OMED: Michael O'Brien, once a star of classic Hollywood action films, now covers sports for the Tillamook Headlight Herald    (Photo: Publicity shot of Mike O'Brien during his days in Hollywood.) 

New year, same battle

It seems like only yesterday that the daily, glossy, expensive political propaganda pamphlets were raining into our mailboxes. To the point, on this end, that I found it hard to vote for either of our legislative candidates. It was a nasty, negative campaign. One thing for certain, great promises were made by all, here and in other regions, that education was a top priority of each candidate's plan if elected.

Here, the choice was Deborah Boone and we wish her well. It seems a good thing if we have a whole new set of legislators and put the majority of last term's seat-holders on a long ferry boat ride to one of the Third World countries, which outscore Oregon academically, and still offer extra-curricular activities for children which remain unthreatened. How any of that bunch could have been re-elected is beyond my comprehension. But some were. The new voices are the ones we need to change the dysfunction. 

The previous body of legislators, well, they hemmed and they hawed.  They lolly-gagged. They erased any hint of bi-partisanship for the public good, in terms of our school system in Oregon. Depending on where you live, communities had to go deep into their own pockets to keep kids on the playing fields, or in their music or drama programs, and some never made it. It took the legislators a paid extra session to throw their hands in the air and go home.

We were blessed in Tillamook with a multitude of generous souls, working as Booster Club volunteers, or just being plain generous when the kids needed help. Some programs or activities still couldn't get up and running, until TSD9, as just one of the County's districts, got a bit healthier this year. But, there is already reliable talk of a relapse in funding for next year, with some of the smaller programs which stimulate young people to succeed in the key after-school hours, on the uncertainty list. One of the things that makes it difficult for districts to plan, is the vagueness of what the state will actually be throwing at them financially.

For the sake of defining what happens, socially, culturally and in terms of crime rates going the wrong direction --- let's again paint the picture of a town without these things to offer young people in its school system. Suddenly, a couple-hundred kids, in their formative high school and junior high school years, haven't a damn thing to do from mid- afternoon till late evening, seven days a week, and no need to qualify for the missing activities with the grades necessary to stay eligible. Teen pregnancy and drug use climb dramatically.

There is no learning of teamwork, or getting along with others, in the playing fields or in  drama productions, and competitive juices have no outlet, other than on the street or in the family sphere. Several, as they have professed time and time again, would drop out of school without the activities that give them pride, or keep them interested, by being part of a chosen extra-curricular endeavor.

So, to our new legislator, and all the others who have made education funding part of their campaign promises ---- please make some noise. Don't worry about being politically correct, or blending, in your new livelihoods. We don't need that. We need Howard Beale, the madman (or was he?) protagonist of the classic Paddy Chayevsky film "Network", which remains timeless 25 years after being made. You know, the guy that urged his regional constituents to go to their windows and scream, "We're mad as hell and we aren't going to take it anymore."

That may be asking too much, but in the event the Salem crowd reaches another stalemate in the legislature, and the money for schools continues to dwindle, take a look at what they're proposing in the St. Helens district, with a push to make it statewide. 

Under the heading of "Adequate and stable funding for co-curricular activities," the members of the St. Helens Booster Club are attempting to initiate a statewide letter-writing campaign, to state legislators, statewide political groups and major newspapers in order to bring additional pressure to bear on our lawmakers to produce a reliable funding source for schools, including all extra-curricular activities. 

Parents and community support groups are encouraged to sit down and let your legislator, the Governor and state government officials in general, know how limited our school boards and administrations are, due to what has to be done at the state level. 

The St. Helens group lists the benefit of extra-curricular activities as follows: 1. Learning to work cooperatively in a group; 2. Students learning to appreciate the rewards of hard work; 3. Development of skills, attitudes and talents which will make student's lives better; 4. Occupation of time to keep students separated from undesirable activities; 5. Attachment to a wholesome group, giving them support during difficult times in their lives. 

Those are a few, among many, things that benefit the students themselves. Add a lengthier list, which I think we've recognized here in Tillamook, to things that benefit a community. 

Although the wholesome activities benefit the entire community, it's hard to find more than a few dedicated people willing to pay for them for reasons which include our current financial peril on many levels. User fees continue to climb, in terms of pay-to-play and travel and equipment and coaching needs, and poorer students are sent home with a serious burden on the family. 
In light of this reality, we need changes in our legislative pattern to fix what's broken. We need prioritizing of the huge importance of restoring these activities to our schools. Take the time to write down your own thoughts and send them along to the people we've chosen as our voices in government. State your own thoughts and keep it brief. Tell the decision-makers how important it is or will be to your family to keep kids active.

This newspaper lists legislative addresses and E-mail contact for our legislators on page A-4 weekly. The library can help with specific addresses through the Oregon Bluebook for organizations such as the Oregon State Board of Education, Susan Castillo, the Superintendent of Education, or, legislative information in general can  be acquired by calling 1-800-332-2313. 

Letters to newspapers have an effect on legislators as well, if they're paying attention. If there is a more important issue to address to our state lawmakers, it's hard to imagine what it would be. 

The head of the lobbying campaign at St. Helens is Bert Mueller, who can be reached at mueller@ados.com with the subject "school campaign" as a requested subject. 

OMED: The much-beloved Michael O'Brien is one of the finest writers in Oregon.  This magazine's editors, however, disagree with one of his central implications, here.  Not the idea that the activities he defends are as valuable as he states, and not the idea of citizen influence on policy, but rather the idea that the answer is more money.  Oregon's schools are, just as he says, in financial trouble.  The reason for the difficulty, as we see it, is the way the money they do have is spent by the system. Correcting the almost criminally bloated PERS system, alone, would fill all the needs he describes. Check this current piece.

© 2005 Michael O'Brien and Oregon Magazine