Portland Public Schools will likely have fewer teachers next year, due to a drop in enrollment. That doesn’t necessarily mean layoffs, as some teachers will likely retire, and the district may choose not to fill some open positions. But parents at some schools are better prepared than others to influence the number of teachers available for their kids. Every year, private school foundations bring in thousands of dollars to fund full time teaching positions, but not every school has a foundation.

A group called Reform PPS Funding wants to change that. The group says that even though local school foundations do have to give some of the funds they raise to the district-wide nonprofit, the system is still fundamentally inequitable because most of the money goes to schools with whiter, wealthier populations. We hear from Beth Cavanaugh, a member of the Reform PPS Funding group, and PPS Board Chair Michelle DePass.