Portland Public Schools (PPS) is dealing with a major budget crunch—a situation that, former school board member Andrew Scott says, shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“We’ve known for a long time that costs for education are growing faster than the funding that school districts receive from the state, and that’s been something that, when I was on the board, we talked about a lot, and talked to the state a lot, and tried to lobby, with very little success,” Scott said.
Now, the district is approaching what may be an inflection point. PPS is facing a $50 million budget shortfall for the coming academic year, and the district has already taken measures in the interim like shortening this year’s school calendar and considering school closures…