Our Pledge to Every Oregonian
2019 Legislative Successes
Investing in Quality Public Education
Student Success
Act: The Student Success Act (HB 3427): provides $1 billion per year to make unprecedented investments
in early childhood education, build a more equitable education system, and
provide additional services in every single school district that students need
to succeed. This investment package was the product of a year-long bipartisan
process to build a model public education system in Oregon through a dedicated,
sustainable revenue stream that ties funding to outcomes.
K-12 School
Funding: In addition to the
Student Success Act, the legislature passed a record K-12 budget, investing $9
billion in the State School Fund. This represents a 9.7% increase over the
2017-19 State School Fund.
Safe Classrooms
for All: K-12 public school
students and staff were at risk due to laws that severely restricted the
instances in which a professional educator could intervene to keep students
safe from physical harm. SB 963 provides much-needed clarification about
circumstances in which protective physical intervention may be used. The bill
also expressly prohibits using outmoded and dangerous types of restraint and
adds teeth to existing requirements that schools log and report every instance
of physical intervention to make sure it is not applied disproportionately.
Higher Education
Funding: The Legislature
supported a $2.2 billion budget to for community colleges and public
universities. It includes a significant increase in Oregon’s need-based
financial aid program, the Oregon Opportunity Grant, that will help 2,500 more
students afford to go to college.
Youth Suicide
Prevention: SB 52, Adi’s Act,
provides each Oregon school district with a model suicide prevention policy and
requires that each district have a policy in place. The need is pressing: in
2017, the Oregon Health Authority found that nearly half of lesbian, gay or
bisexual 8th graders have contemplated suicide and almost a third of
transgender 8th graders have attempted suicide.
Read more about 2019 education legislative successes.