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Ballot Recommendations Summary Measure 83 Measure 84 Measure 85 Measure 86 Measure 87 Measure 88 Measure 89 Measure 90 Measure 91 Measure 92 Measure 93 Measure 94 Measure 95 Measure 96 Measure 97 Measure 98 Measure 99 Measure 1 Measure 2 Measure 3 Measure 4 Measure 5 Measure 6 Measure 7 Measure 8 Measure 9

Measure #95
Amends constitution: student learning determines teacher pay; qualifications, not seniority, determine retention.

RESULT OF "YES" VOTE: "Yes" vote requires student learning, not seniority, determines teacher pay; qualifications, student learning determine retention.

RESULT OF "NO" VOTE: "No" vote retains current laws for paying, retaining teachers by qualifications, including performance, education, seniority.

PEAPAC Explanation: If passed, Measure 95 would change the Oregon Constitution and tie teachers’ salaries to how well their students learn.

We believe the long-term answer to America’s educational difficulties does not lie in reforming the public (government) schools, but in replacing them. We articulate some of the reasons for this in our recommendation on Ballot Measure 1. However, this Measure seems like an appropriate step to take while we work and pray toward a more Biblical goal.

The teacher unions, who for years have insisted on academic achievement as a measure for a parent’s fitness to teach their own children, strongly oppose this Measure. Besides the obvious hypocrisy in this, the teacher unions seem mixed up about just who is employing who here.

Employers have the right to set wages (Matthew 20). Teachers work for those that hire them – the parents and taxpayers. When God gives children to parents, He “certifies” them, so to speak, as able to teach their children. But when parents want to hire the job out, they should set the wages for the employees. How shall we set the wages for these hired teachers? This Measure says we should pay for results, not effort or time spent trying to do the job.

The first advantage of this Measure is that it takes a very common sense step in fixing wages. Teachers are hired to help students learn, and that’s what they should be paid for.

A second and very important advantage of this Measure is that it will renew the debate over just what children should be learning. As our culture has moved away from Christianity and the Word of God, it has also moved away from objective, content-oriented education, into more subjective arenas that can’t be measured. Measure 95 will direct us back towards objective, measurable education. We urge a Yes vote on Measure 95.

This voters' guide produced by Parents Education Association, PAC.