OKPOLICY.ORG
By Sally Asher
Oklahoma Policy Institute released a report detailing how much state aid per student each district in Oklahoma receives, and one district in Northwest Oklahoma is at the bottom of the list.
Billings Public Schools, in Noble County, receives $15.55 in state aid per student, in contrast to Eagletown Public Schools in McCurtain County, which receives $7,740 per student.
Per-student state aid is calculated based on enrollment, needs of students and local resources in districts, such as property tax, motor vehicle collections, gross production taxes, school land earnings, county taxes and rural electric association taxes, according to a 2015 budget post on OKPolicy.org, “ABCs of School Finance.” The more local resources a district has, the less state aid it receives.
Billings Public Schools has 83 students enrolled and receives $1,291 in state aid because the district has more local resources than Eagletown Public Schools, which has 149 students and receives $1,153,308 in state aid, according to the OPI report.
Enid Public Schools receives the most state aid in Northwest Oklahoma — $3,051 per student.
The report noted state aid per student trended higher in Southeast Oklahoma and lower in Northwest Oklahoma.
Oklahoma ranks among the lowest on the national stage — the Sooner State averages $8,043 per student, well below the national average of $11,709, according to National Education Association. Vermont comes in first with $23,149 per student, and Arizona brings in the rear at $7,461 per student.
Public school districts in Northwest Oklahoma receive the following amounts of state aid per student: Billings, $16; Pond Creek-Hunter, $66; Medford, $73; Freedom, $83; Waynoka, $97; Alva, $97; Okarche, $133; Burlington, $155; Seiling, $249; Pioneer-Pleasant Vale, $319; Timberlake, $345; Kremlin-Hillsdale, $423; Sharon-Mutual, $425; Cherokee $481; and Aline-Cleo Springs, $622; Deer Creek-Lamont, $7101; and Cimarron, $1,011.
Also, Ringwood, $1,404; Dover, $1,408; Watonga, $1,454; Chisholm, $1,793; Woodward, $1,828; Kingfisher, $1,884; Fairview, $2,045; Garber, $2,171; Covington-Douglas, $2,208; Hennessey, $2,237; Waukomis, $2,244; Drummond, $2,995; and Enid Public Schools, $3,052.
http://www.enidnews.com/news/local_news/oklahoma-policy-institute-releases-highest-lowest-state-aid-numbers/article_4bdd5439-fa68-5501-adea-24b9e26651b2.html
