Oklahoma's public school system ranks second worst in the nation, study research shows
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — According to a Wallet Hub research study, Oklahoma has the second worst public school system in the country. This is factoring in performance, funding, class size, instructor credentials, and quality.
Oklahoma is also reportedly the worst state in the country when it comes to students dropping out of school.
NewsChannel 8 spoke with the Oklahoma Education Association about this and their number one priority to fix it, is funding.
“We see studies like this all the time and what they show us is that we still continue to be last in the nation in per-people funding, and that is something that we’ve got to get better at,” said President of Oklahoma Education Association, Katherine Bishop.
The Oklahoma education association standard is to put education first and they have been trying to get a funding increase for some time now.
She also stated that resources in classrooms need to be updated to compete with other states around the country.
“Not only the resources that they need in their classroom, but it’s the professional that they have standing in front of them. To make sure that we are attracting, recruiting, and attaining the best-qualified educator to be there,” said Bishop.
This profession is what teachers count on for our future, they also want respectable pay in order to prepare the next generation of children.
“We are the largest workforce in our state, we are the ones that make sure that we have doctors, and lawyers, and engineers and teachers,” said Bishop.
She did applaud the legislature who made a $600 million investment into public schools earlier this year, but she doesn’t want this to become a one-time thing.
$500 million of the $600 million will go into the education funding formula.
“Well, what we don’t need to be is 47th in the nation in what we spend on students, so that’s what we have to get out of, that is not acceptable. For the 700,000 students that are going to setting in classrooms in the next few weeks we are giving them the respect in what they need, by investing in their future,” said Bishop.
Katherine also says 90 percent of kids go to public schools in this state. It’s time to invest in our future and get back to the Oklahoma standard.