Tulsa schools on federal 'hit' list of top 100 districts at risk of federal funding cuts

Tulsa Public Schools made the White House’s top 100 list for U.S. school districts at risk of taking the largest federal funding hit if House Republicans succeed with a measure to limit the federal role in public education.

“We are not intimately familiar with every aspect of the cuts recommended in House Resolution 5,” Tulsa Superintendent Keith Ballard told the Tulsa World. “However, I can tell you that TPS has already suffered from substantial cuts to federal Title I dollars, and we have done our best to cover these losses. Any further losses in Title I dollars would be absolutely devastating to the district.”

The report from the White House on Friday pushed back against House Republicans who want to leave it to states to decide how to improve failing schools and to replace several federal programs with a single flexible local grant program.

House Resolution 5, also known as the “Student Success Act,” is being promoted as an update to the bipartisan No Child Left Behind law that was signed into law in 2002 by then-President George W. Bush.

In its new report, “Investing in our Future: Helping Teachers and Schools Prepare our Children for College and Careers,” the White House said the GOP House education bill would be a “huge step backward” and would “virtually eliminate accountability” in making sure federal education money helps impoverished communities.

“After an economic crisis that hit school budgets and educators hard, we cannot just cut our way to better schools and more opportunity,” the report states.

It says that under the president’s 2016 budget, Oklahoma is estimated to receive $167 million in Title I funding in 2016 and $1.04 billion over the 2016-21 period. Under the House Resolution 5 proposal, Oklahoma is projected to receive $161 million in 2016 and $965 million over the 2016-21 period — or $6 million less in 2016 and $78 million less over the 2016-2021 period, when compared with the president’s budget.

The state’s two largest school districts, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, both made the list of the 100 school districts that would experience the largest reduction in Title I funding under House Resolution 5.

According to the data gathered from the U.S. Department of Education, Oklahoma City would receive 14.7 percent or $3.4 million less than the $23 million in Title I funds it received for Fiscal Year 2014, while Tulsa’s estimated impact would be 11.9 percent or $2.1 million less than its $18 million from last year.

“It is disappointing the White House and powerful special interests are rallying against these commonsense reforms,” said Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee.

The White House counters that the legislation would enable states to divert federal education dollars to unrelated projects such as prisons and sports stadiums.

In a conference call with journalists, a senior White House adviser stopped short of saying President Barack Obama would veto the bill. Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said the administration is hopeful that the Senate will draft an acceptable bill that has bipartisan support.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.