Skip to main content
As school districts across Oregon start announcing budget gaps for the upcoming 2026–27 school year, a more immediate cut looms.
Oregon’s 197 school districts are largely funded by the state Legislature, which faces federal funding cuts and a slowing economy. Notably, congressional passage of H.R. 1 directly affects large chunks of funding for the Oregon Health Plan and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Legislative Fiscal Office asked state agencies to conduct a budgeting exercise that would simulate 5% reductions, so district leaders suspect they also may be asked to cut back. “We’re not at a place to say that we are confident that there won’t be some ask this year,” Portland Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong told Portland School Board members on Oct. 28, the same night the district announced a preliminary budget shortfall of $50 million.
A Wednesday press conference with leaders of the Coalition of School Administrators and the Oregon Association of School Business Officials as well as superintendents asked Gov. Tina Kotek and other legislative leaders for a seat at the table if cuts are necessary, and to notify school districts as early as possible. According to reporting by the Oregon Capital Chronicle, it’s the first time since 2008 that schools have had to look at midyear budget changes.
Salem-Keizer Superintendent Andrea Castañeda, whose district is the second largest in the state, says her district is trying to cut $25 million from its upcoming budget. She urged leaders to give school districts time to brace for cuts, noting that short-term solutions like shortening the school year or making uninformed layoffs would come at a cost to Oregon’s students.
“I know that if we have time together to access the right resources, to collaborate, to be in dialogue with one another, we can build something better for Oregon schools,” she said.
Those leaders also suggested where the Legislature could look to backfill education cuts: Oregon’s Education Stability Fund, whose ending balance in 2023–25 was projected at $1.007 billion and which legislators could approve for use. (Tapping the fund requires approval by three-fifths of the Legislature.)
The fund was created in 2002 by a voter-approved constitutional amendment and receives “18% of net lottery proceeds deposited on a quarterly basis,” according to the Oregon Blue Book. A 2011 budget briefing by the state notes legislators can vote to access the fund either during times of budget crisis or if the governor declares a state of emergency.
Kotek spokeswoman Elisabeth Shepard would not say whether the governor anticipated the Legislature resorting to Education Stability Fund dollars to respond to the current financial crunch, but she noted that the exercise for state agencies came as the Legislature “prepares its response to the budget crisis inflicted on Oregon by the Trump administration.”
Shepard tells WW: “The governor’s office is not advocating for or endorsing any reductions at this time and is steadfast in her support of maintaining core services that Oregonians depend on.”
