Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Classified Employees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee hears bill to commission statewide classification study for classified school employees
Summary
Senate Bill 980 would direct the Department of Administrative Services to oversee a two‑year classification study of classified K–12 positions to produce standardized job titles and descriptions; unions and education groups testified in support.
Senate Bill 980, heard March 19, 2025 by the Senate Education Committee, would direct the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to oversee a two-year classification study of classified employees in Oregon K–12 districts and produce standardized job titles and descriptions to support comparability and data-driven decisions.
Former state senator Michael Dembrow explained the bill grew out of the Task Force on Statewide Educator Salary Schedules and said the task force found thousands of different classified job titles across Oregon's 197 districts, making apples‑to‑apples comparisons difficult. He described the proposal as using DAS expertise and, if needed, an outside contractor, to create standardized job titles, descriptions, and interim and final reports to the education committees.
Representative Lisa Bridal testified in strong support, saying standardized job descriptions would give classified staff and districts better information for bargaining and help address recruitment and retention. Testimony from the Oregon School Employees Association, Beaverton nutrition staff, and the Oregon Education Association reiterated that classified staff perform diverse, essential roles—library assistants, cooks, bus drivers, custodians, instructional assistants—and that standardization would improve equity and bargaining transparency.
No committee vote on SB 980 was recorded on March 19; the item was presented, discussed, and received multiple supportive testimonies.
