Public schools learned Wednesday that their monthly payment from the state of Oklahoma would be shorted by an additional $17.4 million, bringing the total reductions since January to nearly $87 million.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education sent out a memo Wednesday ahead of Thursday payments to local schools notifying them that state revenue collections continue to fall far short of expectations in both the 1017 Fund and the Common Education Technology Revolving Fund.
Those are two revenue streams that feed into state aid for common education, the primary source of state funding for public schools. All but 37 school districts — whose local tax revenues are too high — receive state aid.
Amid calls from education groups for a supplemental funding request, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister told the Tulsa World: “All options are on the table, but it is clear there is no money to give regardless what we request.”
