OKLAHOMA CITY – Schools would have more funds to devote to classroom instruction if House Bill 2886 is enacted.
The legislation would earmark $100 for every student enrolled in a school district, “for the purposes of providing classroom supplies, textbooks, and field trips...”
Enrollment in Oklahoma public schools for the 2019-20 school year was 703,650 as of Oct. 1, 2019, the State Department of Education (SDE) reported. That means HB 2886 would result in an additional $70.3 million for schools. School districts would welcome additional funds for textbooks, in part because public school enrollment has increased by 15,350 students in the last six years, SDE ledgers reflect.
The Legislature appropriates funds to the SDE that are dedicated exclusively for new or replacement textbooks. The allocation for instructional materials has been $33 million for each of the last two years, but the Legislature diverted that funding elsewhere for school year 2017-18, SDE records show.
The State Textbook Committee compiles a list of textbooks that meet the academic criteria for Oklahoma’s public schools.
Textbooks are purchased in the broad categories of social studies (history, government, politics, citizenship, geography, economics, psychology, and sociology); mathematics; reading and literature; thearts (fine arts, music, and humanities); and technology (computers). The books are replaced on a rotating schedule.
A typical hardback highschool math textbook cost $75 in 2018, while a hardback science textbook cost about $115, one source showed.
The average cost of a public school student’s various classroom textbooks in 2017 was $250, according to an estimate from Applied Educational Systems, a school curriculum developer.
The funds proposed in HB 2886 also could be spent on supplemental materials, such as copies of the U.S. Con- stitutionortheDeclaration of Independence for use in American history classes, flashcards for math classes, or workbooks and charts for use in a science class.
American teachers spend an average of $479 from their own pockets to buy school supplies, according to data from the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal Survey. That’s a nationally representative sample survey of teachers and principals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that’s conducted by the U.S. Department of Education.
The data show that the amount teachers spend on school supplies can vary widely.
Forty-four percent of teachers spent $250 or less, while 36% spent between $251 and $500. Thirteen per- cent spent between $501 and $1,000, and 7% spent more than $1,000.
State Rep. Johnny Tadlock indicated he also would like for some of the funds to finance field trips to museums, historic sites and such. The Idabel Republican recalled that several years ago he paid from his own pocket to send his daughter and her classmates on a field trip to Texar- kana, Texas.
Tadlock, author of HB 2886, filed an identical bill in 2017; it died in the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Education.
The State Board of Equalization in December certified $8.3 billion in funds available for appropriation by the Legislature in FY 2021.