State funding for schools falls short for second month

Public schools learned Wednesday that their regular payment from the state of Oklahoma would be shorted for the second month in a row.

The Oklahoma State Department of Education sent out a memo Wednesday ahead of Thursday payments to local schools notifying them that they will be shorted by another $8.4 million — that’s in addition to the $9.7 million they were shorted in January.

The reduction in funding for schools is the result of below-estimate collections in a couple of state revenue streams that feed into state aid for common ed, the primary source of state funding for public schools.

All but 37 school districts — whose local tax revenues are too high — receive state aid.

In Oklahoma, state aid to local schools includes money from six sources: the General Revenue Fund; the Common Education Technology Revolving Fund; Education Reform Revolving Fund, commonly referred to as the 1017 Fund; Mineral Leasing Fund; Oklahoma Lottery Trust Fund; and Constitutional Reserve Fund, which is also known as the Rainy Day Fund.

Wednesday’s memo to schools from state education officials stated that revenue collections are lagging in both the 1017 Fund and the Common Education Technology Revolving Fund.

The 1017 Fund, which was established by law in 1990, is a dedicated source of revenue that can be appropriated only to the Oklahoma State Department of Education. It is generated through a combination of personal and corporate income taxes, sales taxes, use taxes, cigarette and tobacco taxes, and tribal gaming and horse track gaming revenues.

State education officials notified local schools that the Common Education Technology Revolving Fund, which is usually “fully collected by December,” currently has just 61.54 percent of the amount expected for the fiscal year that ends June 30.