Legislative Highlights

School board member Mitzi Bauer sent a letter April 5 to Ways and Means Co-Chair Rep. Tawna Sanchez. She said her message was simple: Schools must serve all children, and... Read More

Tomorrow, on Tuesday, April 18, there will be a public hearing on a bill that would make a small but significant change to school board service. Currently, school board service... Read More

Standards for recovery schools House Bill 2767 A What it does: Recovery schools are alternative high schools specifically established to support students in recovery from substance use disorders. House Bill 2767... Read More

PERS rules House Bill 2296 A What it does: In 2019, Senate Bill 1049 made changes to the Public Employees Retirement System, including redirecting a portion of member contributions toward... Read More

For advocates and lobbyists, this week is legislative halftime. The legislative session hit its midpoint with the first chamber work session deadline Tuesday, April 4. Policy committees have concluded their... Read More

A bill to reframe the biennial school funding debate stayed one step ahead of the legislative reaper. House Bill 2739 would restore education stakeholders’ input into state calculations on the... Read More

The Senate and House have more bills scheduled for Monday than they can hear, so they will likely change hearing times and many bills will be carried over to later... Read More

Ensuring that graduates are prepared  HB 2264 What it does:  House bill 2264 would require ODE to conduct a study to determine how best to ensure all high school graduates... Read More

Committee agendas are packed beyond any possibility of hearing all the bills and are changing daily, making a complete calendar listing mostly pointless. Below are a few key bills and... Read More

Bill shapes are starting to emerge from the muck of the 2023 legislative session. A procedural deadline on Tuesday, April 4, is separating the possible from the doomed. A flurry... Read More

The Legislature has made its State School Fund intentions public. Now the public can let the Legislature know what it thinks. A state budget framework released Thursday proposed $9.9 billion for... Read More

Gov. Tina Kotek’s education adviser’s first foray into the Senate Education Committee to present a bill was a doozy. The bombshell Melissa Goff dropped with little warning Thursday would fundamentally... Read More

Transportation costs  House Bill 3014  What it does: Schools face limits on spending State School Fund money on transporting students. HB 3014 would add alternative transportation costs such as public transit... Read More

Bills in policy committees must receive a work session in the chamber they started in by April 4 or they are effectively dead. Committee agendas are packed beyond any possibility... Read More

The first legislative deadline to get bills heard passed Friday, March 17, beginning the visible sifting of bills’ prospects. The next major deadline is the April 4 first chamber deadline to actually... Read More

Education advocates’ most anticipated bill, the State School Fund, has appeared. Oregon legislators are getting a tutorial on exactly what it will pay for. The Joint Ways and Means Education... Read More

Data collection HB 3288 What it does: Student demographic data are collected at the school and district level, flows to the Oregon Department of Education, then on to the U.S.... Read More

Early learning and literacy House Bills 3134, 3198, 3454, 3561 What they do: HBs 3134, 3198, 3454 and 3561 address early learning and literacy. HB 3134 would add phonics as... Read More