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Oklahoma House Passes Bills On Public School Transfers And Funding

Matt Trotter
/
KWGS

The full Oklahoma House passed bills on Wednesday to make education policy changes championed by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

A bill to allow open public school transfers passed with some changes. House Bill 2074 would still allow students up to two transfers per school year to districts they don’t live in, but the process has been changed to a first-come, first-served process if transfers will put a grade level over capacity; districts must publish their capacity on a quarterly rather than a monthly basis; and siblings of a transfer student are no longer automatically accepted. They would no longer get preference and could now be rejected for excessive absences or behavior issues, just like any other student who applies.

Rep. Regina Goodwin (D-Tulsa) asked bill sponsor Rep. Brad Boles (R-Marlow) if he understood the racial bias at play if districts can reject transfer applicants based on past disciplinary issues.

"Are you aware that in Oklahoma there's a tremendous disparity as it relates to Black children that are disciplined as opposed to white children?" Goodwin said.

"So, thank you for that question. I've not seen those statistics, but if you can provide those to me, I'll look at them," Boles said.

Backers have framed HB2074 as a necessary step so low-income students’ potential isn’t limited by their ZIP codes. Rep. Monroe Nichols (D-Tulsa) said the bill appears aimed at schools serving families like many in his district, but no one asked for his or his constituents’ input on how to help their schools.

"These poor people pay the same — as much as a percent — of their income tax as the richest person in Oklahoma. You create a few income tax brackets at the top to make it a little more fair, guess what we can do? We can invest in those kids' schools," Nichols said.

Critics have said the bill will lead families to pull kids from schools they see as failing, putting remaining students at greater risk as funding dwindles. House Majority Leader Jon Echols (R-Oklahoma City) said he doesn’t believe there will be a mass exodus from certain schools.

"And this myth — and it is a myth — that somehow this isn't an all-state solution, that kids want to leave a school because it's 'failing'? That's just not true. Oftentimes, they just don't fit in. Oftentimes, they just need another place," Echols said.

HB2074 passed 77–22.

The House also passed legislation to cut attendance numbers considered for school funding to the preceding year’s weighted average. The statewide funding formula currently lets schools go with the highest weighted average of the previous two years.

Supporters of House Bill 2078 continued to draw false equivalencies between that provision, which offers districts budget stability, and Epic Charter School’s enrollment of students it didn’t intend to teach in order to allegedly secure additional state funding.

"A virtual public school was accused of getting paid or receving money for allegedly not educating students, it was called embezzlement," said Rep. Chad Caldwell (R-Enid).

Rep. John Waldron (D-Tulsa), a classroom teacher, said HB2078 is an attempt at a cheap political victory.

"But urban and rural school districts aren't going to get better if we keep hitting them again and again and again," Waldron said.

HB2078 passed 68–30, with 13 Republicans representing small or rural communities voting against it.

Both bills now go to the Senate.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.
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