Oklahomans want school districts consolidated, just not theirs
On Feb. 15, Oklahoma House Speaker Pro Tem Lee Denney — the secondranking Republican in a caucus with a 71-30 majority — brought a school consolidation bill to the Appropriations and Budget subcommittee on education.
As school consolidation bills go, House Bill 2824 was fairly mild. It would have prodded the state’s 110 or so dependent districts — those without high schools — to either join independent districts — those with high schools — or become independent themselves. Given the state’s and public education’s financial pinch, and long-held conventional wisdom that Oklahoma has too many school districts, HB 2824 seemed to have a pretty good chance of success. It failed, 2-8. That all but ended school consolidation discussions this legislative session, and illustrated how difficult the issue is. The committee room that day was packed with parents and educators — also known as voters — adamantly opposed to anything that interfered with their schools or their control of them.
The oft-repeated lesson is this: Oklahomans want school districts consolidated, just not theirs.
Historically, it’s been a rural-versus-urban issue. But this year, when state Sen. David Holt proposed consolidating some urban districts while paring the overall total from more than 500 to 200, city dwellers were no more amenable to the idea than their small-town cousins.
School consolidation has been an issue in Oklahoma since statehood — and, probably, since before statehood.
Exact numbers are hard to come by, but historians and education officials believe the number of districts has declined by 90 percent since 1907. Virtually every surviving district is a product of consolidation in some form or another.
The most visible example of this in Tulsa County is Union, originally formed in the early 1920s by the joining of three rural districts so that older students would not have to make the long, arduous journey into Broken Arrow to attend high school.
State Senate Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, represents three of the state’s largest dependent districts.
He says he has argued in vain that consolidation would benefit all concerned.
“I don’t think I could get elected dog-catcher there now,” said the termlimited Bingman.
Classes are often smaller in dependent districts, and many are sounder financially than independent districts. That’s partly because dependent districts have fewer grade levels and usually have fewer students, but keep all of their ad valorem revenue.
In other words, independent districts must take high school students from dependent districts but get none of the property taxes.
Some education organizations, including the Oklahoma School Boards Association, have lobbied against forced consolidation, and the Democratic minority has been fairly united in its opposition.
But, as reformers have learned time and again, the biggest reason consolidation has proved so difficult is that so many Oklahomans are so protective of their local schools.