Session ends with mix of victories and unfinished business

The Legislature officially adjourned Friday, March 6, ending a 33-day legislative session that felt like both a marathon and a sprint (or most accurately, like sprinting a marathon). Of 304 bills introduced, the Legislative Assembly adopted over one-third.

OSBA will work with our partners at the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators to put out our full legislative report in the coming weeks. For now, here is a high-level overview of how things played out for education in Salem.

Some bills, such as House Bill 4011 on class size as a mandatory bargaining topic, we were able to take off our tracking list fairly early in the process. Others like government ethics issues, we tracked and worked right up to the last days.

Despite early concerns about the state facing a budget deficit large enough to force mid-biennium cuts, legislators protected education in their final budgeting process. Although the Oregon Department of Education saw a budget reduction, lawmakers protected student-facing dollars by preserving the State School Fund as well as Student Success Act investments.

That said, no education funding that was cut in 2025 was added back either. Outdoor School, for example, will continue to operate at a reduced budget from the prior biennium, but no lower than was already predicted. School meals didn't see any reductions, but advocates were also not successful in trying to add money to the program in the second year of the biennium.

One budget cut outside K-12 that will have an impact on many schools is a $17 million reduction in Safe Routes to Schools funding that was included in the Oregon Department of Transportation budget amid other significant reductions for ODOT.

In the final days of the legislative session, we also saw the Legislature approve the use of dollars dedicated for education to shore up the Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay, setting us on a path to lose $22 million from the Common School Fund over the next two decades. The long-term implications of this decision are concerning. We believe it sets up a dynamic where essential services are likely to be pitted against one another as budgets get tighter in the coming years.

As we prepare for 2027 and beyond [Link to Adrienne's article], we've effectively been put on notice of just how hard we will have to fight to protect funding for schools.

In the short term, we will be turning our attention to not only planning for the next legislative session, but also to monitoring implementation of the bills that passed this session. That includes requirements for schools related to immigration and public meetings, as well as supporting districts in new requirements to include cardiac emergency response plans in their comprehensive safety programs.

We made it to the finish line in reasonably good shape. But that just means it's time to start training for next year's true marathon.

- Stacy Michaelson
OSBA Government Relations and Communications director