Oklahoma lawmakers will not have an education budget drafted, much less passed, by tomorrow’s statutory deadline.
The April 1 deadline — put on the books in 2003 and met only once, in 2004 — is meant to give school districts adequate time to prepare financially for the upcoming year.
"We are in discussions with the education groups, trying to give them a good guess, a good look forward of what they can expect budget-wise," said Senate President Pro Tem Mike Schulz.
Schulz said education will be held as harmless as possible, though that will be difficult given its share of state appropriations.
"At this point, I'm not going to guess. It will be a single digit," Schulz said about this year's potential percentage cut for common education. "It'll be minimal, but as of right now, I'm not going to go out and say, 'I promise it'll be less than this.'"
Adjusted for inflation, state education funding in Oklahoma fell 2.9 percent from 2016 to 2017. It’s fallen nearly 27 percent since 2008.
Tulsa Public Schools is planning for a loss of $12 million dollars in state funding for the upcoming school year. The district lost $6.7 million from last year's cut, then suffered four more cuts over the course of the year.
