Committee introduces LC 43 to rewrite Oregon's quality education model; members raise reporting and cost concerns

SALEM, Ore. — The Joint Committee on Public Education Appropriation on Jan. 15 voted to introduce committee bill LC 43, a legislative concept that would change how Oregon measures the cost and quality of public K-12 education and shift several statutory responsibilities to other legislative bodies.

Lisa Gazzelter, who walked members through the draft, said LC 43 “modifies the process used to determine the amount of state funding required for public K‑12 education,” replaces existing statutory education goals with a statutory definition tied to a “standard school district,” and moves the duty to publish a funding-sufficiency report from the Joint Public Education Appropriations Committee (JPEA) to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. The measure also would move creation of the education cost model from the Quality Education Commission to the Legislative Policy and Research Office and require a full new cost model every eight years, with interim adjustments for inflation in off years.

The draft declares an emergency and would take effect on passage, Gazzelter said, to allow contracting and the work described in the…