Tax Policy and Music Education in Portland,Oregon,1990–2017

Abstract

In this study, I used historical case methodology to analyze the conditions of music education in the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools (PPS) between 1990 and 2017. In 2008, city leaders discovered that only 25% of PPS schools had any arts instruction and developed the Arts Tax to increase staffing for those subjects in the public elementary schools. The primary purpose of this study was to help explain why city leaders felt the Arts Tax was necessary policy. I utilized both primary source archives and interviews of former and current teachers to complete a timeline of events that help explain the conditions city leaders found in 2008 and the remediation process that followed. The analysis includes narratives of the budget cut process, behavior of stakeholders, and exploration of policies that affected PPS music programs. Emergent themes were arranged chronologically according to the timeline and included budget cuts, response to budget cuts, and site-based management. An ad hoc policy analysis provided evidence that site-based management had an indirect but substantial effect on the outcomes for PPS music programs at all grade levels.