Media misses mark in coverage of school funding

When listening to reports from KGW 8 on a forum of Tigard-Tualatin School District staff, one would think that violent, expletive-riddled outbursts are being seen in classrooms throughout the district. After the initial reaction to the article and accompanying video, the general consensus of The Wolf staff is that the media portrays these issues as a fault of the students. The report comes across as quite offensive to students at Tualatin because it characterizes the student body in a negative light. However, after looking further into the situations being discussed and talking to a teacher advocating for funding, the problems are more widespread than the report initially paints them to be.

The article claims that there is a lack of aides and other adults in classrooms, but the root of the issue still lies in the students who have behavioral problems that need to be dealt with; teachers are not deemed responsible for aiding these kids who may need additional assistance. Additionally, it portrays these issues as being more common in classrooms than they seem to be, especially within the Tigard-Tualatin District. This reported behavior often comes as a surprise because it is rarely seen by students at Tualatin. However, after having a casual conversation with a staff member who has previously commented on this topic, it is clear that student outbursts are not just an issue within our school district, and are actually a statewide concern.

It becomes apparent that there is a much larger problem than behavior. Statewide funding – or rather, lack thereof – is abandoning those students who need more assistance. The high school environment simply does not work for some students, and without proper funding there is no access to the one-on-one help such students would benefit from. This is where the lack of student aides, including social workers and psychologists, comes into play. Teachers just aren’t trained to handle these students in crisis, and without the aid of specialists it can make dealing with situations such as violent outbursts especially difficult. This is why they are calling for more funding and more help.

It doesn’t take much digging to realize that schools are severely underfunded. The Quality Education Model states that the legislature has yet to meet their standard for a budget that provides a high-quality education for all students; the statewide funding for 2017 to 2019 is $1.8 billion short of what is necessary. There simply isn’t enough money in the budget for additional, specially-trained staff to be hired to help handle students who are prone to violence or outbursts – something that seemed to generally be glossed over in the KGW 8 report. Without a change in funding or number of supporting staff, these outbursts will only continue to become a larger and more prevalent issue.

The purpose of the forum should have been more directed towards fighting for legislative changes to the budget, not behavioral problems. Lack of statewide funding is a situation that desperately needs to be addressed, and the frustration from TuHS staff can be understood when looking at the facts. However, the issue should not be portrayed, in any capacity, as a problem with students or staff. The real concern is with the legislature, and its failure to properly fund the Oregon school system in a way that allows for these students who are prone to violent, inappropriate outbursts to succeed.