“Something has to change in Oregon schools,” Marguerite Roza, the director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University told the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education last month. “More money did not produce any kind of bumper increase in student outcomes. ”

Despite passing record taxes and that nearly doubled school funding to some of the highest per-student funding (from $9,543 per student to $17,161 per student), Oregon has had 10 years of continually declining student outcomes across all metrics.

The cherry on top came from the National Report Card. It was a damning report for Oregon. Oregon student achievement has declined for 10 straight years until it is now nearly dead last. It’s a sad continuation of one of the most dysfunctional school systems in the country despite over 20 years of completely Democratically controlled policies.

How bad are these scores in real terms?

Oregon fourth graders who were tested in early 2024 ranked second worst in the country in math and tied with 10 other states for third worst in reading. Eighth graders tested in the same time period, who are now halfway through their first year in high school, performed far below the national average in math but close to the middle of the pack in reading.

A full third of Oregon’s then-fourth graders who took the federal test scored “below basic” on the math section, meaning that they could not complete foundational tasks like identifying whole numbers on a number line or locate the lines of symmetry in shapes like triangles and rhombuses.

Forty-eight percent scored “below basic” in reading, meaning that they could not yet determine the sequence of events described in a passage, nor could they fully determine the meaning of a familiar word using context clues. The national average was 41%.

It drew silence from countless Oregon school and government leaders that have been doubling down on supposedly progressive policies – policies that we now have over 10 years of data show are failing dramatically.

Articles:

• https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile/overview/OR?chort=1&sub=MAT&st=MN&year=2024R3&sfj=NP
• https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/
• https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2025/02/oregons-near-worst-in-nation-education-outcomes-prompt-a-reckoning-on-school-spending.html?outputType=amp
• https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2025/01/oregon-math-reading-achievement-among-the-nations-worst-new-scores-show.html?outputType=amp
• https://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/02/oregon-school-districts-chronic-absenteeism-rate/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1ilnne3/oregons_nearworstinnation_education_outcomes/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/Portland/comments/1ictmiy/oregon_math_reading_achievement_among_the_nations/