Dr. Rose and Members of the board,

I am here tonight because of my belief in doing what is right. My name is Jim Schulz. I am not only a Westview parent; I am also the president of the Westview Band Parent Organization.  You saw me here last meeting.  You will certainly see me in future meetings.

I know that this budget process is very difficult and that you can get a lot of information quickly or at the last minute.  On Monday June 4^th at 1:31 PM, John Burns, your budget committee chairman, sent you an email. In the text of the email he spelled out that the financial report listed the actual expenses as just over $309 M. When you add in some expense adjustments, it raises it a bit. Next year we have a budget of $302.5 million dollars. – In reality there is only an actual budget deficit of 11.7 million dollars.

He also proposed that by not implementing new programs, that add 50 new positions, at a savings of over 5 million dollars, and going back to the union to negotiate 5 more days, you’d have balanced the budget with no job or existing program cuts.

I know that seeing this information for the first time, just hours before the vote, didn’t give you much time to act or adjust your positions. You have had plenty of time since then to digest this new info.  Combine that with the huge public out-cry, and this should provide you with compelling reasons to change course on this budget.

Did you know when you voted, that the bumping process that will take place, will put music teachers with only elementary teaching experience in the middle school and High School band programs? This scenario is horrible for the teachers and the students. It is deadly to the programs.

Dr Rose, you have personally proven that you can run a district on 170 teaching days. While not ideal, if you can do that for Canby, you should be able to do that for us.  Nobody likes going back to the union every year to approve furlough days. We get that. It is unfortunately the right thing to do to keep our existing programs alive and healthy.

I must point out to you that John’s email and supporting documents have been provided not only to us, they are also in the hands of the press and the public. Your moves on how you act on this information are being watched very closely. You are effectively under a micro scope.  We can’t fault you for not acting when you didn’t have correct information. However, you have it now. If you don’t act appropriately, and change course on this budget, everyone will know. It is the right thing to do. Please I urge you, don’t just hear us, please listen to us. It’s not too late to fix this.

Testimony of David Hattner to the School Board of the Beaverton School District on June 18, 2012

Good Evening.

As the conductor of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, It is my privilege to lead an orchestra of accomplished, serious young musicians from all over the metropolitan area. Of our 300 musicians, 10% or more every year are Beaverton School District students. I want to talk to you today about prioritizing music education for *all* Beaverton students. I see music education as an investment not only in the quality of the education you provide the students in Beaverton, but in the future of our community as a whole.

As far back as anyone can remember, 100% of the musicians in the Portland Youth Philharmonic graduate from high school and attend college.  I believe that if you were to study statistics from the Beaverton district you would discover that the students who perform music as part of their education have higher grades and test scores as well as graduate at a higher rate than the district average. I am certain that you will find better attendance records and far better disciplinary records among the musicians in your district.

If all of you could follow the progress of a child who studies music in a serious way, you would believe, as I do, that music should be considered a core subject. Music is not taught to create professional musicians. As PYPs founding conductor Jacques Gershkovich once said: “I don’t teach music, I teach children and I use music to do it.” The comprehensive set of physical and intellectual activities required to perform music well stretches all areas of a young mind. Simultaneously, he or she must read, act, count, listen, analyze, criticize and FEEL. . .and continue this all-intensive focus for hours at a time. We hear a lot these days about how education was better in previous generations. The process of learning to play a musical instrument has hardly changed in 100 years. Music education is the closest thing to a time-tested educational value still available to our students today.

PYP has a long tradition of being actively involved in the Portland area’s school musical community. For generations, PYP musicians have been leaders in their school ensembles. Musicians from our training ensembles visit schools throughout the region. Our two symphony orchestras perform for nearly 10,000 young people each year at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Over 40 double bass players received free instruction with us this year. PYP musicians give inexpensive lessons to beginning players of all instruments through the peer mentor program. We do these things to share the infectious enthusiasm that music brings to PYP with anyone willing to ask.

We at PYP are indebted to all school music programs for helping to start so many of the musicians who ultimately perform with us. Our fates are deeply intertwined. PYP and other such extracurricular activities can be at most adjunct to a consistent, thorough program of music education and participation that only in-school music teachers can provide.

A comprehensive music program takes years to build. Cutting music education and thus leaving contact time far below the national standard, is as good as a death blow to music in your schools. The overall education of every student in every elementary and middle school in the Beaverton District will suffer. High school ensembles will suffer, and PYP will suffer, as fewer and fewer children are exposed to music at an age when they still have their full developmental potential. I have been told that viable alternatives exist. On behalf of the board, staff and musicians of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, I urge you to consider this issue carefully. I believe if you could observe the students from Beaverton in their school ensembles as well as those who perform with PYP, you would understand that the opportunity to study music in school is a precious thing, to be preserved and defended at all costs.

Thank you for your time.

Testimony of John G. Burns to the School Board of the Beaverton School District on June 18, 2012

The Board, and therefore the Public were not served well by this year’s budget process and calendar. Both the Budget Committee and then the Board were scheduled to vote on the Budget before significant choices and their impacts could be clearly understood and discussed with the Public.  As the impacts become better understood there will be more questions and response from the public.

The good news is that the Board is not limited by the calendar. By Law the Board is responsible throughout the year for the policies and funding of the school district. By Law the Board sets the days and hours of the school year.  I submit to you that there are revisions to the approved Budget that should start right now.

The new Achievement Compacts will be discussed later tonight.  I would like to remind you of Ben Cannon’s testimony here in February. Ben testified that he, the Governor, and the Legislature (in approving this new legislation) KNOW that the activities and the effort the Achievement Compacts set out are not funded. The long list of assessment, testing, and requirements for intervention are acknowledged by the State to be ‘unfunded’ activities. This DRAFT Achievement Compact suggests the deficiency is $ 97 million.  But the budget you approved includes significant expenditures in these areas including new positions; significant expenditures which serve the un-funded vision of the State at the expense of classroom positions.