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Oregon State Legislature success-quality-education

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​Oregon House Democrats

REBUILDING FOR THE 'NOW' AND THE FUTURE

Capitol Phone: 503-986-1900
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-295, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email the House Majority Leader: Rep.JulieFahey@oregonlegislature.gov

 
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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.