To the Editor:

For those of you planning on voting yes on Measure 97 because it will increase revenue for education, consider this: Vote no, and take the $600-plus that it will cost you every year and give it directly to your local school. Designate your contribution for a specific program or classroom teacher to use for things they can use to directly benefit their students. Of the revenue that Measure 97 would generate, only a small percentage of your $600 will reach the classroom and kids. Oregon Department of Education and its bureaucracy will consume much of it. I have not seen or heard of any specific uses of how our money will be used to improve education, health care or senior programs. How well has Salem used new pots of tax revenue in the past? I was a classroom educator for 34 years, and I’m voting no for those reasons. So, vote no and give what you would have given to the state and give directly to your local school to use, and really help your local school and our kids.

Neil Bauer

Mt. Vernon