Education
Initiative Ceremonial Bill Signing Remarks
July 31, 2025
Good morning. I’m so glad to be here to celebrate four bipartisan bills aimed at supporting public schools and improving student outcomes.
I want to start by thanking Kraig Sproles, Bethel School District, and Prairie Mountain K-8 School for hosting us this morning. I just visited the summer learning program here and said hello to some of the educators and students. Summer learning is the place to be! And they are building up young readers!
I’m inspired by being here today. I’m reminded who and what we’re fighting for. The folks doing the work – our educators and our students – bring all the best actions of elected leaders to life. Real action. Real outcomes. Every Oregon student has promise and the capacity to succeed and build the kind of future they want.
It is our responsibility to provide the quality public education that helps every student. I know that in our country right now the things that divide us as people, as neighbors, and at times within our own families, take up a lot of space in our lives. But let’s remember: our young people will build the future we want to see, and they deserve the very best. It’s a simple idea. But it is a unifying one. The bills I’m signing today apply that simple idea to real life. Real people. Real futures.
This year, Oregon leaders came together to pass bills that build on the fundamentals, make sure schools are more predictably resourced, reduce unnecessary bureaucracy for our districts, and more directly connect the investments Oregonians make in their schools to improving student outcomes.
Alongside an historic $11.36 billion for all districts through the State School Fund, House Bill 2140 codifies and clarifies how the State School Fund is calculated. This will bring more predictability to base funding that districts rely on.
Senate Bill 141 resets Oregon’s K-12 accountability system, making sure state dollars will go effectively toward student success. This is critical because we’re falling short. The bill clarifies expectations for schools, with more transparency for parents. It creates a series of supports and interventions for school districts when the benchmarks that we know move the needle on student outcomes aren’t being met.
House Bill 3037 builds on the effort to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy with relief for our small and rural schools. These are places where the superintendent may also be the principal, the grant writer, and even the literacy director, all in one. These are busy people, and House 3027 simplifies the paperwork they have to do to carry out their work, giving them more time to focus on students.
Lastly, House Bill 3040 builds on my Early Literacy Success Initiative to help every child in Oregon read and write with confidence and competence. It strengthens and refines what’s underway, with a particular focus on regional coaching for our educators. And the legislature infused the initiative with an additional $13 million above the current service level.
Before I close and we hear from our other speakers, I want to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone here today. Some of you were members of work groups or committees that have been working hard for more than a year. However you’ve shown up in this work, you have made it better. You have stood up for the promise of every Oregon student. Thank you.
Getting public education right is one of the biggest promises we make to Oregonians. With your partnership, with these bills, we have taken a big step towards delivering on that promise for every student.
Thank you.