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State House Votes Down School Financial Reporting Bill

Oklahoma House

Oklahoma representatives voted down Wednesday a Senate bill requiring detailed monthly financial reports from the state’s school districts.

The reports would go to local school boards and be posted online within seven days of a district's submission to its board. Supporters said taxpayers have a right to know how districts are spending money.

Jenks Republican Chuck Strohm told his colleagues to temporarily think of school districts as publicly traded companies.

"And if they tried to hide their books, we know where the [Securities and Exchange Commission] would send them, and we know where the SEC would send all the board and everyone else that's at a high level," Strohm said.

Supporters also said the bill would give citizens more information without imposing mandates on districts. Stillwater Democrat Cory Williams agreed the reports would be useful but disagreed the bill didn’t contain any mandates.

"Line 24, page one, there's your first mandate. Line five, page two, there's your second mandate," Williams said. "If this isn't a mandate, then I can fly."

Oklahoma City Democrat Mike Shelton was among the opponents saying the bill would interfere with the concept of local control.

"They can balance and set up rules all by themselves," Shelton said. "They don't need us to pass another law."

The bill passed the Senate 40–two in February, but it failed on a 36–54 vote in the House.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.