Our History
SOREN was formed as a result of Senate Bill 182, which was passed by the Oregon Legislature in 2017. The Educator Advancement Council (EAC) was created as a public-nonprofit partnership through state statute to significantly improve professional supports for Oregon’s public educators. The council launched 10 Regional Educator Networks (RENs) across Oregon. The RENs facilitate a process that centers the voices of educators to operationalize meaningful, systemic changes to improve recruitment, retention, and professional learning. They do this work through a networked continuous improvement process; the RENs will not initially organize around a solution, program, or an initiative, but rather around improving systems of support for educators along the educator advancement continuum. All of the RENs are engaging in work that centers antiracist, culturally sustaining policies and practices to co-create racially affirming environments for Black, Indigenous, and educators of color (BIPoC).
