Tag: FY ’13 budget

Proposed education budget leaves schools in a hole

Educating school-age children is the state of Oklahoma’s biggest responsibility. But in recent years, our investment in education has been on a severe decline. Since 2008, Oklahoma has made the third largest cuts to per pupil spending in the nation,… Read more [More...]

Graph of the Day: Common education receiving dwindling share of state budget

This year’s state budget provided no additional dollars for common education, even as total state appropriations grew by 3.2 percent.  Over the past four years, state support for common education has fallen 11.4 percent while public school enrollment has grown… Read more [More...]

For Oklahoma voters, education funding cuts are a major concern

As students head back to school this month, they will encounter an education system facing a crisis in funding. Over the past four years, state support for public schools has been slashed by $220 million, or  11 percent, while school… Read more [More...]

Quick Take: New fiscal year off to mixed start

This week’s announcement of General Revenue (GR) collections for the first month of the new fiscal year (FY 2013) provided mixed news for both overall collections and the performance of particular major taxes. Overall GR in July was $382.7 million.… Read more [More...]

Still stuck in a hole: Funding for public education falls flat

The FY 2013 budget negotiated  by legislative leaders and Governor Fallin had some encouraging aspects. Overall appropriations increased by $253 million, or 3.8 percent, and there was additional funding for targeted priorities in human services, health care, transportation and public… Read more [More...]

FY 2013 Budget overview: Been down so long it feels like up

In the 1960’s, Richard Fariña titled his novel of his college days and experiences, “Been Down So Long It Feels Like Up To Me.” The sentiment might also apply to the state budget for the upcoming year. After being down… Read more [More...]

Graph of the Day: State support for schools has fallen while enrollment rises

NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect slightly revised numbers in state aid funding for FY 2008 and FY 2012. The text has been corrected to correspond. The FY 2013 budget agreement announced yesterday provides no increase in state… Read more [More...]

STATEMENT: Budget leaves Oklahoma further behind

Oklahoma Policy Institute released the following statement in response to the state budget deal announced today: According to today’s budget agreement, appropriations for core services remain flat even though expenses continue to rise. That means we will fall further behind… Read more [More...]

(Oklahoma Economic Report) Natural Gas: Beneath the surface

This article appeared in the April 2012 edition of the Oklahoma Economic Report, a publication of the Office of State Treasurer Ken Miller. It is reprinted here in its entirety with permission. It seems that each day brings another story… Read more [More...]

Stuck in a Hole: What flat funding means for the common education budget

After three straight years of budget cuts, funding for public education in Oklahoma is in dire straits.  This year’s appropriation to the Department of Education is $254 million, or 10.0 percent, less than it was in 2009.  In the past… Read more [More...]