Oregon's Quality Education Model (QEM)

The Quality Education Model (QEM) identifies the elements of high performance schools and the costs associated with them. Designed to serve as a tool for use by state lawmakers in developing the K-12 education budget, the model puts a price tag on quality K-12 education in Oregon.

The QEM was originally developed in 1999 by a legislative committee headed by then-Speaker of the House Lynn Lundquist. Governor John Kitzhaber subsequently appointed a Quality Education Commission (QEC) to evaluate and update the model on an ongoing basis. Prior to each biennial legislative session, the QEC is charged with issuing a report to the governor and Legislature identifying the costs of continuing “current practices” in the state’s K-12 schools and the cost of implementing “best practices” which would allow schools to meet the quality goals established by the Oregon Education Act for the 21st Century.

OEA’s President serves on the QEC along with other education and business leaders and public officials.

The QEM defines “prototype schools” for each level in the K-12 system: elementary, middle, and high school. These prototypes are staffed and funded to provide education services based on research-based and agreed-upon best practices in education. The model is just that. It does not seek to usurp local budgeting priorities. School districts ultimately decide how to spend their funds to meet quality education goals. The QEM is designed to take the politics out of education funding.

Even with rigorous evaluation by stakeholders and elected officials, few have questioned the accuracy or integrity of the model as a tool, or the target funding level figures that the model identifies prior to legislative session. However, because state revenues have not yielded enough to meet the QEM targets and cover the other services provided for in the state budget, legislative negotiations often began around lesser funding levels. OEA leaders and other education advocates believed that if it hadn’t been for the QEM, education may not have fared as well as it did when the economic recession forced budget cuts in all state services. The QEM proved valuable to education advocates in efforts to minimize cuts to the education budget.

Oregonians who care about their schools must still create the political will to raise additional revenue before schools can be funded at the level identified by the QEM.

To learn more about the QEM, visit the Quality Education Commission website.