Portland is fortunate to have a newspaper with an intrepid local journalism staff. Press Herald reporter Lana Cohen, for the second time in the past several months, has brought to light, using the Freedom of Information Act, knowledge about financial issues Portland Public Schools has had.

The first instance was of then-school board chairperson Emily Figdor refusing the city’s help to mitigate the payroll situation because it might adversely affect the outcome of ballot Question 5. The most recent case is the IRS levying more than $1 million in fines against Portland Public Schools over the past four years.

Why does it take a reporter to file a FOIA request to bring these issues to light? How about some transparency for the Portland electorate? Fortunately, the voters of Portland had the good sense to vote down Question 5 on school board autonomy over the budget last November.

Portland taxpayers should know if their tax dollars are potentially being used to pay fines for Portland Public Schools not completing required tax forms on time. If the board is claiming to be understaffed in finance positions as far back as 2018, why weren’t sufficient funds allocated in school board budgets to fill these gaps? One would think that paying your employees, Portland’s teachers, and the timely filing of tax returns would be high priorities.

Revelations like these diminish Portlanders’ trust of their elected representatives. Elected officials need to realize trust is earned, not given.

Samuel Rosenthal
Portland

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