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With a proposed corporate sales tax dominating discussion in Oregon, another November ballot measure is nearly flying under the radar.

Measure 98, the former Initiative Petition 65, would dedicate new revenue to three areas in high school education policy 鈥� dropout prevention, college readiness and career technical education (CTE). With broad aims, the measure has broad support. Both the Sierra Club and the Asphalt Pavers Association have endorsed it, according to a spokesman for the measure. It also has the support of the building industry, which for years has warned of a coming shortage of construction workers.

Supporters have raised millions and are confident about the measure’s chances. But a handful of opponents aim to make it a fight. They call the measure budgeting by ballot, and an unfunded mandate.

Pat Eck of Parents Across America-Oregon says Measure 98 鈥渟cares the bejesus out of鈥� him.

鈥淚t has a veneer of legitimacy, but if you start scratching through that veneer a little bit, all of a sudden, some major concerns come out,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s the wrong way to do the right thing.鈥�

Breaking the cycle

Political consultant Tim Nesbitt said he watched the 2015 legislative session with dismay. Little new money was going to K-12 education and it looked unlikely that pilot projects would be established to address several major, longstanding education issues.

In the spring, Nesbitt met with board members of Stand for Children, a national nonprofit, to discuss a possible ballot measure.

鈥淲e felt that we needed to do more,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e were going to end up with another small amount of money in the budget for pilot projects, when what we needed is to get these initiatives to scale in our high schools.鈥�

A group including lawyer Greg Chaimov and the director of the Latino Network of Oregon, Carmen Rubio, worked through about 25 drafts of the ballot language.

As written, the measure would skim about 15 percent of new revenues, for a total of about $147 million per year, according to a revenue forecast by ECONorthwest. The state would administer a grant program where districts could apply for money to develop their own programs. Districts would get about $800 per student, based on each district’s weighted average daily membership.

There’s never been a ballot measure of this kind in Oregon, though there have been unsuccessful legislative proposals with similar goals to Measure 98. Former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s final budget before leaving office contained similar funding for CTE and STEM programs. The measure’s three aims have been addressed before through pilot programs and one-time competitive grant funding. But none were able to succeed without stable funding, Nesbitt said. He called it the 鈥減ilot project syndrome.鈥�

鈥淲e wanted to break that cycle, and get these programs which had proven their value up to scale sustained in all the high schools,鈥� he said.

This is not a new issue to former Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who tried to sequester $300 million for school districts to apply to use for CTE and dropout prevention before his second term ended in 2011.

Due to his longtime support of education reform, the democrat was approached by Stand for Children and Nesbitt, his former chief of staff, to be a co-sponsor of Measure 98.

鈥淚t was a tough call for me because I am no fan of the initiative process,鈥� Kulongoski said. 鈥淚 think it’s not a good way to legislate.鈥�

But Oregon’s 鈥渆mbarrassing鈥� graduation rate is a 鈥渟ure sign there’s a problem,鈥� he said. He thinks kids are 鈥渂ored鈥� in school.

鈥淲e don’t give them enough choices,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I think what it comes down to is, every kid should have the right to go to college, if they want to. But it’s transcended that now, and it’s, every kid is going to college. I just think there are a lot of kids in school who ultimately could go to college, but they would rather do something else. You should make programs available to them, and you should make programs available for the students who do want to go to college.鈥�

Kulongoski said the de-emphasis on job training and CTE could mean that the next wave of immigrants to the U.S. is skilled workers.

鈥淚t’s important to have scientists and engineers, but somebody is going to have to pick up the tools to build the infrastructure that this country needs,鈥� he said.

Direct action

As of Monday, opponents of Measure 98 had declared to the Oregon Secretary of State zero dollars raised this election. But a few groups have come out against it. The Rural Organizing Project’s 2016 voter’s guide recommends voting 鈥渘o鈥� on Measure 98. The Confederation of Oregon School Administrators has also been critical.

Pat Eck and his wife, Janet, have worked on a number of education-related campaigns since retiring as teachers. As leaders of the Oregon chapter of Parents Across America, they generally challenge efforts to 鈥渂udget by ballot measure.鈥� The group is working to schedule a debate with the 鈥測es鈥� campaign.

鈥淚 think it’s scary,鈥� Pat Eck said. 鈥淚t opens up all kinds of things. Single-issue budget initiatives can crowd out other vital services and force bad policy choices, and I think most politicians in our state in our house and in our senate would agree with that.鈥�

Deb Mayer, a member of Parents Across America, said the measure wouldn’t help direct more kids to the trades, because the ballot language gives priority to funding STEM courses.

鈥淭here are so many flaws in that measure it’s almost unconscionable there’s not more opposition to it,鈥� she said 鈥淲e’re just a small volunteer organization with practically no resources. So, how are we going to take on Stand for Children?鈥�

Pat Eck questioned the provenance of Stand for Children’s funding, and said the measure would create more bureaucracy and one more tier of decision-making.

鈥淢easure 98 is unnecessary and threatens well-designed CTE programs,鈥� he said.

The support campaign for Measure 98 consists of two committees. One, Oregonians for High School Success, has raised $3 million in cash and $1.8 million in in-kind donations. Its biggest donor by far is SurveyMonkey founder Ryan Finley ($250,000).

Direct Action Partners was paid $158,786 to collect the 88,184 signatures needed for the measure to qualify for the ballot, working out to $1.80 per signature.

鈥淚t’s a bunch of money,鈥� Eck said. 鈥淚f you have the money, you can get anything on the ballot. Is this the way we want to run our democracy?鈥�

Crisis level

Nesbitt said it’s a misunderstanding to call the measure an 鈥渦nfunded mandate.鈥�

鈥淎n unfunded mandate would be if the state said to do these things, but didn’t provide any money,” he said. “This is the state saying, 鈥楬ere is the money for these programs; come and apply for it. We hope you all choose to do so,’鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut districts are not obligated to spend any dollars above what the state provides.鈥�

Though some small districts would get much less money than larger ones, under the current distribution formula, small schools would get more per student than larger districts, Nesbitt said.

He said in-migration was a small factor in revenue projections. A larger factor is a resurgence of the state’s economy and its low inflation rate.

鈥淲e are seeing a revenue dividend over and above inflation and population growth,鈥� Nesbitt said.

The initiative route is 鈥渟omething that shouldn’t be repeated too often,鈥� Kulongoski admitted.

鈥淏ut the fact is there is such a crisis with our graduation rate,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s something we need to do something about.鈥�