Dear Education Community,

I hope you were able to renew and refresh over Spring Break in preparation for the last push towards the end of the school year and graduation season. 

With the legislative session now concluded, we have final budget direction for the State School Fund and agency spending. Last fall we shared that all state agencies, including ODE, were asked to prepare potential options for budget reductions ahead of the 2026 legislative session. Thankfully, those options will not be implemented as program reductions. K-12 education funding will essentially stay the same for the upcoming biennium. We know the budget cut scenarios created uncertainty and that a stand-still budget means there are challenging decisions to be made, especially as we all experience cost increases. Thank you for the professionalism and commitment you continue to bring on behalf of Oregon’s students, schools and communities.

Special Visits

This is my third school year as ODE Director and my favorite job duty continues to be visiting districts to see policy in action, improving the lives of our students and giving them every opportunity to choose their path to college and career.

Last month I had the honor to accompany Governor Kotek to Estacada High School where we talked with teachers, administrators, staff and students about how the district’s cell phone policy has changed the learning environment. We heard that students are more engaged in class and interact more with their peers. Students are getting more work done, getting better grades and there is a greater sense of community at the school.

These results are exactly why Governor Kotek enacted her Executive Order last summer requiring districts to adopt a policy prohibiting cell phone use by students. Now that every district in the state has enacted their own policies we are hearing similar stories from across the state. We have amazing technology today that can connect us across the world but, like everything, it has its time and place, and classrooms should be exclusively for learning.

Speaking of connecting across the world and favorite duties, I again got to meet with students visiting Oregon from the Toyama Prefecture in Japan. This is a tradition that goes back three decades, and I’m honored to keep the exchange of ideas and cultures going. Like Oregon, Toyama is on the coast, with mountains, forests and great fishing. And, like their peers in Oregon, the Toyama students wanted to hear about how schools here support the mental health of students and the options they have while in school to discover and nurture their interests. It’s amazing that with all of the differences in our languages and cultures, students in Japan and Oregon have so much in common.

Let's Celebrate!

Spring is a time for celebrations and I encourage you to read all of the articles below about some of the commemorations this month. But I wanted to highlight a couple and mention a special day as well. This year’s Month of the Military Child has added significance following the passage of House Bill 4066, which includes a technical update to the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. When military families relocate across state lines, there can be transition issues, such as enrollment, placement, attendance, eligibility for programs and activities, graduation requirements and transfer of records. The Compact creates consistent policies across states so children of military families are not disadvantaged simply because their parent’s service requires frequent moves. The adjustment approved by lawmakers preserves our commitments to those students and avoids unintended legal issues.

School Library Month is the perfect opportunity to put a spotlight on an important sanctuary of learning in our schools. I always get to see the library on school visits because it’s a perfect gathering place. School libraries and their staff are a crucial component of our focus on literacy as a place where students can learn crucial reading skills and then open their minds to new worlds within the pages of each book. I can’t thank our librarians enough for the work they do each and every day to help our scholars learn to read and then read to learn.

Thank you!

Finally, I have to shout out to all of the Assistant Principals for Assistant Principals Appreciation Week that started April 6. Having been an administrator at the school and district level before coming to ODE, I know all too well the important role our assistant, associate and vice principals play in running a school. Use these resources to celebrate these unsung heroes of education and let them know your school wouldn’t be the same without them.

The end of the school year will be here before you know it, so let’s make the most out of each and every day for Oregon’s scholars.

In Love and Justice,

Dr. Charlene Williams