OEA History

1830s-50s
•  First school opened by teacher Sol H. Smith in Marion County (1833)
•  The first "public school" opened by Sydney W. Moss in Oregon City (1843)
•  Rev. George H. Atkinson, "Father of Oregon schools," prepared first public school law (1849)
•  OEA's immediate forerunner, Oregon State Educational Association, formed in Portland; Bishop Thomas Fielding Scott was elected its first president (1858)

1860s
•  Teachers reorganized in Salem as the "Oregon State Educational Association and Teachers Institute" (1861)
•  President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land-Grant Act establishing land-grant institutions to train teachers (1862)
•  Corvallis College designated Agricultural College of Oregon (later Oregon State University), the first state-supported institution of higher education (1868)
•  Oregon's first public high school opened in Portland (1869)

1870s
•  University of Oregon established (1862; classes begin 1876)
•  Legislature passed a reorganization act establishing present school law (1872)
•  Sylvester Simpson first Oregon superintendent of schools (1873)

1880s
•  Oregon’s first schools to train teachers established in Monmouth and Ashland (1882)
•  Public high schools opened in The Dalles (1882), Astoria (1888), Salem (1888), and Baker City (1889)
•  Oregon school enrollment: 49,176 students in 1,371 school districts (1885)

1890s
•  Teacher salaries in Oregon: $20 per month in poorer districts, $100 for three months in richer districts (1890)

1900s
•  Oregon school enrollment: 97,745 students in 2,094 districts (1900).
•  Oregon voters passed nation's first citizen initiatives (1904)
•  Minimum school term set at four months (1904)
•  The National Education Association incorporated (1907)

1910s
•  Average teacher salaries for men: $73.53 per month; $55.05 for women (1910)
•  The first OEA code of ethics adopted (1915)
•  Teacher certification requirements: high school plus 12 weeks of professional training (1919)
•  Oregon minimum salary law passed: $75 per month (1919)

1920s
•  NEA and the American Legion sponsored the first American Education Week (1921)
•  Compulsory education law passed (1922)
•  Certification requirements raised to high school plus 36 weeks of professional training (1925)
•  Oregon school enrollment: 180,398 in 2,372 districts (1925)
•  Average school term set: 174 days (1925)
•  OEA incorporated as a non-profit educational organization with 6,617 members (1927)

1930s
•  Public education in Oregon costs $17 million with the state contributing only about 2 percent (1933)
•  Average teacher salary: $867.15 (1935)
•  Oregon ranked 48th out of 49 states (including the District of Columbia) in percentage of school tax revenue from state sources (1937)
•  Forerunners of community colleges come into being with the formation of Eugene Technical Vocational School (1938)

1940s
•  OEA initiated first state school-support tax (1942)
•  Public employee retirement system (PERS) enacted in Oregon (1945)
•  OEA sponsored legislation that raised minimum salaries to $2,100 for women, $2,400 for men, and encouraged consolidation among rural schools to raise public school standards (1946)
• Portland Community College and Central Oregon Community College opened (1949)
• Oregon Fair Employment Practices Commission created (1949)

1950s
•  10 days sick-leave granted teachers (1951)
•  Teachers eligible for Social Security (1953)
•  School districts allowed to establish own tax bases (1953)
•  Television first appeared in public school classrooms (1955)
•  3 percent sales tax measure to support public schools defeated (1955)
•  OEA professional liability insurance coverage offered to educators (1955)
•  Certification requirements raised to four-year degree (1955)
•  Average teacher salary: $4,150, national teacher shortage nearly 150,000 (1955)

1960s
•  OEA membership: 15,000 (1960)
•  Oregon authorized the employment of teacher aides and intern teachers (1961)
•  OEA's Human Rights and Responsibilities Commission established, the first in any state association (1961)
•  Nationwide teacher shortage estimated at 121,200 (1963)
•  Congress enacted the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) beginning an era of massive federal aid to education (1965)
•  Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) created allowing for peer control over teacher certification (1965)
•  Educators Assistance Fund established to provide legal service for educators (1966)
•  People for Improvement of Education (PIE), OEA's voluntary political action fund, formed (1967) www.oregoned.org/pie

1970s
•  OEA supported legalization of strikes by teachers, then prohibited by law in Oregon and most other states (1971)
•  30-minute duty-free lunch established by law (1971)
•  Teacher salaries frozen nationwide for the 1971-72 school year by President Nixon
•  Portland closed schools 20 days early due to defeat of operating budget levy (1972)
•  Legislative changes benefited teachers: collective bargaining, self-governance in certification, fair dismissal for all teachers, 30 percent increase in retirement benefits, and coverage for teachers under state unemployment insurance (1973)
•  Oregon’s first teacher strike in Hillsboro (1973)
•  Legislature increased Basic School Support to 30 percent, granted hearings for probationary teachers, improved retirement benefits, strengthened the TSPC, and extended sick leave (1975)
•  Title IX, mandating the end of sex discrimination in all educational institutions receiving federal funds, passed by Congress (1976)
•  U.S. Department of Education elevated to cabinet level (1979)

1980s
•  The Oregon Association of Classified Employees (OACE) launched (1980)
•  Nationwide average postal worker salary: $25,000, average teacher salary: $18,162 (1983)
•  Junction City schools closed due to lack of funds (1984)
•  OEA-sponsored sales tax/property tax relief initiative failed (1986)
•  Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century passed by Legislature, but without funding the massive changes demanded in the new law (1989)

1990s
• Schools and government services endangered by the passage of the first property tax limitation measure, Ballot Measure 5 (1990)
• Members of Oregon Association of Classified Employees (OACE) voted full membership in OEA (1990)
• Legislation enacted requiring all school districts to offer K-12 education by March 1, 1997 (1991)
• Average Oregon classroom: 24 students, four of whom need special assistance (1991)
• Talented and Gifted (TAG) programs established in Oregon schools (1992)
• Average teacher salary: $38,880 (1993)
• OEA Foundation established (1996)
• State share of school funding reached 80 percent (1997)
• Two students murdered, twenty five injured in a shooting at Springfield’s Thurston High School on May 20 (1998)

2000s
• Oregon voters faced 18 ballot measures, seven by anti-tax activist and racketeer Bill Sizemore. OEA successfully waged campaigns to protect public education and Oregon school employees (2000)
• OEA won civil lawsuits against organizations owned and operated by anti-tax activist Bill Sizemore and is awarded more than $2 million in damages (2002)
• More than 2,000 public school jobs are eliminated. National media attention becomes focused on Oregon's school funding woes (2003)
• A strong pro-education Legislature and Governor lead to record increases in pre-kindergarten, K-12, and community college funding for the 2007-09 Oregon biennium (2007)
• Oregon school enrollment: 563,000 students in 198 districts (2007)
• OEA member Carol Cochran named National School Nurse of the Year (2008)
• OEA member Mike Geisen named National Teacher of the Year (2008)
• Oregon voters agree with OEA-PIE’s recommendations in 4 of 4 statewide races, 90% of Oregon Senate races, 100% of federal races, and 79% in Oregon House races (2008)
• Voters also agree with OEA on all 14 ballot measures, including defeat of Sizemore’s latest rounds of so-called teacher “merit pay” and paycheck deception (2008)
• OEA members elect Gail Rasmussen OEA President, the first classified/ESP member and the first African-American to be elected to the office (2009)

2010s
• Oregon votes for tax fairness, bucking a national trend, by electing to increase taxes during a recession via Measures 66 & 67 which shifted the tax burden back onto some corporations and individuals making more than $125,000 a year (2010)