Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton
Tulsa World Staff Writer
Mike Simons
Tulsa World Staff Photographer
Oklahoma school districts will soon have access to additional federal funds to help improve students’ reading skills.
Speaking in the library of Lewis and Clark Elementary School, 737 S. Garnett Road, State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Thursday that the Oklahoma State Department of Education has received a five-year, $58.9 million federal grant through the U.S. Department of Education’s Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant Program to bolster literacy supports.
As announced nationally on Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education, the Oklahoma State Department of Education is one of 23 recipients nationwide in this year’s funding cycle. The state last received money through the program in 2017, when it was awarded a three-year, $21 million grant.
People are also reading…
Flanked by Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Ebony Johnson, Republican lawmakers, representatives from the Tulsa Regional Chamber and leaders from the Tulsa County chapter of Moms For Liberty and the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee, Walters said recipient districts will have the flexibility to use the grant money as needed to better address students’ literacy needs, such as through professional development for teachers or more tutoring.
The grant funds will be distributed on an application basis with up to 25 districts receiving money. The application will be made available later this school year, and Walters was not able to provide specific eligibility criteria that districts must meet in order to apply for the funding.
“Our grant criteria will be coming out in the next week,” he said. “We will show them (districts) how their applications will be graded.”
Speaking to reporters, Johnson said she was excited about the potential opportunity to provide additional support for students.
“We’re excited about what this means for Tulsa Public Schools,” she said. “We have plans to do more tutoring. We have plans to do even more interventions around literacy.”
Thursday’s announcement comes about six weeks after the release of a performance review by the U.S. Department of Education questioning OSDE’s spending and reporting practices for federal programs.
Out of 52 indicators reviewed, 32 were deemed so out of compliance or lacking in quality that they “require urgent attention by the (state) and will be revisited until the (state) has remedied the issue,” in most cases between 30 and 60 days.
When asked, Walters said his agency has already begun addressing the concerns raised by the report and reiterated that there would not be any delay in getting the funding out to grant recipients.
“I am extremely confident in our ability to get this out to districts,” he said.
The Tulsa World is where your story lives
The Tulsa World newsroom is committed to covering this community with curiosity, tenacity and depth. Our passion for telling the story of Tulsa remains unwavering. Because your story is our story. Thank you to our subscribers who support local journalism. Join them with limited-time offers at tulsaworld.com/story.
