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Another top state official is jumping headfirst into the K–12 education accountability conversation that’s gripped the Oregon Legislature this session.
In a letter to the Oregon Department of Education dated April 25, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read followed up on a 2022 systemic risk report by his predecessor, Shemia Fagan. The report presented five key risks that “could undermine K–12 system improvement,” and came as the state was in the process of implementing the 2019 Student Success Act, a corporate activities tax that boosted state education funding. In his letter, Read asked the department for an update on how it’s addressed those five risks.
“The stakes for Oregon’s students, families, and future are high. Billions of taxpayer dollars are on the line. We have a responsibility to deliver results of which Oregonians can be proud,” Read wrote. “If these risks are left unaddressed, it could undermine K–12 system improvement.”
As WW has reported, education accountability has taken center stage in the Legislature this session, after dueling presentations about the relationship between education funding and poor student outcomes. A presentation by the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University showed that while Oregon has spent significantly more on education since 2013, with large investments such as the corporate activities tax, its outcomes have declined. Oregon’s students rank dead last in fourth grade reading and mathematics nationwide when adjusted for demographics.
The 2022 report recommended: improving performance monitoring and support to districts; greater transparency to the public; scrutinizing district spending; clearer enforceable standards for districts to follow (currently known as Division 22, these regulate everything from curriculum to assessment); and a more streamlined governance structure. This legislative session, Gov. Tina Kotek has pushed hard for reform to some of these standards with a pair of accountability bills that are moving through the House and Senate.
Whitney Grubbs, executive director of Foundations for a Better Oregon, an education accountability nonprofit, has previously said the systemic risk report was a start to tackling broader questions about accountability in K–12 education, but that its scope was too narrow. She says Kotek’s bills are helping to make it so ODE can have “the clear authority and tools” to overcome some of the risks outlined in the report.
“The risks outlined in the secretary of state’s audit were always bigger than anything ODE could address on its own under current state law,” Grubbs says. “Instead of kicking the can down the road, I think Gov. Kotek and the Legislature have actually stepped up to the plate.”
Read’s foray into the debate could also signal greater political ambitions. That a secretary of state would send a proactive follow-up to a report is not all that common. A former five-term lawmaker and two-term state treasurer, Read ran for governor and lost to Kotek in the primary in 2022. It also comes as U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s reelection plans are not yet clear.
In his letter, Read called for a meeting with the Education Department and a detailed response. Liz Merah, spokeswoman for ODE, says the department is currently preparing an official response to the letter. Tess Seger, spokeswoman for Read, says he is meeting with the department “soon.”
“Oregonians expect the secretary to take his role on the State Board of Education seriously, and that’s exactly what he’s doing,” Seger says.
Dr. Christine Pitts, an education policy expert and Oregon education advocate, says she thinks the letter could be a turning point for Oregon accountability, if ODE uses the opportunity to “align spending with results and finally hold the system to a higher bar.”
“We invested more money through the SSA and spent federal relief dollars,” Pitts says, “but with the outcomes still flat or dropping, it just makes sense to ask whether ODE has created an action plan and followed through on the audit.”