OKPOLICY.ORG
The contours of the debate on how much the Oklahoma Legislature can accomplish this year for education are beginning to take shape in the House and Senate. The Senate took the initiative early when Education Chair Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, and Vice-Chair Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, announced a $254 million education improvement package.
The Senate proposal included a $2,500 across-the-board teacher pay raise at a cost of $117 million; $50 million to pay for proposed new requirements and support for the Strong Readers Act; $29.8 million in additional funding to the state aid formula; $10 million to continue and expand a pilot program for literacy coaches; and $10 million for a new pilot program for math coaches.
Bills to implement the proposal have been working their way through the legislative process. The Senate package relies on funding obtained by capping the amount of earmarked dollars going into the Teacher Retirement System and appropriating the overage to the State Department of Education.
The fact that Oklahoma’s students have consistently ranked near the bottom on national reading metrics, including National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, has caught the attention of both House and Senate leaders.
Speaker Kyle Hilbert filed House Bill 4420, which requires third grade students to score above the basic level on the statewide reading test, earn an acceptable score on an alternative assessment, or qualify for a good-cause exemption to be promoted to the fourth grade. As students are identified in grades K-3 as having reading deficiencies, parents will be notified and the students will be given additional help.
Rep. Rob Hall, R-Tulsa, recently amended HB 3151, which had previously been a shell bill, to instead extend the school year by seven additional days beginning with the 2027-2028 school year. The school year was shortened during COVID and, apparently, enforcement of mandatory school days has been both confusing and lax. In his State of the State address, Gov. Stitt noted in certain Oklahoma school districts, students are only mandated to attend school for 148 days. For comparison, Kansas students are in their seats for 186 days a year.
To gain support for the extended school year from education stakeholders, Speaker Hilbert added a provision to Hall’s HB 3151 stating it will only take effect if the state increases the State Department of Education budget by at least $175 million between FY-2026 and FY-2028. This raises the issue as to how the $175 million in the House proposal correlates with the $254 million Senate proposal.
The initial issue of the debate is whether the Legislature will consent to reallocate funds previously designated for the Teachers Retirement System to finance current educational improvements. If so, will the money be used as outlined in the Senate proposal, including teacher pay raises, or will it be used to extend the school year?
To me, it’s self-evident that more instructional time should be a priority. As a matter of practical politics, the Legislature can only extend education days when funding rises significantly. If additional funds amounting to hundreds of millions are allocated to the education budget, it would be advisable to link this investment to an increase in instructional time. Some of the funding should be allocated to teacher compensation to reflect the added workload. The remainder could fund the reading and math initiatives.
In the past seven years, at the insistence of the governor, the Legislature has tied its hands with excessive tax cuts. Having said that, it would be more beneficial now to allocate existing revenue toward enhancing educational opportunities instead of further contributing to an already well-funded retirement system. Today’s first graders can’t postpone growing up until sometime in the future when the Legislature decides to provide them with a good education.
