SB 863 could end federal school funding in Oklahoma

Sam Royka Managing Editor

A new bill proposes a change in funding for Oklahoma’s K-12 public schools. This would end federal funding for public schools in Oklahoma and switch them to in-state dollars.

The funding would shift in phases if the bill comes into effect. These phases would shift funding over 10 years.

State Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, is the bill’s sponsor. The Vista was not able to reach Bullard, a teacher by profession, for comment.

Chief financial officer of Edmond Public Schools Lori Smith offered her perspective.

“If this federal money goes away, are they going to replace it with something else? If the state is going to replace federal money, they just added a huge, you know, budget item. And one thing that I have found in the past, because I’ve been in this district for 21 years and in this position for 11, but the state funding tends to be more volatile,” Smith said.

“It’s kind of nice to have some balance so when the state is cutting, you at least know you’re going to get your federal money and your local tax collections.”

Smith said federal funding is “not such a large portion of the budget to control everything. But it’s a significant enough part of the budget that if we lost it, you know, we wouldn’t have the ability to do everything we do.” dents, but if you are looking to learn about DEI it’s going to be a different classroom environment, because you’re not in your comfort zone. We even go over state laws at the beginning of the year, so everyone knows they can voice themselves if they feel uncomfortable, or even drop the course if they wanted.”

She continued.

“The largest programs that admin has utilized federal money are Title I and I.D.E.A. for the special ed. But it comes nowhere near actually paying for those programs. It’s just like a little supplement. And that’s the way the federal money is intended to be. It’s supposed to supplement not supplant,” Smith said.

A budget from last year showed a general breakdown of expected funding. Though not exact percentages, the budget helps illustrate the current state of funding for Edmond schools.

About 43% of available funding came from “local, like from taxes and interest, earnings and local sources,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, state sources come in near 38 percent. This number includes both state aid and other dedicated revenue sources.

Federal funding was projected to come in at 12.4 percent, which Smith said was “higher than normal” with extra funding from COVID-19 relief.

County sources made up 5 percent of the budget and less than one percent came from “reimbursements and things like that,” Smith said.

Of federal control in the classroom, Oklahoma dropped the common core requirement in 2014. This was one federal education standard that ensured the same or similar content in classrooms across the country.

“The federal government does not need to be in Oklahoma education,” Bullard said in a senate press release.

Smith also spoke on percieved federal control of education.

“They’re making claims that we’re having to teach Critical Race Theory or things like that, which we’re not doing. So, you know, I’m just not sure if they understand the restrictions, or I don’t know if they perceive the restrictions. differently than I did. I perceived that the restrictions are more like accounting for what you’re spending,” she said.

At this time, the bill does not include a plan for the proposed funding shift but does address the need for one if the bill were to progress.

Contact Bullard’s office at (405) 5215586 or David.Bullard@oksenate.gov.

Stitt said in his address that “the state of our state is the strongest it’s ever been.” Oklahoma currently ranks 13th in infrastructure, 26th in tax competitiveness, and 36th in economic competitiveness. However, Oklahoma continues to rank 49th in education, 46th in healthcare, and 44th in the skilled workforce category.

Belle

Jabee, owner of Eastside Pizza House, hip-hop artist and local community activist, took to social media asking the community to help find a boombox that was custom-made for the 2022 grand opening of his pizza restaurant, 1734 NE 23rd St. Jabee said he was hoping to find the missing boombox without involving the police.

“We don’t need an investigation, we don’t need a report. We don’t need none of that, you know what I’m sayin, just bring it back!” Jabee wrote on Twitter.

As a social justice activist fighting to end systemic racism within Oklahoma. Jabee frequently speaks on behalf of the Black community through his music, but also through organizing community events that serve as a space to educate the public about the marginalization of the Black community.

Williams said that the boombox was custom-made by Oklahoma City’s DD Audio to help promote and celebrate the grand opening of Eastside Pizza House, and the decision to not involve police was intentional.

“We need to do our best to handle things without the police, and we’d still be looking for it right now if the police were involved.” he said. “You know, usually whenever police get involved things get escalated. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to be the person who caused someone to end up in jail or back to prison for a violation over something that could be just returned, handled in a different way.”

Jabee said he felt the warmth of the community when people reached out to identify the person who was caught on Eastside Pizza’s security cameras.

“Yeah, definitely,” Jabee said. “I think it’s just the power of the people, you know? It’s not nothing about me or how special I am; it’s just the fact that, for the most part, people understood what I understood. It wasn’t about making somebody pay for something or none of that. It was just, ‘Listen man, you did wrong. Now do the right thing and bring it back.’”

Less than eight hours after posting to social media, the whereabouts of the boombox were disclosed by an individual who contacted Jabee but asked to remain anonymous. The boombox is now back at Eastside Pizza, which celebrates its one-year anniversary Feb. 15.