Governor Kotek convenes Summer and After School Learning Summit in Eugene
EUGENE, Ore. (KTVZ) — Governor Tina Kotek co-convened a Summer and After School Learning Summit sponsored by the Oregon Community Foundation and Gray Family Foundation. The daylong summit is an essential step in shaping a long-term plan and road map for creating high-quality summer and afterschool programs that generate student success, reducing opportunity gaps and raising the bar for all students.
“The research is clear. Summer and after-school programs reduce learning loss, accelerate academic success, and strengthen student well-being,” Governor Kotek said. “We’re here to roll up our sleeves, work together, and do what’s right for Oregon’s students. That means delivering high-quality programs that can reach the students who need them most, and ensuring sustainable, predictable funding for school districts and community partners.”
“At Oregon Community Foundation, we recognize the abundance of knowledge, expertise and lived experience across the state that can inform the ongoing efforts to expand access to high-quality summer and afterschool programming,” Belle Cantor, Senior Education Program Officer at Oregon Community Foundation said. “This summit is one example of how we are stronger when we work together toward a common goal.”
Attendees included local elected officials and representatives from school districts, education service districts, philanthropies, advocacy organizations, community-based organizations, and sovereign tribal nations from across the state. They actively participated in discussions about:
- How to create, maintain, and demonstrate successful programs
- Incorporating youth voices when developing programs
- National trends in summer and after school learning
- Reducing barriers to equitable access for students with disabilities and historically underserved students
- Removing administrative barriers
- Supporting the educator workforce
The summit is a component of the Governor’s ongoing commitment to raise the bar on outcomes for Oregon students. This year, the Governor signed House Bill 4082, introduced by Representative Susan McLain (Forest Grove), which provided $30 million in state funding for summer learning opportunities across Oregon for Summer 2024. The bill also established a workgroup to develop recommendations for sustainable long-term funding for summer learning programs.
The workgroup has been meeting through the summer to generate input that informed both the summit, as well as the recommendations the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) will put forward in a report to the Legislature.
The summer and after-school learning work is one component of various education funding and student success conversations that the Governor’s Office is convening in preparation for next year’s legislative session.
In July, the Governor proposed a plan to update the State’s calculation of the State School Fund. If funded in the next legislative session, this plan would boost the current service level for the State School Fund by an estimated $515 million more than the current methodology projected for the 2025-27 biennium.
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News release from the Oregon House Majority Office:
Legislators Attend Afterschool Learning Summit in Eugene
Summit is part of a 2024 law to improve student outcomes through summer and after school learning
EUGENE, Ore. – Today, legislators, educators, and educational service providers attended the Summer and Afterschool Learning Summit in Eugene. The focus of the event was to develop a long term plan for providing high quality after-school and summer programming opportunities to Oregon students, an effort that’s been led in the legislature by Rep. Susan McLain (D- Forest Grove, Cornelius, Hillsboro), a former educator and long-time advocate for increasing outcomes in Oregon schools.
“I sponsored the Summer Learning Bill because the evidence is clear that summer and after-school learning opportunities foster success by improving readiness to learn, promoting academic achievement, and supporting social and emotional health,” said McLain. “Today's event was another opportunity to move Oregon forward in providing these critical resources for our students.”
In 2024, the legislature passed HB 4082 that required the Oregon Department of Education to study and identify how to establish Summer Learning as a permanent feature of Oregon’s larger K-12 system.
The summit is part of the law’s requirement to identify barriers, elevate promising practices and lessons learned, review research, and develop recommendations for a sustainable funding approach to summer and after school learning. Rep. Courtney Neron (D-Wilsonville, Sherwood, King City, Tigard) also attended the summit.
“We must make summer learning funding permanent to ensure ongoing stability and quality of our summer opportunities for Oregon kids,” said Neron, an educator and Chair of the House Committee on Education. “Our investments in 2024 in summer learning and the work the Oregon Department of Education is doing here at the Summit is integral to ensuring kids are getting the tailored services they need to rebound from COVID learning challenges.”
HB 4082 also invested $30 million in school districts for summer learning programming across the state in partnership with community-based organizations and tribal nations that provide academic enrichment, by aligning with academic content standards in math, science, language arts, life skills, school readiness, or credit recovery.
