During the 2011 session, legislators made historic progress for students. This progress could have been written off as an anomaly, but in 2012, legislators built on the momentum they created. In only 30 days, and their first official even-numbered year session, the legislature passed the Governor’s priority education legislation and made a commitment to improve public education for students across the state.
In addition, the legislature laid important ground work for the 2013 session. There will be more work to do to ensure every child graduateshigh school prepared for and with access to college.
Here’s a quick snapshot of how items on Stand for Children’s legislative agenda fared in 2012.
Create a Path to Success for All Students
A great school system has programs that ensure all kids arrive in school ready to learn, are challenged, and are put on a path to college or career.
Tuition Equity: This legislation would allow all Oregon high school graduates to attend an Oregon University at in-state tuition rates, regardless of documentation status. Champions for Tuition Equity anticipated that they did not have the needed votes to pass legislation this session, but held a powerful public hearing on this issue in order to prepare for passage in 2013.
Ensure Oregon’s School System is Efficient & has Strong Leadership
Just as schools need a strong principal to take them where they need to go, we need leadership and vision at the state level.
Governor’s education legislation (SB 1581): PASSED. This legislation created Achievement Compacts between school districts and the state. Effective school districts, those demonstrating improvements in student learning, do a few things well. One of those is setting clear, meaningful targets and aligning everything they do to reach those targets. Achievement Compacts will ensure every district in the state adopts this effective practice.
These Compacts spell out what every child needs to do throughout their education in order to be on-track to graduate high school prepared for college – read and do math at grade level by 3rd grade ,pass 6 classes by the end of 9th grade, and start earning college credits while in high school. Students, parents, schools, and the state must work together to help all students reach these key benchmarks.
Work toward Stable & Adequate Funding
Excellent schools require a consistent and reliable level of investment so principals and teachers can focus on the classroom.
K-12 School Budget: The legislature wrote a 2-year budget in 2011, so they weren’t expected to make substantial changes to school funding in 2012. The goal was to prevent further cuts in the face of falling revenue forecasts, which key legislators committed to early on in the session. There was a minor $2.5 million increase in the State School Fund.
Kicker Reform (SJR 202): NOT PASSED. Despite a strong public hearing and broad support for this legislation to improve stability of school funding, legislative leadership was not prepared to refer this proposal to the ballot. However, important groundwork was laid forthe 2013 session, and Stand will need to continue to push legislators to make changes to Oregon’s illogical ‘kicker’ law.
Class Size Reporting (HB 4161): NOT PASSED. This legislation would have provided clear and accurate information to the community about what class sizes really look like in public schools today. While the legislation did not move forward, we may be able to obtain access to this information anyway. Stay tuned.
Improve Supportfor Teachers & Principals
Educators should be recognized as the key determinant of the quality of a school and provided the support they need to succeed: the right tools, training, and helpful feedback.
Teacher & Principal Evaluation (HB 4102): NOT PASSED but changes to Administrative Rule are pending. This legislation would have ensured principal and teacher evaluations included at least 4 levels of effectiveness, occurred at least every two years, and incorporated student learning as a significant component in the evaluation. While the legislation did not move forward, the Governor has written a letter to the State Board of Education asking them to include the components of this legislation into a rewrite of the Oregon Administrative Rule on evaluations, which has the force of law. Stay tuned for opportunities to advocate for this important change.
Learn More
Check out our full 2012 Legislative Summary.
Find out what you can do to help policies passed in 2011 and 2012 have a real positive impact for kids. (Link to blog post on What Now)
Read our 2012 Legislative Agenda.
