Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee hears bill to double poverty weight in school funding formula
Summary
Senate Bill 401 would raise the state school fund distribution weight for children in poverty from 0.25 to 0.5 beginning in the 2025–26 school year; sponsor described change as a simple fix to long-standing underweighting of poverty.
The Oregon Senate Education Committee opened a public hearing on Senate Bill 401 on March 19, 2025. The bill would increase the state school fund distribution weight for children in poverty from 0.25 to 0.5 starting in the 2025–26 school year and declares an emergency, taking effect July 1, 2025.
Senator Fred Girod, sponsor of the bill, told the committee the change is straightforward and intended to correct a historical underweighting of poverty in the funding formula. "It just changes the weight for poverty from 0.25 to 0.5," Girod said, and placed the current ratio in historical context going back to 1992 and ballot measure 5.
Girod argued the original 0.25 weight was adopted as a temporary compromise and has not been revisited; he said richer districts have benefited under the existing distribution and that raising the poverty weight would better align funding with student need. There was no public testimony recorded on the bill during the hearing and the chair closed the docketed hearing after questions were asked and answered.
No formal action or vote on SB 401 was recorded in the committee transcript for March 19; the item remained a public hearing.
