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Gov. Tina Kotek’s first veto of the legislative session saw her break with Democrats on a bill that would have directed the Oregon Department of Education to conduct an audit on kindergarten assessments.
Senate Bill 302, which came from Sen. Lew Frederick (D-Portland), was an attempt to learn whether assessments were useful for some of Oregon’s youngest learners. Frederick said he brought the bill forth after hearing concerns from kindergarten teachers that students were spending hours on various assessments, some on screens, instead of learning experiences or playtime.
Kotek vetoed Senate Bill 302 on Thursday, mostly on grounds that an audit would create more work for school districts. The veto comes as Kotek herself is pushing an education accountability bill through both chambers of the Legislature in hopes of streamlining grant reporting, tracking more student metrics, and strengthening ODE, allowing it to intervene and coach struggling districts.
“The lens through which I am evaluating all education bills is whether they provide greater accountability and focus on student outcomes,” Kotek wrote in her Thursday signing letter. “Among my top priorities this session is reducing the administrative burden for school districts so that educators can focus on improving student outcomes. This bill does not align with these goals.”
The veto marks a rare point of disagreement between the governor and the majority of her party’s lawmakers.
In a follow-up interview with WW, Frederick said he was surprised that Kotek vetoed the bill. “I don’t know if she understands how important this kind of thing is to teachers,” he said. “They want to teach kids.”
“[Kotek] says it would require more attention from local school districts,” Frederick says. “I don’t think it would necessarily require more attention. It should be pretty simple to say these are the tests that we’re giving...that doesn’t seem to me to be a great deal of effort necessary.”
There was limited discussion about SB 302 in the Senate, but House Republicans banded together against it during a May 27 vote. Some emphasized the importance of testing (Democrats have emphasized that the bill was not inherently pro- or anti-test), while others said, amid short school years and other obstacles, Oregon would be missing the point in its quest to turn around dismal student outcomes.
“I would love to see a report on how many hours our school districts have to spend gathering up information to provide to the state, how many reports they have to file, all of which takes them away from the mission to educate our children,” said Rep. Kevin Mannix (R-Salem).
Rep. April Dobson (D-Happy Valley), who spoke in support of the bill on the House floor, said it was “pro-information” and could help the state develop more comprehensive, streamlined assessments. She said ODE’s most recent survey found kindergarteners across the state take more than 500 different tests. “What we don’t know is how often or when those assessments are being administered,” she said.
The bill would not have any fiscal impact and ODE would have been able to take on the work alongside their normal operations, Dobson added.
“We need to make sure educators have a sense of their students’ abilities, equally we need to ensure that kindergarteners’ first experience of school is engaging and fosters a love of learning,” Dobson said. “As we design and implement assessments that meet those twin goals, SB 302 A can offer more insight into what’s happening on the ground right now.
Sen. Janeen Sollman (D-Hillsboro) was one of a few Democrats who voted with Republicans on SB 302. During a public hearing on April 7, she, like Kotek, cited concerns about burden as Oregon tries to reshape its approach on education accountability. “I do get concerned about workload as we’re trying to put the accountability train on the tracks,” she said.
Frederick’s office did not immediately return WW’s request for comment.