State Rep. Hoa Nguyen, D-Portland, who is also a member of the David Douglas School Board, addresses OSBA’s Legislative Policy Committee on Saturday about tackling chronic absenteeism. (Photo by Emielle Nischik, OSBA)
Meeting in person for the first time, OSBA’s current Legislative Policy Committee built momentum Saturday for the important work leading to the 2025 legislative session.
“We have great things to do for our state, for our students, and that work starts today,” said Lori Sattenspiel, OSBA’s Legislative Services director.
She and Legislative Specialist Efren Zamudio guided LPC members through a series of discussions to help frame OSBA’s legislative priorities. Members raised everything from adding social-emotional supports for students to creating summer learning opportunities to smoothing teacher hiring practices.
But above all, both as a priority and current sense of frustration, arose the continuing struggle around stable and adequate school funding.
Zamudio told the gathering in Salem that the coming session is shaping up to be the most pivotal one since 2019, when the landmark Student Success Act was passed. The act created an annual public education investment of more than $1 billion annually, but schools are still falling behind financially due to declining enrollment and a State School Fund that does not accurately predict rising costs, especially related to labor demands and inflation.
“For us to be successful, to deliver for kids, I need every person in this room,” Zamudio said. “Over half a million students in Oregon are depending on our shared success.”
Despite the challenges, he said, there is reason for hope. A big one is that legislators are inclined to listen to school board members.
“Legislators want to hear your perspective,” he said. “Your voice matters. Your constituents are their constituents. They know what it’s like to make difficult decisions.”
The LPC, which includes OSBA Board members as well as 20 regionally elected representatives, helps set OSBA’s agenda in the Legislature. Members also serve the important function of communicating to and from their regions.
Focus on the funding question started with an analysis of Oregon’s education investment over time as a percentage of overall state revenues. Despite soaring state revenues since the 2008 recession, the Legislature has reduced education as a priority: In 2009-11, the State School Fund constituted 39% of General Fund and lottery revenue; by 2023-25 that number had dropped to 30.2%.
Essentially, while state school funding has risen over time, it has not kept pace with either inflation or the greater needs of young people.
In making education’s case to legislators in the future, Zamudio suggested that school board members characterize not just the amount of money needed, but how it will be spent effectively.
“How are we making sure that they feel that education is a good investment?” he said.
Both Sattenspiel and Emielle Nischik, OSBA’s interim executive director, reminded LPC members that in considering higher funding for education, legislators and the public will also be asking for greater spending accountability.
LPC members also focused on potential ways to address chronic student absenteeism. Oregon has one of the highest rates nationally of students missing school for extended periods – a phenomenon tied to low graduation rates and diminished academic achievement.
State Rep. Hoa Nguyen, D-Portland, who is also a member of the David Douglas School Board, opened the chronic absenteeism discussion by stating that “attendance intersects with everything,” and that hundreds of Oregon students are missing class for months at a time.
“I really want to center students and parents in this work,” Nguyen said. She later said she would ensure that school board members’ perspectives are heard by legislators.
Sarah Finger McDonald, an LPC member from the Corvallis School Board, described that district’s efforts to create connections in the school environment and task staff with building relationships with families. They are showing results, she said, but a significant remaining challenge is addressing students’ social and emotional needs.
“Making sure students have a way to get to school is easier than dealing with the mental health or anxiety that’s leading them to not want to come,” she said.
In a tearful entreaty to open the all-day gathering, Sattenspiel emphasized that addressing OSBA’s perpetual goal around stable and adequate funding will require a heavy lift from LPC members and OSBA’s entire 1,400-strong membership.
“Funding is the answer,” she said. “But it’s going to take every single one of us. We all have to work together.”
– Alex Pulaski, OSBA
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