One of the biggest issues to make it past the Legislature’s April 9 process deadline was the governor’s accountability bills, House Bill 2009 and Senate Bill 141.
Only one bill is needed, but identical bills moved through the House and Senate education committees to ensure ample opportunity for discussion in each chamber. The bills now move to the Joint Ways and Means Committee. They won’t get another policy committee hearing before votes in each chamber.
There has been robust discussion, though. The bills went through five rounds of amendments before being voted out of committee.
The latest version of the bills includes notable changes from the original amendments:
- The inclusion of education service districts in the definition of “a school district” has been refined to “an education service district that has enrolled students in any grade from kindergarten through grade12 for specialized services.” This was intended to help clarify that the focus is on programs providing direct support to students, not the administrative services ESDs provide.
- The State Board of Education will adopt a list of five local metrics that districts will be able to choose from. This is up from a list of three local metrics included in earlier bill versions.
- Existing performance growth targets will remain in place, and any new targets developed under the bill will first be applied in the 2026-27 school year.
- Proposals for Oregon Department of Education-directed spending must be presented to the school board at an open meeting by Jan. 31 of the school year preceding the one for which the department will prescribe spending.
- ODE will partner with an organization that has expertise in school budgets (e.g., the Oregon Association of School Business Officials) to provide training and consultation to districts when ODE is prescribing funds’ use.
- The state board will establish clear criteria for when a district no longer requires targeted ODE support. When evaluating progress, ODE shall consider statewide assessment data as well as interim assessment data.
- To the greatest extent practicable, student success teams shall provide in-person and on-site district support. Student success teams shall be led by a person who has at least seven years of relevant experience in at least one of the following: systems change, curriculum and instruction, leadership finance, human resources, school district board governance, local district continuous improvement plans, labor and management relations, or community engagement.
- Interim assessments for math and language arts must be administered and the data reviewed (including by the school board) at least three times a year for grades K-8.
- The review of Division 22 standards shall include an alignment of complaint procedures and enforcement.
- ODE shall submit a report to the Legislature by Dec. 15 of this year on its work to improve grant consolidation, reporting, data collection and public transparency as well as its work to improve and align internal operations and to organize state and regional efforts to support districts in advance of the 2026-27 school year.
Many issues still need to be sorted out through rulemaking. For example, the state board must establish performance growth targets for ESDs and other non-typical settings such as the Juvenile Detention Education Program and Long-Term Care and Treatment programs. During that process, the board will also need to determine whether and how data from ESDs are included in component district data. The governor’s office has put on the record an intent for the board to engage with appropriate stakeholders when developing these rules.
Although we would have liked more explicit language in the final bill regarding the evaluation of the new accountability system and ODE’s work to support districts, the department and Gov. Tina Kotek’s office have elevated their commitment to ongoing partnership with local districts and stakeholders through the implementation process.
There is still much to be discussed in rulemaking, but we believe that significant progress was made on HB 2009 and SB 141 to arrive at the -5 amendments. I want to express appreciation for all the partners who spent countless hours over many months to get us to this point.
– Stacy Michaelson
OSBA Government Relations and Communications Director
