You can’t fault Portland Public Schools board members for wanting to find some way to scrape together the $13 million needed to cancel the staggering layoffs of teachers, aides and other student-facing positions. But their panicked proposals last Tuesday to raid reserves or hastily swap administrator cuts for teachers offered a startling reminder of how quickly good intentions can turn reckless.
One board member, Stephanie Engelsman, sought to restore all $13 million simply by telling the district to do so. Another director, Rashelle Chase-Miller, proposed pulling money out of the district’s minimal savings, despite the potential hit to the district’s credit rating — a downgrade that would increase PPS costs to borrow money for school modernizations. Another director, Virginia La Forte, then suggested halving the amount that Chase-Miller sought in yet another attempt to see what spaghetti would stick.
Fortunately, reason won the day, thanks to objections from more seasoned board members and Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong’s patient explanations why such actions would only cause the district more pain. All but Engelsman, who abstained from the final vote, approved Armstrong’s budget, largely without changes, as The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Julia Silverman reported…