OKLAHOMA CITY — A legislative proposal that would dole out $300 million in new per-pupil funding would result in Tulsa Public Schools receiving less of that pot of money per student than any other district in the state.
House Republicans say their proposed education plan attempts to correct existing funding disparities between small and large school districts.
But a $2 million cap on the new per-pupil spending means many small districts would receive more money per student than large urban and suburban districts whose funding increases will be limited.
TPS spokeswoman Drew Druzynski said House Bill 2775 creates the illusion of additional aid. Under the proposal, TPS — the state's largest school district with close to 34,000 students — would get the same portion of that $300 million as Ponca City Public Schools — a district with about 4,500 students, she said.
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"If our state leaders want to benefit every student, parent, and teacher, they would stop playing games that attempt to pit urban and rural education systems against each other in a fruitless competition that ends in woefully inadequate resources for both," Druzynski said in a statement.
House Speaker Pro Tem Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, said TPS would receive about $9 million in new funding under the bill because the district will receive additional funds for mandatory $2,500 across-the-board teacher pay raises. The $150 million earmarked for pay raises would go into the state's funding formula, unlike the $300 million that would be allocated based on districts' average daily membership of students.
He also noted TPS's current per-pupil funding is about $2,000 higher than the statewide average.
"As of today, Tulsa Public Schools is better funded than most districts in the state," he said. "When this bill passes, they will still be better funded than most school districts in the state. That doesn't change."
When presenting HB 2775 on the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, said all districts will see their funding increase under the proposal that would pour $500 million more into public schools. She also noted urban and suburban districts are able to collect more ad valorem tax dollars than most rural schools.
TPS would receive about $61.30 in new funding per student, according to an analysis from the Oklahoma State School Boards Association. Oklahoma City Public Schools would get $62.40 per student. Both districts would hit the $2 million cap.
Hundreds of districts with 2,614 or fewer students would receive the maximum increase of $745 per student.
House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, authored HB 2775. Under his bill, Atoka Public Schools would receive $745 per student for a total of $636,744 in new per-pupil funding.
Roughly 44 districts, including nine in Tulsa County, would hit the $2 million funding cap, according to the OSSBA analysis.
Owasso Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Coates estimated her district would get about $3.9 million in new per-pupil appropriations if there was no funding cap. Under HB 2775, the district will receive about $207.28 per student.
Coates praised House lawmakers for seeking to appropriate more money to public education, but she said putting those dollars into the school funding formula would be ideal.
"I do think that putting a cap on the $300 million in funding is not equitable," she said. "Everything in public ed is all about equity, and our funding formula is designed to provide that equity across districts."
Broken Arrow Public Schools would receive an additional $6 million in funding, $4 million of which would be earmarked for teacher pay raises, said Superintendent Chuck Perry.
In a statement, Perry said he's struggling with how HB 2775 values children differently based on where they live.
"In Broken Arrow, each child will be funded at $106 more, but other students across the state will be funded as much as $745 more per child," Perry said. "This doesn’t seem fair to the families who have made a choice to live here in this community.”
The cap will benefit school districts like Sapulpa Public Schools, Hilbert said. Initially, the district would be on track to receive $1.7 million in new per-pupil funding.
But because other districts will hit the funding cap, the per-pupil funding amounts over $2 million will be redistributed to other districts. That will bring Sapulpa up to the $2 million cap as well, he said.
"No matter what you do, you're choosing a funding formula," he said. "The current funding formula already disproportionately gets more money to Tulsa Public Schools and OKCPS. One way or another, you're putting more money toward some schools than others."
HB 2775 passed the House on a largely party-line vote of 78-20 and now goes to the Senate.
Republican Reps. Mark Vancuren, of Owasso, and Judd Strom, of Copan, sided with Democrats in opposing the bill.
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