Legislative leadership announced plans to increase the State School Fund to $10.2 billion, a news release Monday night said.
“Lifting up our schools and educators and improving learning outcomes in a meaningful way are key priorities this session,” said Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland and the co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Education Subcommittee.
The allocation marks a significant increase from earlier school funding proposals but still falls short of the $10.3 billion school leaders say they need for most districts to avoid shortfalls.
Education advocates have been working hard for months to increase the allocation from $9.9 billion, which they say would have led to widespread loss of teachers, programs, support staff and class time. The Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast released Wednesday gave the state’s budget writers about $2.3 billion more to work with for 2023-25 and an opportunity to increase public school funding.
The news release touts $10.2 billion as $700 million above the current service level, the amount needed to maintain all schools’ staff and programs. School business officials, though, say the state’s calculation, which relies on past contract averages, woefully underestimates the cost of the contracts they have in hand. The Oregon Association of School Business Officials collected data from dozens of districts to estimate that at least $10.3 billion was needed to keep most districts whole.
The news release also announced intentions to invest $140 million in early literacy. One of Gov. Tina Kotek’s priority bills would pay for summer learning, teacher training and support for children from birth through grade three.
Funding for anything, though, isn’t going anywhere right now. Senate Republicans have walked out in part to protest a bill on abortion and gender-affirming health care. The Senate can’t reach quorum, and bills can’t move. If the session ends without passing budget bills, Kotek would have to call the Legislature into special session to pass budget bills.
House Bill 5015, the State School Fund bill, currently sits in the Joint Ways and Means Committee. The committee has not scheduled a hearing to amend the bill with the new amount.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
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