Have you ever thought about how our school gets all the money to fund everything at North? It comes from government funding and taxes. If you didn’t know, you might want to pay attention in class a little more. If you’ve been going to public schools in Oklahoma your whole life, or at least a few years, you would probably remember the teacher shortage before and after the pandemic or the teacher walkout in April of 2018. So, for those of us who watch the news, you might have noticed that Oklahoma legislators were passing several bills earlier this year. Some of those bills were about funding the schools in Oklahoma.
One of the bills that really caught the eye of the people was House Bill 2901 which appropriated $500 million to the State Board Of Education for the financial support of public schools. Okhouse.gov states that House Bill 2901 appropriates a recurring amount to the school funding formula to cover costs associated with SB1119 and SB1121. Senate Bill 1119 approves longevity-based pay raises for all certified staff, ranging from a $3,000 increase for teachers with 0-4 years’ experience; $4,000 for 5 to 9 years; $5,000 for 10-14 years; and $6,000 for teachers employed 15 years or more.
Senate Bill 1121 provides six weeks’ paid maternity leave for teachers employed for at least a year. This is an improvement on teacher pay, and our teachers will finally be able to have paid maternity leave. Also, we’ve gotten new textbooks, new speakers in the classrooms, weapon detectors, and new water fountains all from the CARES Act from the pandemic. So, I’m intrigued to see what improvements this bill will have on our schools in the Putnam City district .
There’s this other bill, House Bill 1934 also known as The Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit Act, which gives a refundable tax credit of $5,000 to $7,500 per child to cover the cost of private school tuition. The bill also establishes a $1,000 per-student income tax credit for qualified expenses related to homeschool. This bill would make private schools more of an option than they were before. However, some people are concerned that this bill would affect funding for public schools.
The legislators have passed bills that give our public schools more money and give us a little more access to a private school education. For now, all we can do is wait and see what these bills will do for our districts and what our districts will do to keep students involved in learning. Although there’s not really any other bills like these ones in the American education system, I’m excited to see what improvement HB 2901 & HB 1934 will provide us.
