Report on school funding weakens popular arguments

THE left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released its annual report on states’ school funding, and critics of Oklahoma’s spending have been quick to tout the data point showing Oklahoma has cut education appropriations more than any state. Yet the report also includes other data points that counter this stereotype.

Has Oklahoma really cut school spending more than any state? And is Oklahoma really a national outlier? The center’s report indicates otherwise, while still providing ammo for those who call for increased spending.

Critics often say Oklahoma lawmakers have financially “starved” schools, implying other states have not. Yet the center’s report concludes, “In 2015, the latest year for which comprehensive spending data are available from the U.S. Census Bureau, 29 states were still providing less total school funding per student than they were in 2008.”

According to the metrics used by the center, a majority of states have cut funding. Oklahoma’s critics point to the center’s ranking of states’ school-formula funding, adjusted for inflation and population growth. By that measure, Oklahoma has cut funding the most — by 28.2 percent.

However, that measurement doesn’t include local property tax support, federal funds, or even all state funds. When the center examined total state funding (which still excludes local and federal funds), it found six states cut funding by a larger share than Oklahoma.

It’s often noted that Oklahoma educators are leaving for jobs in Texas. Yet Texas has cut total state spending per student, adjusted for inflation, by a larger percentage than Oklahoma, according to the center’s figures.

Critics say tax cuts have forced school-funding cuts in Oklahoma. California has enacted numerous tax increases in recent years, and the center found that state still cut total state funding per student, adjusted for inflation, by 11.8 percent between 2008 and 2015.

In contrast, Kansas aggressively cut its income tax rate in recent years (before partly reversing course this summer), and is often cited as a cautionary tale. Yet total state funding per student in Kansas schools increased 6.5 percent, more than all but eight states included in the center’s analysis.

The center doesn’t rank individual states based on total school funding from all sources, including state, local and federal monies. But it does report that in 19 states, “local government funding per student fell over the same period” and that in 29 states, “total state and local funding combined fell.” (Emphasis in original.)

Those two data points suggest broader economic trends are much to blame for school funding challenges, rather than state-specific tax policies, which generally don’t impact local government tax rates or collections.

The center also concedes Oklahoma has “been hurt by declines in prices for oil and other natural resources.” That impacts funding, regardless of tax rates.

Critics of Oklahoma school funding often blame tax cuts for financial challenges, and offer tax increases as a sure-fire solution. Data collected by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities undermines those arguments.