High School Students Present On Minimum Wage – Joined By Senator Prozanski

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On Friday, April 22, Lowell High School students delivered a presentation on Oregon’s minimum wage, as part of a math assignment. Students presented to their classmates, joined by Oregon Senator, Floyd Prozanski. KEZI and The Register-Guard came out to cover the presentation — you can see their coverage below.

Students Pitch Ideal Minimum Wage to Panel (KEZI)

 

Lowell Students Learn How To Budget With Minimum Wage

By Alisha Roemeling
The Register-Guard

After examining the estimated cost of living in Oregon and crunching some numbers, students at Lowell Junior/Senior High School said Friday they may take their education more seriously — and possibly open a savings account.

Eighth-grade students in Taylor Llewellyn’s math class gave presentations about Oregon’s minimum wage and whether that hourly rate would be enough to sustain them, or their hypothetical future families.

The students presented their findings to their fellow classmates, Lowell School Board member Suzanne Kintzley and Vice Principal Johnie Matthews. They also were joined by a special guest — State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene.

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The students developed most of their numbers from information they found via the Internet, including the costs of different goods and services throughout Oregon. Oregon’s minimum wage is $9.25 per hour, but Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation in March that will raise the wage to $13.50 in Lane County over the next six years. Portland’s minimum will rise to $14.75 by 2022, smaller metro areas, including Lane County, to $13.50, and rural areas such as Douglas County to $12.50.

The first increases will occur in July, when the wage minimum goes up by 50 cents in Portland and smaller metro areas and 25 cents in rural communities.

Prior to any research, one student group agreed that an $8.50 minimum wage would be fair and adequate for a family of four.

They looked at the cost of renting a house, owning a car and buying medical insurance, food, bus tickets, entertainment and more. The per-month cost of living came to about $4,000 for a family of four, and that excluded child care and unexpected costs, the student group found.

“We realized $8.50 an hour wasn’t going to cover everything, so we increased it to $11.50,” said 12-year-old Ashley Woodhurst. “The challenge was to make sure all the expenses were paid for but not make the minimum wage too high,” Woodhurst said.

Even with both parents working fulltime at $11.50 an hour, the family would earn just over $4,000 a month — but that would be before any taxes or other mandatory withholdings from their paychecks.

“It’s hard to live off minimum wage,” Woodhurst said. “People should go to college to get higher paying jobs.”

Prozanski, sitting at a table in the back of the classroom, asked Woodhurst’s group whether they believed the minimum wage should be considered a living wage.

“We established that it’s possible to live on minimum wage, but it’s something you shouldn’t depend on,” Woodhurst said.

Through their calculations, other groups discovered they could save money by cutting some things from their budget, such as television or a car. The students found that expenses varied greatly depending on choices.

“It adds up, depending on what you spend money on,” said 14-year-old Melina Winters. “Some shoes costs more than $300 nowadays.”

Winters said the minimum wage math project opened her eyes to the cost of living.

“A lot of kids don’t get to learn about how to pay bills and deal with stuff when we’re older, and this project helped us do that,” Winters said.

The students said they had a new-found respect for their parents.

“Money doesn’t just fall out of the sky like we think is does,” said 12-year-old Nicky Sotomayor. “But after this I’m pretty sure we all wish it did.”