Salem-Keizer will pull $14m from savings after state funding comes in low – Salem Reporter:
The Salem-Keizer School District will have to dip deeper into its savings to cover the cost of running schools next year after officials learned they would not receive $14 million expected from the state.
That change is based largely on a state determination that local schools are serving fewer students in poverty, district leaders said. The surprising reduction almost guarantees district leaders will again have to make cuts next school year to balance the budget.
Superintendent Andrea Castañeda didn’t mince words about the change before the Salem-Keizer School Board on Tuesday, April 14.
“I have zero confidence, zero confidence in Oregon’s measure,” Castañeda said. “I am furious that this has been going on for over a decade.”
Castañeda has learned the important lesson many of us already knew: The Oregon Department of Education is the furthest thing from a competent or trustworthy partner.
At issue is the way Oregon calculates student poverty, a technical process with millions at stake to serve some of the neediest students in the state. It’s a topic Castaneda has previously been vocal about.
Oregon uses federal Census data to determine how many students in a district are impoverished households. The numbers are several years old by the time they reach education officials, and Castañeda said they’re prone to inaccuracy and random changes.
The state concluded based on that data Salem-Keizer has 4,696 students in poverty, down from 6,553 previously.
A district-commissioned analysis in 2025 obtained by The Oregonian concluded that Oregon’s method undercounts poverty rates in districts with large shares of low-income students, and in rural districts. That effectively means those districts get less state money to help address student needs.
The state collects data Castañeda said would be more accurate that measures the number of Oregon children who receive federal benefits tied to income, like food assistance or welfare payments.
I have every confidence that Castañeda is right, and the Oregon Department of Education is wrong (again).