Oregon Governor Signs Seven Bills Into Law

Salem, Ore. —  Oregon Governor Tina Kotek held a signing ceremony for seven bills supporting K-12 public education and child care in Oregon. The bills aim to address educator workforce needs, provide professional development on Holocaust, genocide, and ethnic studies, designate civil rights coordinators in district school boards, increase child care availability through a $50 million Child Care Infrastructure Fund, address academic opportunity gaps for Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students, improve early literacy funding, and allocate a historic $10.2 billion to the State School Fund for K-12 schools. Governor Kotek emphasized the progress made for children and families, stating her vision for a state with quality education and accessible child care.

1. SB 283 addresses educator workforce needs by creating a statewide educator workforce data system, allowing school districts to boost pay for teachers and staff in special education, establishing apprenticeship and mentorship grants, and allowing retired teachers to convert to substitute licenses at no charge, among other provisions.
2. SB 1050 grants funding to the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) for professional development on Holocaust, genocide studies, and ethnic studies content standards for teachers and administrators.
3. HB 2281 requires district school boards to designate civil rights coordinators to oversee district compliance with anti-discrimination laws and investigate discrimination complaints.
4. HB 3005 aims to increase child care availability by creating a new $50 million Child Care Infrastructure Fund to support child care facilities’ physical infrastructure and facilitate the opening of new child care facilities across the state.
5. HB 3144 creates the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Student Success Plan to address the academic opportunity gap for NH/PI students.
6. HB 3198 increases funding for early literacy to improve reading and writing education, ensuring educators, parents, caregivers, federally-recognized Tribes, and communities have necessary support for students.
7. HB 5015 allocates a historic $10.2 billion to the State School Fund for K-12 schools, exceeding the current service level by $700 million and marking the highest funding ever allocated to the fund.