About the Ways & Means Roadshow

Every two years, the Ways & Means Committee of the Oregon legislature hits the road and travels across Oregon to hear directly from voters about what should be funded. 

These legislators are the deciders of Oregon's budget so this is OUR BEST opportunity to make our voices heard and demand more funding for k-12 schools and community colleges. Each stop will have the opportunity for folks to testify. 

Even if you would NOT like to testify, showing up in your local or OEA swag so that we can have a visible presence will make a huge impact. 

Please complete our form to RSVP, and if you have any questions, please reach out to us!

Contact OEA Government Relations

Can't Attend? Submit Your Testimony

Can't attend in person? Use our Roadshow Testimony Toolkit to submit written testimony!

Working families across the country are anxious and angry about the executive branch’s overreaching actions to dismantle public services.

Now, the administration wants to do away with the Department of Education. Gutting the Department of Education means gutting our public schools, where 90% of students learn. 

Tell Congress to push back against the destruction of the Department of Education and stop Trump before he destroys public education.

About HB 3652

In 2021 the Oregon legislature passed Senate Bill 580, making class size and case load a mandatory subject of collective bargaining in Title 1 schools. HB 3652 will expand the statute to include all K-12 schools.

Despite consistently being named as one of the top issues for parents, students and community members, class size and case load are not mandatory subjects of collective bargaining in all Oregon schools. This means there is no guarantee that class size and case load will ever be meaningfully discussed at the bargaining table during a contract negotiation.

As a result, discussion on class size and case load can often be delayed or deprioritized during the bargaining process, drawing out the negotiation timeline and delaying resolution on a settled contract.

Use OEA’s letter writing tool to join fellow educators from across the state in urging your lawmakers to support HB 3652 and make class size and case load a mandatory subject of bargaining for every K-12 school in Oregon.

Background

Over the past several decades, institutions of higher education have increasingly come to rely on part-time faculty to prepare and provide instruction to Oregon’s students. This trend should come as no surprise, as part-time faculty members are currently paid significantly less than their full-time counterparts, despite having the same qualification and providing the same education to students. 

Shockingly, during the 2023-2024 academic year, the average part-time faculty member only earned 58% of what a full-time faculty member earned for the same credit load. 

Part-time faculty at Oregon’s community colleges teach the same students the same courses with the same expertise as their full-time counterparts, but they are doing it for significantly less pay. 

HB 2669 would appropriate funds and require community colleges to pay their part-time faculty the same rate, on a per-hour basis, as the community college pays full-time faculty. 

Use our letter writing tool to contact your lawmakers and urge them to support HB 2669, and ensure pay parity for part-time faculty at Oregon’s community colleges. 

The secretary of education should be the nation’s top public education advocate, helping push for more resources, and support for students no matter where they live, the color of their skin, or how much their family earns. 

If confirmed as education secretary, Linda McMahon will work to undermine public schools.  

• She will work to dismantle the Department of Education, which helps lower class sizes, serve lower-income students in rural, suburban, and urban communities, and provide support to students with disabilities. 

• She will promote public school vouchers, which take funds away from public schools, where 90% of students go, and give them to private schools. 

Like Betsy Devos, Linda McMahon is a billionaire with no significant background in public schools or any understanding of what it takes to help students thrive.   

Call your senators and urge them vote NO on Linda McMahon as education secretary.  

For decades, Oregon has strived to create a public school system where every student thrives. An inclusive school system means that students experiencing disability are provided with access to a full range of special education (SpEd) services and are included in general education classrooms, with schools and educators who can meet their needs, as often as possible  

However, SpEd funding in Oregon has not kept up with the growing needs of our students. The result is that SpEd programs and supports in Oregon are now underfunded by about $700m per biennium. 

HB 2953 would help fix this! Write to your lawmaker today and let them know that you support HB 2953, and that they should too!

For decades, Oregon has strived to create a public school system where every student thrives. An inclusive school system means that students experiencing disability are provided with access to a full range of special education (SpEd) services and are included in general education classrooms, with schools and educators who can meet their needs, as often as possible  

However, SpEd funding in Oregon has not kept up with the growing needs of our students. The result is that SpEd programs and supports in Oregon are now underfunded by about $700m per biennium. 

HB 2953 would help fix this! Write to your lawmaker today and let them know that you support HB 2953, and that they should too!