Educational Investment Lacking

Educational Investment Lacking

As you can see in the chart above Oklahoma is severely underfunding education compared to its neighboring states. This probably isn’t anything most people haven’t heard. But when you realize that the states of Kansas, Arkansas, and New Mexico all have a smaller population you can’t just say it is state size. It’s simply a collective investment in our future. The future for our kids and grandkids. Our overall tax burden is 45th in the nation. No one likes them but we are by no means an overtaxed state.

The students of Purcell and the state of Oklahoma are going to be competing for scholarships and jobs against the students of these other states. All who have had a significant larger investment put in them. A student in neighboring Kansas will have $40,000 - $45,000 more spent on them than a student in Oklahoma. It is a major disservice to our students and our state's future.

Just in the last year alone, according to the National Center for Education Statistics annual report, Oklahoma has fallen another $100 Million dollars behind. Every year that our state fails to prioritize education we fall farther behind. Our state suffers, Our students suffer, and Purcell suffers.

Since 2008 Oklahoma Public Schools have been cut 26.9%, the steepest cuts in the nation, and over 12% more than 2nd worse state Alabama at 14.2%. It’s these cuts that have us contemplating 4 day weeks, laying off teachers, and the number of emergency certified teachers soaring. Hopefully in the near future our state can rebound and fully fund education again.

In 1991 after the landmark HB 1017 was put into place Oklahoma ranked 20th in the nation per pupil expenditures. Out ranking Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Kansas. We are now billions of dollars behind them.  Now some 25 years later we are last. Last in teachers pay. It’s time for a change. My hope is the upcoming elections and and legislative season change our future. Put us on a new course.