ATTACKING WORKERS & SCHOOLS

What does $1.3 million from a rightwing Nevada sexual hypnotherapist get you? If you’re Bill Sizemore, it buys your way on to the Oregon ballot, no matter how harmful or unpopular your ideas are. These are the bad ideas Sizemore has for the 2008 ballot:

Ballot Measure 58
Measure 58 punishes students by imposing a one-size-fits-all mandate on English learning. Children learn at different paces and have a range of abilities—this measure forces a top-down solution across the state, and it doesn’t even make exceptions for students with learning disabilities. Who would you rather have making decisions about education—parents, teachers, and school districts, or Bill Sizemore, a racketeer with no background in education? To find out more, click here.

Ballot Measure 59
Measure 59 would cut $2.4 billion every two years out of funding for basic services like education, public safety, and healthcare in order to provide tax breaks only to the wealthiest Oregon taxpayers. 75 percent of Oregonians wouldn’t save any money from Sizemore’s scheme, but they’d face higher costs in hidden fees and new taxes. Sizemore has placed similar measures on the ballot twice before—both times, voters said NO. To find out more, click here.

Ballot Measure 60
Measure 60 is another vague and poorly worded measure from Sizemore. It would base teachers’ pay solely on “classroom performance,” but “classroom performance” isn’t defined anywhere in the measure—even though teachers’ pay will depend on it. This measure will lead to more standardized testing and will punish teachers who take on challenging assignments in special educations classrooms or low-income areas. This is the second time Sizemore has brought this bad idea to the ballot. To find out more, click here.

Ballot Measure 63
This measure would eliminate building permits and safety inspections on many construction projects. The combination of shoddy work on natural gas pipes, wiring, plumbing, and support could spell disaster—not just for the property owners, but for their neighbors and the emergency responders who’d have to be called in when something went wrong. For more information, click here.

Ballot Measure 64
Another bad Sizemore rerun, Measure 64 has been on the ballot THREE times before. Measure 64 unfairly singles out public employees and would shut them out of the political process, while doing nothing to limit the influence of corporations and special interests. Because it’s a Bill Sizemore measure, it’s so poorly written that it goes much, much further, by slashing funding to charities and non-profit groups. It’s just another unfair attack by Bill Sizemore on working Oregonians. For more information, click here.

DEFEND OREGON | 2027 Lloyd Center, Portland, OR 97232, Tel: 503-288-5918
Bill Sizemore photo by Northwest Labor Press