Committee advances LFO'recommended ODE budget; members press over Grow Your Own and student metrics

The Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education on June 11 approved the Legislative Fiscal Office's (LFO) recommendation for Senate Bill 5515 and sent the measure to the full committee with a due-pass recommendation.

Wendy, a Legislative Fiscal Office analyst, told the subcommittee the LFO recommends total funds of $16,832,767,098 for the Department of Education, including $10,633,837,856 in general fund, $704,781,950 in lottery funds, $3,741,222,869 in other funds and $1,039,389,780 in federal funds. Excluding the State School Fund, the department-level recommendation was roughly $5.46 billion in total funds. The LFO package as described in committee included operations funding, technology modernization, grants-management replacement, summer-learning administration positions and a set of technical adjustments.

The LFO highlighted several program packages the office recommends approving. Those included a $2.12 million package to modernize the IT system that distributes the State School Fund; a $4 million general fund package to replace the electronic grants-management system; a federal funds package to staff implementation of earlier legislation on school days; and a $1.61 million general fund package that establishes four permanent positions to administer the newly ongoing summer learning program. "Those are a lot of numbers," Wendy said while moving through line items.

The subcommittee also considered Package 806 addressing a projected shortfall in the Fund for Student Success. Citing the May 2025 Oregon economic and revenue forecast, the LFO described a drop in CAT-related revenues that required reductions and fund shifts to balance the fund. As part of that package the reserve for the Fund for Student Success was reduced from $200 million to $100 million, some transfers and grants were consolidated, and the recommended package included a $12.43 million other-funds investment to support statewide literacy efforts.

Representative Mary McLean (Representative McLean) pressed the LFO on a $25 million reduction she identified in the Grow Your Own teacher pipeline program. "Grow Your Own happens to be a program that was put in place and has been a poster child for success," McLean said, asking where the funds were shifted and whether performance measures for the program remain in place. Wendy responded that during the prior budget build several transfers and beginning-balance expenditures associated with the Educator Advancement Council (EAC) were not reinserted into the forecast; "the money didn't go anywhere," she said, and "it disappeared in the forecast." Wendy said program dollars will need to be reconciled against a set of over-budget accounts and remaining priorities when implementing the package.

The conversation expanded into broader debate about trade-offs between preserving program funding and maintaining agency staff. Several members expressed frustration that some program budgets were reduced while ODE operations and certain positions were maintained or converted from limited-duration to permanent status. Representative Juncker and others noted the difficulty in processing late-stage budget changes; Representative Juncker also raised concerns about increasing ODE staffing concurrent with declining student populations. Senator Wright said she would vote against the measure, citing continued poor performance outcomes for BIPOC students despite prior investments.

Key performance measures (KPMs) were also on the agenda. The LFO recommended adopting the KPMs and targets presented with one exception: proposed KPM #6 tied to Grow Your Own. Because the LFO concluded the program lacked adequate, demonstrated funding for measurement at this time, the office recommended placing that KPM on a hold list. The committee debated whether to reframe absenteeism-focused metrics; several members favored reframing metrics toward attendance (a positive framing) rather than measuring days missed. The subcommittee voted to adopt the KPMs with the attendance wording change and without the Grow Your Own KPM.

Votes at a glance - Motion: Move LFO recommendation for Senate Bill 5515 to the full committee (mover: Co-Chair Ruiz). Outcome: approved. Selected roll-call entries recorded in the hearing transcript include Representative Hunt 'Aye'; Representative Preston 'Aye'; Representative Wright 'No'; Representative Juncker 'No'; Co-Chair Ruiz 'Yes'; Senator Frederick 'Yes'; Senator Weber (courtesy) 'Yes'; Co-Chair Solman 'Aye'. - Motion: Adopt dash 2 amendment to SB 5515 (mover: Co-Chair Ruiz). Outcome: approved on roll call; amendment reflected adjusted totals and 636 positions (622.45 FTE). - Motion: Move SB 5515, as amended, to Ways & Means Full Committee with a due-pass recommendation (mover: Co-Chair Ruiz). Outcome: approved on roll call and carried to the full committee.

Why it matters The subcommittee action puts the LFO'recommended ODE budget forward to the full Ways and Means Committee while flagging several areas likely to draw continued scrutiny: the Fund for Student Success's revenue volatility, reconciling the Grow Your Own program funding and its KPM, and the balance between ODE staffing and programmatic grant support. Committee members from both parties described the outcome as difficult but necessary to advance a budget that preserves some targeted investments while responding to projected revenue declines.

What happens next SB 5515, as amended, will be considered by the full Ways and Means Committee. Members signaled interest in further work on revenue reform, continued attention to the Grow Your Own program and follow-up on KPMs and attendance measures. The subcommittee also scheduled follow-up meetings on policy measures and expects additional agency and stakeholder follow-up as the measure proceeds through the process.