OKLAHOMA CITY — The State Board of Equalization last week certified a $190 million decrease in state revenue for 2024, and Democrat legislators blamed the decline on private school vouchers.
House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson (D-Oklahoma City) said the decrease in state funding is largely due to the Republican supermajority’s decision to use taxpayer dollars to fund private schools.
“Nearly $133 million will not be available for critical state services like healthcare, workforce development, affordable housing and public education,” she said.
“Instead, the people of Oklahoma will subsidize the cost of private education for the wealthiest families in our state already able to afford to send their children to private schools. Funding private school vouchers is bad policy and fiscally irresponsible legislation that will negatively impact most taxpayers.”
The reduced revenue from the taxpayer funded vouchers will directly reduce education funding and the state pension fund for retired educators.
The Education Reform Revolving fund is expected to receive $13.1 million less in 2024 and the teachers’ retirement system will receive $8.2 million less.
“The $132.9 million is the reduction for just one year,” Munson noted. “If we take into consideration the cumulative effect of using taxpayer dollars to fund private schools, the cost is expected to balloon to nearly a billion dollars in the next five years. The Republican supermajority has put our state budget in a dangerous downward spiral by diverting public dollars to private schools,” she charged.