athletics and after-school programs. That levy squeaked by anyway, but only because voters in the neighboring Eugene district pushed it over the top.

That's been the pattern in Bethel for the past 15 years: Often voters say yes for schools, but sometimes they don't. There's strong allegiance to the schools and a burgeoning school-age population. But there's also a solidly conservative, working-class base reluctant to pay more taxes.

Supporters of the levy say they're confident this time around. But they concede it's unlikely to be a slam-dunk - especially with the added challenge of the 50-plus percent turnout requirement.

"We figure we need about 10,000 voters to meet the double majority, and of course, we need 5,001 of them to say yes," said district spokesman Pat McGillivray, who is volunteering on the campaign.

In addition to simply spreading the word that there is an election, proponents are emphasizing what the levy could do for the district. For starters, it would be likely to ensure that current staffing levels and programs could be kept intact, which looked iffy this time last year as the district braced for cuts.

At a rate of $1 per $1,000 of assessed value on residential properties, the levy's estimated $1.4 million annual yield would also pay for what district officials and teachers say are badly needed new textbooks and computers. Should the levy pass, the state will give Bethel an annual matching grant of about $230,000, bringing the total to about $1.6 million a year, district officials said.

The money would also help launch the so-called Bethel Math Project, billed as an aggressive effort to boost math achievement in the same way the Bethel Reading Project has raised reading scores.

Willamette High School math teacher Christine Guldager said giving struggling students more time to spend on math would pay dividends, particularly if they can be reached as freshmen. Beginning this year, Willamette started offering pre-algebra classes every day instead of every other day, and Guldager said she has noticed a difference.

"We wish we could do this for every kid," she said, noting that the school hasn't had the funds to pay for much additional instruction time.

Junior Stephanie Jaros said she failed pre-algebra her freshman year but caught on as a sophomore in Guldager's every-day algebra class for low-achieving students. She earned As and Bs, and this year works as Guldager's aide in the same class.

"It really made the difference having it every day," she said. "We didn't have to rush and there was time to understand it better."

In a district survey of more than 400 Bethel voters last year, improving math scores was cited as a top priority. The same survey also found that support for a tax levy weakened the higher the price tag climbed. At $100 a year per household, 43 percent strongly supported it, but at $190, just 28 percent did.

School Board Chairman Wayne Watkins said he thinks supporters have made inroads through media coverage and door-belling, and more campaign literature will arrive in mailboxes soon.

"I was out this last Saturday and I was very impressed with the percentage of people saying they were leaning in favor of it," said Watkins, a 30-year Bethel resident. "The question was: 'Can we count on you as a yes voter?' And, oh, about three-fourths of the people indicated that type of feeling."

There appears to be no organized opposition to the levy.

Kristina Payne, who has two children at Meadow View School, said she believes that Bethel residents share a strong commitment to their schools, even if many may not be keen on paying more taxes.

"It's just how we are in Bethel," said Payne, a campaign volunteer who believes that high-level math skills are critical for graduates entering a competitive work force. "As families, we're very supportive of our schools. The families around us, the neighborhoods, we know the children in our neighborhoods and we look out for each other."

Levy supporters note that Bethel, after the next school year, is likely to be out the $1.3 million a year it has collected through the 2002 city levy. An Oregon Tax Court judge recently found that the city levy illegally circumvented Measure 5, the 1990 statewide tax limitation measure, by funneling city funds to schools and, in some cases, pushing the total tax collected above the measure-imposed cap for education.

Officials with both the Bethel and Eugene districts believe that the city of Eugene is unlikely to seek renewal of the levy in November, although the City Council has yet to take up the matter.

Because of the ruling, revenue from the city levy will be at least $200,000 lower in the coming year, as the city will collect only up to the cap.

McGillivray said it's not clear whether loss of the city levy would force cuts. The district's financial outlook has brightened from this time last year, thanks largely to higher projections for the statewide school fund.

Cuts are less likely with the local option levy, which would bring in slightly more than the city levy. "We aren't campaigning in a threatening manner, saying you have to pass this or there will be cuts," he said. "We're campaigning on what this can do for the district."

MEASURE 20-109

What it is: A five-year property tax levy to generate operating revenue for the Bethel School District, with a rate of $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. It would raise a minimum of $7 million over the five-year life span of the levy - more if the property tax rolls continue to increase - and would help the district keep current staffing levels and programs, buy new textbooks and computers, and hire and train math teachers and assistants. Another $1 million could be available through a potential state "matching" grant.

For more information:

Visit www.bethelyes.org.