BY: Owen Corey
Despite record education spending, Oregon ranks at the bottom for student proficiency in math and reading. Parents deserve to know what’s behind this, and what can be done.
The Problem: Record Spending with Poor Results
- Oregon is ranked last for 4th grade math and reading proficiency.
- For 8th graders, Oregon ranks 47th in math and 49th in reading.
- Covid-19 worsened the decline, but the trend began well before the pandemic.
- Lower-income students fare worse than peers in affluent zip codes.
- This growing gap highlights the urgent need for reform that prioritized equity, access, and meaningful support – not just more spending.
Where Is the Money Going?
In 2022-2023, Oregon spent $17,988 per student. That number is now closer to $18,400:
- Student performance is stagnant despite this funding increase.
- Public school enrollment is down, but administrative hiring is up.
- Critics argue that funding is mismanaged, prioritizing bureaucracy over student success.
What the Legislature Has Done
In 2025, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 5516, allocating a record $11.4 billion to K-12 education.
- The dilemma, however, comes in how the money will be spent and in what ways will the record levels of spending benefit students academically rather than going to pay bloated administrative salaries or line the pockets of teachers unions.
- Lawmakers in protest have asserted that the language of the bill is too complicated and too vague to provide real, tangible benefits to students in specific subject areas such as reading comprehension or math equations.
Lastly, Senate Bill 141 introduced a system to track school accountability and student performance
Solutions and Reform Ideas
Oregon needs real reform – and families are asking what it will take to turn things around.
According to Sara Kerr, Vice President of Education Policy Implementation at Result for America, fixing the system isn’t about spending more money, but rather, spending smarter with clear goals and accountability. She outlines five steps Oregon can take to being closing the gaps:
- Make specific investments in problem areas, such as improving student services in schools or dealing with chronic absenteeism of students during the school week.
- Prioritize the quality of implementation, rather than the quantity of money spent. Fewer tax dollars spent in more impactful ways will triumph over needlessly wasting tax dollars.
- Always be data-driven and look at being politically-neutral in order to reach a wider audience.
- Do not shy away from high accountability and expectations. Students should not be misled about their academic performance and where improvements need to be made.
- Be honest about student progress and create a performance plan for how to best attain academic success.
These steps offer a practical roadmap for Oregon, but only if families, schools, and lawmakers commit to putting student outcomes first.
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