2025 Legislative Summary

2025 Legislative Victories

Though OEA’s top three priority bills did not pass this session, our members, staff, and coalition partners still secured landmark legislative victories - both in policy and in the budget. These wins reflect years of advocacy, organizing, and persistence, and they will deliver real, lasting benefits for Oregon students and educators. At the same time, we must acknowledge that Oregon’s schools remain funded below the levels called for in the Quality Education Model (QEM), and our fight for full and fair funding continues.

OEA Priority Legislation

This session, OEA brought forward a clear and values-driven legislative agenda focused on equity, respect, and support for public educators and students.

Our priority bills sought to fully fund special education, ensure fair compensation for part-time faculty, and give educators a voice in the size of their classrooms and caseloads. These are not abstract policy ideas - they reflect the lived experiences of our members and the urgent needs of Oregon schools.

Throughout the session, OEA engaged in escalating advocacy efforts to bring these priorities to the forefront. Thousands of members made their voices heard through calls, emails, and testimony. We convened a statewide lobby day, with hundreds of educators meeting directly with their legislators. And in one of the largest labor actions of the session, we organized the “Rally to Invest in Our Future,” where more than 1,000 union members gathered in Salem to demand real investment in the services that make Oregon work. This was coordinated with the lobbying strategy to press the co-chairs on three budget framework items on the rainy day, ending fund balance, and opposing tax breaks for the wealthy. In the end that advocacy had some success passing legislation and impacting the budget decision despite the top three priorities not passing.

While none of our priority bills were signed into law, the power we built through this organizing cannot be overstated. Each conversation, action, and mobilization added to the growing force behind our priorities. We are laying a foundation not just for future sessions, but for the long-term transformation of Oregon’s education system.

Fully Funding Special Education

OEA and our coalition partners called for dedicated funding to fully meet the needs of special education students - something the current system fails to provide. The proposal sought to update state funding formulas to reflect the actual staffing, service delivery, and individualized support that students with disabilities require.

Across Oregon, educators report caseloads that are too large, resources that are too limited, and bureaucratic hurdles that stand in the way of effective support. This bill would have been a first step in correcting decades of underfunding and structural neglect. While it did not pass, it helped solidify a growing coalition of educators, families, and advocates that will continue to demand justice for students with disabilities. The partnership with parents and the community in this coalition was a major point of growth and progress in this campaign.

Pay Parity for Part-Time Community College Faculty

Oregon’s community colleges rely heavily on part-time faculty - many of whom teach the same classes as their full-time colleagues but are paid significantly less. OEA’s priority legislation would have required pay parity, ensuring that part-time instructors receive equal compensation for equal work. This legislation moved further in the legislative process than it ever has before.

The bill also aimed to create more stability in the faculty workforce by valuing the contributions of educators who are often overlooked. It gained momentum thanks to strong public testimony and widespread support but failed to move forward due to budget constraints. Still, this issue remains urgent, and OEA will continue pushing for fairness in Oregon’s higher education system.

Class Size & Caseload as a Mandatory Subject of Bargaining

OEA’s final priority bill, HB 3652, sought to make class size and caseload mandatory subjects of collective bargaining for K-12 educators in all schools. These factors directly affect working conditions and learning outcomes - yet too often, educators are shut out of the decisions that shape their classrooms.

This bill would have empowered educators to negotiate for reasonable class sizes and manageable workloads, ensuring that students receive the attention and support they need. This effort was meant to advance on the 2021 victory of securing class size and case load as mandatory subjects of collective bargaining for Title 1 schools. Though the bill to apply this across the board fell short, it brought needed attention to a system that often prioritizes budget spreadsheets over student success. Educators across the state are already incorporating these issues into local bargaining, and OEA will continue to fight for this change statewide.

Education Funding

Education funding was a central issue this session, and one where OEA members saw both progress and setbacks.

Our momentum collided with harsh budget realities. Skyrocketing costs - especially for health care and retirement - paired with inflation and federal uncertainty, meant that the final K-12 and community college budgets fell short of what’s needed. These budgets do not close the Quality Education Model (QEM) gap, and they are not enough to avoid layoffs, program cuts, or oversized class and case loads. Oregon students and educators deserve more.

K-12 Funding

The 2025 legislature made a significant and long-overdue change to K-12 education funding by passing HB 2140, updating the Current Service Level (CSL) calculation and increasing baseline state funding by $600 million per biennium. This change ensures that school funding more accurately reflects the real costs of maintaining existing services, especially as districts face rising expenses.

This win didn’t come overnight - it was built through persistent, organized advocacy over multiple sessions. Educators have consistently sounded the alarm that the old formula lagged far behind inflation and actual district costs. The change was made possible in large part due to educator activism, including the landmark PAT strike, which highlighted the urgent need for sustainable and equitable funding across the state.

However, even with the CSL adjustment, Oregon’s K-12 funding still does not meet the standards outlined in the Quality Education Model - a framework developed by the state itself to determine what students truly need. Inflation, growing costs for employee benefits, and looming threats of federal cuts all placed pressure on the final budget. The result is a K-12 education budget that, while improved, is still insufficient to meet today’s challenges. Districts are preparing for staffing reductions, increased class sizes, and reduced supports for students, even as we celebrate the incremental gains made this year.

Community College Funding

Community colleges are a cornerstone of Oregon’s education system, offering pathways to higher education, workforce development, and personal advancement for tens of thousands of Oregonians. Yet, year after year, these institutions operate on a funding model that leaves them stretched thin - and 2025 was no exception.

While lawmakers acknowledged the importance of community colleges, the final budget did not provide sufficient increases to keep up with rising operational costs. Inflation, escalating benefit expenses, and growing student needs continue to outpace the funding provided by the state. As a result, community colleges are again facing difficult decisions: whether to reduce course offerings, increase tuition, or cut staff.

OEA and our community college faculty affiliates have consistently called for a renewed commitment to this sector, and the 2025 session only reinforces how critical that work remains. Without significant new revenue, Oregon’s community colleges risk becoming less accessible, particularly for rural, low-income, and nontraditional students who rely most on their services.

During the last biennia, the Community College Support Fund (CCSF) came out at about $30 million above CSL. This long session, the CCSF will be at CSL, which is $854 million.