Legislative Highlights

As hinted at in last week’s column, Senate Bill 916 gets one more week of coverage. Things evolved quickly – sometimes hour-to-hour – since my last update. After passing the... Read More

Although K-12 advocates have had to fight hard in recent years for gains to the State School Fund, all things considered, the years since the Student Success Act passed in... Read More

The advocates working the Capitol halls keep a sharp eye out this time of year for any signs the session might end soon. A sure indication is the closing of... Read More

Senate Bill 916 has drawn much attention this session by both education advocates and advocates of good governance in general. It’s had multiple hearings in both chambers, inspired multiple editorials... Read More

Public education funding had two big wins Friday, May 30. The Joint Ways and Means Committee approved an $11.36 billion State School Fund, a fair approximation of the state’s current... Read More

School districts frequently receive public records requests. These requests are a vital avenue for public accountability, but they come at a cost. Somebody must find the documents and prepare them... Read More

I would love to be talking this week about how we are going to fund schools in light of reduced Oregon revenue expectations or how we are going to address... Read More

At its best, the legislative process is the art of compromise. House Bill 3365, which passed the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, May 21, is a prime example. The original... Read More

In any given session, many bills pass with little fanfare or controversy, and many others die quickly. But then there are one or two bills that prove pernicious, plodding along... Read More

The June Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast (released in May, despite the name) is often a demarcation in any session, indicating the point at which we move from policy discussion... Read More

Trying to figure out how much a bill will cost schools can sometimes be like trying to count how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. For... Read More

More bills will come to a timely end today, May 9, the “second chamber work session posting deadline.” Bills in policy committees must be posted to a future agenda by... Read More

School board members are rightly focused on public education for student success and all the legislation swirling around it. But school boards are also governmental entities that must follow state... Read More

Things have felt a bit quieter in the Capitol in the weeks following the first chamber deadline. Many bills have gone off to wait silently in the Joint Ways and... Read More

A major factor in OSBA’s strength as an advocacy association comes in being able to connect legislators with school board members. Our members can tell legislators the real stories of... Read More

It’s a week full of opportunities for members to engage with OSBA and the legislative process. OSBA held its Advocacy Day (see Adrienne’s column) on Thursday, April 24, and the... Read More

Some of Oregon’s school buses travel no more than a few miles a day in densely packed urban areas. Some of Oregon’s school buses travel a hundred miles or more... Read More

The Legislature’s pace ebbs and flows, and this week was a bit calmer on the committee front. The first committee deadline is behind us, and the emphasis is on chamber... Read More