OEA Testimony
Members of the House Committee on Education,
The Oregon Education Association represents over 42,000 educators across Oregon, and across the education spectrum (from pre-K through community colleges).
First, we would like to thank Governor Kotek for convening a conversation around the critical issue of accountability within our K-12 public schools. OEA believes that our schools are under resourced, and we understand that our communities want new targeted investments to be paired with transparency and accountability metrics. It is clear to us that new investments, such as investments in special education, and improved accountability need to go hand-in-hand as Oregon strives to provide our students with the education they deserve.
The package before the committee today – and by this we mean not just HB 2009, but also the administrative reforms that are part of the accountability conversation as well – will help move Oregon toward our shared desire to ensure every Oregon student has access to a world class education and the tools they need to succeed.
And for these reasons OEA supports HB 2009-1.
In 2022, the Secretary of State’s audit division released a risk report, outlining several issues that the education system was facing. In short, they summarized five things that needed to improve in Oregon to better support our students:
- The state needed to better monitor district performance and provide support for districts to improve outcomes.
- There needed to be improved transparency around student outcomes.
- ODE needed the authority to increase scrutiny and guidance in district spending.
- District standards needed to be clearer, and enforceable.
- And funding needed to be stabilized.
The accountability work before you represents forward progress on many of these issues, and other targeted investments being considered this year speak to funding stabilization. The administrative efforts discussed in the lead up to this proposal in the department are also important. OEA supports the continued efforts to streamline grant applications for example.
OEA is particularly grateful for the inclusion of mandating the use of interim assessment tools in the bill. As the folks who do the work of educating students every day, OEA members know that the best way to measure student progress is through formative or intermittent assessments that measure student progress, not the summative assessments that we currently rely on. OEA’s hope is that this is the first step towards using these more accurate tools to measure student progress.
Oregon’s educators have heard from the Governor and lawmakers that new investments in education must be paired with accountability measures, and we agree as long as both are prioritized. That is why we support HB 2009-1, and the administrative changes we expect alongside it, and see them as one half of the needed action from the legislature to support our students.
Accountability measures, along with targeted investments in critical programs like special education, will help ensure our students have the resources they need to thrive.
