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Fact check: Is Oklahoma "at the bottom for education?"
December 14, 2016
By Paul Brennan
Oklahoma voters last month rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have raised the state sales tax by one cent to increase funding for education. Speaking to The Shawnee News-Star, Grove Public Schools Superintendent Sandy Coaly said, “[The legislature] needs to figure something out so the state of Oklahoma is not at the bottom—we don't want to be at the bottom of anything else, so why do we want to be at the bottom for education.”[1]
Is Coaly correct? Is Oklahoma at the bottom for education?
According to the most recently available data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Oklahoma ranks 48th among states (and the District of Columbia) in both per-pupil funding and spending for public elementary and secondary schools. In terms of student achievement, the state ranks at or near the national average in both graduation rate and scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Background: The Oklahoma One Percent Sales Tax
The Oklahoma One Percent Sales Tax, also known as State Question 779, was a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment. The amendment would have increased the state sales tax by one percent, from the current rate of 4.5 percent. Proponents estimated the increase would generate $427 million in revenue annually. That revenue would have been exclusively dedicated to education funding, including an increase in teacher salaries of at least $5,000.
State Question 779 was defeated, with 59.4 percent of votes cast against it and 40.6 percent in favor.[2]
Oklahoma public school spending
In the Census Bureau report on public school finances in 2014, the most recent year for which the data has been published, Oklahoma ranked 48th among states and the District of Columbia for elementary and secondary school revenue per-pupil, at $9,003. For school revenue provided by the state, Oklahoma’s $4,453 per-pupil ranked 43rd. Oklahoma ranked 40th for school revenue provided by local government, with $3,520 per-pupil. The state ranked 32nd for the amount of revenue per-pupil provided by the federal government, with $1,030 per-pupil.[3]
Oklahoma also ranked 48th in overall per-pupil spending, with $7,829 for elementary and secondary school students in 2014.[4] [3]
Oklahoma ranked among the bottom five states for overall per-pupil revenue spending between 2009 and 2013.[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
The Census Bureau does not track teacher pay, but a ranking is produced by the National Education Association (NEA}, the largest teachers union. According to the NEA, Oklahoma ranked 49th in teacher pay in 2015, with an average salary of $44,921.[10] (In 2015, median household income in Oklahoma was $48,568, according to the Census Bureau, and the mean annual wage for all occupations in the state was $41,820, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.[11] [12])
Educational achievement in Oklahoma
Recent studies have cast doubt on a causal connection between increased general school funding levels and better student performance. In 2014, the Cato Institute, a nonpartisan libertarian think tank, released a study of state school funding levels and student performance over a 40 year period, as measured by SAT scores, which found no correlation between increases in funding and student performance.[13] That same year, the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan think tank that advocates for progressive policies, released a study on local education budgets and student performance in 7,000 school district across the country, which concluded that the overall funding in a district is less important in improving student achievement than decisions about how that money is used at the classroom-level are.[14]
There are disagreements among policymakers about the best way to measure educational achievement, but the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) publishes some data that allows a basis for comparisons of student performance.
The nationwide average graduation rate for high school students in 2014, the most recent data available, was 82.3 percent. In Oklahoma, it was 82.7 percent.[15]
According to the DOE, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is “the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas.”[16] The NAEP tests are administered in grades 4 and 8. The most recent scores for Oklahoma students in reading, math, and science were all at or near the national average.[17]
| National Assessment of Educational Progress average test scores, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Subject | U.S. average score | Oklahoma average score |
| Mathematics, Grade 4 | 240 | 240 |
| Mathematics, Grade 8 | 281 | 275 |
| Reading, Grade 4 | 221 | 222 |
| Reading, Grade 8 | 264 | 263 |
| Science, Grade 4 | 153 | 153 |
| Science, Grade 8 | 153 | 151 |
| Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress, State Profiles: Oklahoma | ||
Conclusion
Oklahoma voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the state sales tax by one percent to generate more revenue for education. In response, Grove Public Schools Superintendent Sandy Coaly told The Shawnee News-Star that “[The legislature] needs to figure something out so the state of Oklahoma is not at the bottom—we don't want to be at the bottom of anything else, so why do we want to be at the bottom for education.”
Coaly is correct that Oklahoma ranks near the bottom nationally in school per-pupil revenue and spending, according to Census Bureau data. On performance measures, however, the state ranks at or near the national average for graduation rates and National Assessment of Educational Progress test scores.
See also
Launched in October 2015 and active through October 2018, Fact Check by Ballotpedia examined claims made by elected officials, political appointees, and political candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. We evaluated claims made by politicians of all backgrounds and affiliations, subjecting them to the same objective and neutral examination process. As of 2025, Ballotpedia staff periodically review these articles to revaluate and reaffirm our conclusions. Please email us with questions, comments, or concerns about these articles. To learn more about fact-checking, click here.
Sources and Notes
- ↑ The Shawnee News-Star, “Voters reject 'penny sales tax’--Education funding returns to legislature,” November 11, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia, “Oklahoma One Percent Sales Tax, State Question 779 (2016),” accessed December 8, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 United State Census Bureau, “Public Education Finances: 2014,” June 2016
- ↑ There is a difference between per-pupil revenue and per-pupil spending because the Census Bureau does not include payments by school districts to other government entities, such as cities and other school systems, as part of “current spending.”
- ↑ United State Census Bureau, “Public Education Finances: 2013,” June 2015
- ↑ United State Census Bureau, “Public Education Finances: 2012,” May 2014
- ↑ United State Census Bureau, “Public Education Finances: 2011,” May 2013
- ↑ United State Census Bureau, “Public Education Finances: 2010,” June 2012
- ↑ United State Census Bureau, “Public Education Finances: 2009,” May 2011
- ↑ National Education Association, “Rankings and Estimates,” May 2016
- ↑ United States Census Bureau, “Household Income: 2015,” September 2016
- ↑ Bureau of Labor Statistics, "May 2015 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, Oklahoma," accessed December 12, 2016
- ↑ Cato Institute, “State Education Trends, Academic Performance and Spending over the Past 40 Years,” March 18, 2014
- ↑ Center for American Progress, “Return on Educational Investment: 2014,” July 9, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, “Common Core of Data,” accessed December 8, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "NAEP overview,” accessed December 8, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, “State profiles,” accessed December 8, 2016
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