Oregon Department of Education fails to provide oversight of $338 million program for raising high school graduation, audit finds

By JAMES NEFF/Oregon Journalism Project

The Oregon Department of Education has failed to provide oversight of a $338 million program aimed at boosting high school graduation, a state audit finds.

The audit by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office looked at the education department’s handling of High School Success, a state program that allocates $800 a year per high school student to boost graduation rates and prepare them for future careers.

“The agency has not explicitly assigned and documented oversight responsibility, and we found no evidence that the State Board of Education or any other oversight body reviewed or provided input for identified deficiencies,” the audit said. 

The program, funded with $338 million this biennium, was created after Oregon voters approved Measure 98 in 2016. High schools can apply for grants to support targeted programs in career and technical education as a way to keep students from dropping out and boost graduation rates. The secretary of state is required to conduct performance and financial reviews of the program every two years.

The previous audit in 2024 identified eight problems that the department needed to correct, such as collecting baseline data before launching a funded program in order to measure whether High School Success led to better student outcomes.

The new audit released Wednesday said the department corrected one problem, partly corrected five, and didn’t yet address two of the eight, one of which was to use before-and-after data to see if high school programs receiving grants were worth the investment.

The department’s director said the agency is working to finish the seven uncompleted tasks by 2027.

“ODE agrees with the audit’s finding that stronger oversight, documentation and evaluation practices are needed to ensure this progress continues and that program outcomes can be measured reliably,” Director Charlene Williams said in a statement.

Oregon has some of the lowest graduation rates among the 50 states. Some evidence suggests the High School Success program has been helpful. Williams pointed to the state’s current 83% high school graduation rate, “a record high.” That compares with the national rate for the 2024–25 school year was 87.4%.

A 2024 study by Stand for Children, a key supporter of Measure 98, said High School Success helped reduce the state’s 4% high school dropout rate to 2.75%.

The Oregon Journalism Project is a nonprofit news initiative whose goal is to inform, engage, and empower Oregonians.