The State Board of Education unanimously voted to cut nearly $47 million in funding due to pressure from state finance officials, resulting in $25 million less funding for Oklahoma schools.
“I feel like it’s disrespectful to teachers,” Sharon Morgan, first grade teacher in Oklahoma for the past 17 years, said. “They’re not really making education a priority because we continue to cut and cut. We just expect the community and the teachers to make up for that because you can’t let the students suffer so you just to make up for it.”
The budget cuts are not across-the-board but are being aimed at specific programs instead. Among those being cut more severely are advanced placement (AP)
“Elimination of the STEM program in schools is really bad,” Madison Talley, junior early education major, said. “A good majority of jobs have to deal with concepts and ideas introduced to students through this program.”
School districts who previously have been more reliant on state funding will be more affected by these cuts. Districts who cannot manage to find independent funding could face being forced to close.
Wendi Day, a junior social studies education major, expressed her feelings on the matter.
Day said schools rely on state funding and that she is concerned how districts will manage independently funding for all their needs.
“Maybe it would be good to have some of those smaller schools shut down so those funds could go to other schools but that’s sad for jobs and kids,” Day said.
According to NewsOK, the state will receive approximately $900 million less for the upcoming fiscal year, a decrease of 12.9 percent for allocated funding from the current year. State officials are
“This will cause problems and be detrimental to kids, especially those with problems,” Talley said. “The margin between those that are excelling and those that aren’t will widen significantly as a result of this.”
Senator Patrick Anderson proposed a plan to aid in reducing the financial deficiency is to consolidate schools. If passed, Anderson’s plan will call for every county in the state to be its own school district, decreasing the number of state school districts from 519 to 77, and redistribute funds from paying administration into classrooms instead.
“On the other hand, when you can’t pay for your own children’s education and what your children need because your salary is so low that leads to a level of frustration that makes people want to leave,” Morgan said. “That’s why we have a teacher shortage and this won’t make it better.”
Emergency certificates are being handed out to anyone who is willing to step into a classroom to fill otherwise unfilled teaching positions. This allows individuals who have not chosen to earn degrees in education to become educators with little training or preparation for the classroom setting.
“It really does affect my desire to stay here and teach because Oklahoma is already pretty low in education and it’s really scary to even think about,” Day said. “I definitely want to finish out my degree here at Oklahoma Christian but I don’t want to stay in Oklahoma with all the stuff that’s happening.”
Oklahoma has gained over 40,000 students while losing more than $1.2 billion in financial support in the past several years. The state is ranked as one of the lowest in per pupil spending.
“We’re always in it for the students,” Morgan said. “You know you’re doing the right thing and making a difference but it leads to frustration. You need things and can’t get them. The people that have the power to give them to you won’t and they don’t have any problem cutting. It can get frustrating when you feel like you’re giving and giving and not getting anything back.”
Oklahoma voters might see the penny sales tax on the ballot as soon as November. This tax is proposed to raise $615 million that would be appropriated for public schools.
“We have an excellent education system and teachers. It’s just not funded well,” Morgan said.
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