The co-chairs who guide budgeting decisions in the Legislature on Wednesday projected allocating $7.24 billion for the State School Fund in 2015-17 – about $335 million more than Gov. Kitzhaber’s proposed budget.
The figures released Wednesday came from Sen. Richard Devlin, D-Tualatin, and Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, the co-chairs of the Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee.
Betsy Miller-Jones, OSBA’s executive director, thanked the co-chairs for their leadership in working to turn around a decade of disinvestment in public education in Oregon.
“These figures are substantially higher than the governor’s proposal, and that’s great news for Oregon students and their families,” Miller-Jones said. “In the weeks and months ahead we are going to continue to make the case that the best investment Oregonians can make is in our students. They are ‘The Promise of Oregon.’”
The 2015 legislative session begins Feb. 2. The budget and related documents can be found here.
