I collected a list of posts on Stand For Children.

Some friends of ours who are about to see their neighborhood school folded out from under them are the new firebrands. They're involved with something called Stand for Children, and they want us to get an e-mail out right away to the City Council urging them to pungle up more dough for schools.
[ Jack Bog's Blog: Vote Sten and Saltzman -- for the children's sake ]

Your tax dollars at work, your tax break dollars at work in politics.
Sat, 01/29/2005
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/543

No one on the otherside of the bargaining table . . . reflections of a legislator on PERS
Sun, 02/06/2005
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/548

Renee In Misguided Support For Stand For Children on Capital Steps
Wed, 02/23/2005
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/563

Oregon Education Budget: Split The PERS Costs Off From Ongoing Operation Costs
Fri, 03/04/2005
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/572

BlueOregon: they stick to their talking point on revenue, again, against the poor
Sat, 05/07/2005
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/626

The donor funding stream for Stand For Children and the like are tied to private folks that are tied to the OIC; wearing a variety of hats. This is a small town.

Nobody wants their little rivers of cash to dry up, lest they would lose their ability to cover the costs for their own kids. No one can dare to individually Stand Up For Children.

My comment:

I exhaustively searched for a genuine advocate for kids and came up dry, even with the PTA folks.

Good luck in your initiation, your skepticism will make sick until you cave in and just go with the flow . . .

Compulsory reply to comment:

Mr. Magoo,

"Taming the mammoth will require changes to Oregon laws governing collective bargaining for public employees."

Absolutely not. No law needs to be changed, just compliance with current law.
See -- pdxape.us Associated Portland Educators

Reining in the power that has been ceded to Credit Rating folks is one essential remedy, which is/requires a team effort by D's and Rs.

Debt equals slavery. Rich folks do not have a single problem with government bonds, as they are an investment opportunity with guaranteed returns and reduce their net tax burden, relative to the poor folks. Public employee pension bonds are even better as the dollars flow right back, for investment, without effectively even leaving the bond buyer's hand. It is sort of like Foreign Aid that is nothing more than a Transfer Payment to local folks that made a bad business judgment.

The PERS stuff is not even a permissive term of bargaining (see Strunk on dismissal of some claims citing a SAIF case), even though wages and length of service are in the formula. If SAIF cannot alter the terms of a legislative contract then neither can any of Oregon's governmental entities, even if they still toss the PERS stuff into contracts that, by their nature, usually expire after three years anyway.

Make the OIC's favored clients guarantee, personally, any projected returns the Credit-Rating-Affiliated-Self-Dealing actuary merely says are likely. And, get a performance bond, if one can be had, legally.

Additional reading, from my appeal to the Republicans to solve PERS:

(Split The Bargaining Unit Based On PERS status) NW Republican: The Oregonian's 'Outta-Touch-Machine' Fires Into High Gear!
Tue, 03/07/2006
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/971

(Monopoly) NW Republican: The Oregonian's 'Outta-Touch-Machine' Fires Into High Gear!
Tue, 02/28/2006
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/959

(Ted Forgot To See PERS Beneficiaries As His Top Priority, Hill Would Dig A Hole) Running left or right: The party is primary
Sun, 02/12/2006
http://pdxnag.com/drupal/node/948

See comments here too --
NW Republican: PERS: What Would Gov. _________ Do?