Since 2012, OSEA has fought for safer workplaces for education employees — especially those who work with students with challenging behaviors. Members who reported being assaulted by their students led OSEA to create our landmark Work Shouldn’t Hurt campaign.
Together, we have fought for and won significant changes to state law that make schools safer for both staff and students. But as long as any staff are facing violence on the job, more needs to be done. Our Work Shouldn’t Hurt campaign will continue in the 2024 and 2025 legislative sessions.
Incident Reporting
Report all incidents of injury or dangerous student behavior to your employer — and share your report with your OSEA field rep. Your employer is required to report serious incidents to Oregon OSHA.
Reporting an IncidentEmployer Accountability
In 2023, Oregon expanded the definition of child abuse to include certain types of restraints and seclusion. OSEA successfully advocated for school districts, not staff, to be liable if staff did not receive appropriate training or if they believed they would be fired for refusing.
Access to IEPs
As of September 2023, your school district is required to give you access to the IEP and/or 504 plan of any student you support, and include you on IEP planning teams.
Understanding IEPsMore Work Hours
Classified who spend more than 75 percent of work hours supporting special education students now have the option of a five-hour minimum workday to provide consistency for students.
Staff Training
OSEA members successfully advocated for a $5 million increase to funding for de-escalation and other training for staff who support special education students.
Safety Committees
Since 2018, school districts have been required to create safety committees to evaluate incident reports and recommend safety measures.
About Safety CommitteesWork Shouldn’t Hurt Campaign History
OSEA launched the Work Shouldn’t Hurt campaign in 2012 with three goals:
- Increase awareness among state-level decision makers that classified staff have frequent incidents while supporting students with behavioral and special needs
- Improve access, inclusion and accountability by streamlining the incident reporting process
- Deliver new state laws that better ensure a safe educational environment for all students and staff
In 2015, members contributed to a series of investigative articles examining workplace violence involving special needs students and classified school employees.
In 2018, these efforts culminated in a new law and health and safety rules.
In 2023, OSEA succeeded in passing legislation that gives classified access to IEPs and requires districts to provide adequate training for staff working with students with special needs.
The rights outlined above are the result of advocacy by hundreds of OSEA members over the last decade. Watch for future opportunities to get involved and make a difference!
