Two measures threaten all school districts.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Tom Herrman and Keith Andersen For The Register-Guard

As school board members from across Lane County, we serve communities large and small. Our students go to school in urban and rural districts. They come from families from all walks of life.

But students in Eugene, Springfield, Bethel, South Lane and Crow-Applegate-Lorane have one thing in common - they deserve a high-quality education with small class sizes and full school years.

If Measures 41 and 48 pass this November, it will be harder for students to learn and succeed in school.

Ballot Measure 41 was written by Bill Sizemore, who we all know is no friend of public schools. Measure 41 would change Oregon's tax code and result in painful cuts in our classrooms - potentially slashing more than $337 million from school budgets around the state.

Under Measure 41, the Eugene School District could lose more than $11 million over the next two years. The Bethel School District could lose nearly $4 million. The South Lane School District could lose more than $2 million. The Crow-Applegate School District could lose nearly $300,000. And the Springfield School District could lose $7.5 million.

And then there is Ballot Measure 48.

Measure 48 would insert a flawed formula into Oregon's Constitution that would cause a permanent revenue shortfall for schools and other important services, such as health care and public safety. Measure 48 is the same flawed formula that was tested in Colorado - and it failed. After 13 years under its version of Measure 48, Colorado fell to 49th in the nation for funding for kindergarten through 12th grade education, 41st in the average number of students per teacher, and 50th in the nation for teacher salaries.

Under Measure 48, Oregon's classrooms would be unrecognizable. If Measure 48 had been in effect since 1990, we would have 25 percent less funding for schools than we have now.

Under Measure 48, for the 2007-09 biennium, Springfield would have $8 million less in funding for schools - the equivalent of reducing the school year by 36 days or eliminating 163 teachers. Bethel would have $4 million less, South Lane $2 million less, Crow-Applegate-Lorane $316,566 less, and Eugene $12.4 million less. Oregon already has the second-largest average elementary class size in the country. Imagine what our classrooms would look like if millions were slashed from school budgets around the state.

Proponents of Measures 41 and 48 are mislabeling them to appear more attractive to voters. But read them for yourself. Neither of these measures does anything to make government more accountable.

They don't set priorities for lawmakers. They don't force the Legislature to be more efficient or save money for a rainy day. Don't be fooled. All these measures do is force painful cuts to the very things Oregonians value most.

Another important fact is that Measures 41 and 48 were put on the ballot by wealthy out-of-state individuals. New York developer Howard Rich has funneled more than $1 million to push Measure 48. Measure 41 has been almost single-handedly funded by Nevada billionaire Loren Parks.

Oregon's economy is recovering, and we are seeing increased investments in our classrooms. We should be making up for the cuts made during the recession - decreasing class sizes, updating textbooks, adding back academic programs, music, art and physical education.

But Measure 41 and 48 move Oregon in the wrong direction. It would take us back to a time when Oregon schools had some of the shortest school years in the nation and students sat in overcrowded classrooms.

Please join us in voting no on Measures 41 and 48.

Tom Herrman is chairman of the Eugene School Board. Keith Andersen is chairman of the Bethel School Board. Three other school board leaders joined them in submitting this column: Jeff Ramp (Crow-Applegate), Garry Weber (Springfield) and Leslie Rubinstein (South Lane).