BILL WATCH 2024: All Quiet on the Education Front?

Oklahoma’s education issues are all over the news, but fairly quiet at the legislature.
Over the past month, Oklahoma schools have been in the headlines constantly both locally and nationally. Controversy has swirled around the treatment of LGTBQ+ students in the wake of the death of a gender non-conforming student, Nex Benedict, in Owasso; a school fundraising event in Deer Creek that launched a viral video ; Edmond Public Schools’ legal challenge to the authority of the State Department of Education to remove certain books from their libraries; and a wide-ranging set of new administrative rules adopted by the State Board of Education. 

Events at the State Capitol have been somewhat secondary to the main drama, yet over the first month of session, lawmakers have begun to determine the fate of hundreds of proposed education bills. Last monthwe shared an overview of the education bills we were tracking most closely. Now that the first legislative deadline for voting bills out of committee has passed, this post updates the status of key education legislation in seven topics: education culture wars; school administration; school choice; school discipline; student health and well-being; school and student performance; and teacher issues. Bills introduced this session that have passed out of committee must pass their chamber of origin by Thursday, March 14th to stay alive; in addition, legislators can still take up bills from last session that have made it through the initial legislative steps (see ourLegislative Starter Kit for a basic explanation of the process).

Education Culture Wars: While public attention has been focused on actions by the Legislature and State Superintendent Ryan Walters to confront what are presented as threats to traditional values, teachings, and identities posed by “woke activists”, most of the actual culture war bills introduced this session died without getting a committee hearing. Examples of bills that are dead include HB 3084, which began as a bill to prevent “furries” from participating in school activities and then became a vehicle to require the posting of the Ten Commandments in every classroom; HB 3619 (Rep. Conley), guaranteeing students “an unbiased education that does not endorse, favor, or promote socialism, communism, or Marxism and that is free from anti-American bias”; and SB 1984 (Sen. Jett), one of several bills that sought to allow districts to contract with religious chaplains to perform school counseling duties. 

Still, several culture war bills have been voted out of committee. Most notably, perhaps, HB 3120 (Rep. Williams and Sen. Bullard) would transform sex education and health education in Oklahoma schools. The bill requires parents to opt-in to these classes for their children, prohibits health department experts from teaching sex ed classes, and spells out a long list of traditional ideas about sexual identity and practices that must be part of the curriculum, including the potential harmful side effects of birth control, as well as ideas that could not be taught, including the “teaching of consent and negotiation skills for sexual activity.” 

Also of note are efforts that play on anti-immigrant sentiment by trying to prohibit the teaching of undocumented students in public schools. While HB 3124 (Rep. Williams) that sought to allow public schools to enroll only students who are American citizens or legal immigrants was not heard, HB 3071 (Rep. Hays and Sen. Bullard) seeks to prohibit the use of any state funds on unauthorized immigrants, including providing education to children from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. This would endanger the constitutionally-recognized right of all children in Oklahoma to an education.

School Administration: We noted in our initial education round-up that several key lawmakers seemed eager to find ways to curb the powers of State Superintendent of Instruction Ryan Walters and the State Board of Education. Some bills with that intent are moving through the process. In particular, both SB 1395 (Sen. Pugh and Sen. Tammy West) and HB 2562 (Rep. McBride and Sen. Murdock) would add four legislative appointees to the State Board of Education, which is currently composed of five members appointed by the Governor along with the State Superintendent. The Senate bill passed out of committee by a 12-1 vote, while the House bill, which requires legislative leaders to each appoint a resident of a rural community and a former school superintendent from a district with an enrollment of less than 10,000, passed the full House 60-29.

Another issue that seems to be dividing supporters and opponents of Superintendent Walters involves the power to decide school accreditation, which has become especially contentious in the wake of his efforts last year to withdraw accreditation from Tulsa Public Schools. Sen. Adam Pugh introduced a committee substitute for SB 520 that would have transferred accreditation responsibilities from the State Department of Education to the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability; after strong pushback from Republican colleagues, Sen. Pugh opted not to bring the bill up for a vote. However, a House committee passed HB 3550 (Rep.Sterling and Sen. Pemberton) that gives the Legislature final authority to withdraw from or deny school accreditation by joint resolution. Another accountability measure, HB 3943 (Rep. Dollens) that would require the State Department of Education to submit quarterly expenditure reports to the Legislature was approved after it was amended to apply the same requirement to other large state agencies. 

Also of note related to school administration are bills to change Oklahoma’s election schedule, which currently provides for separate school board elections in the spring when turnout is lower but attention is more focused on these elections. Following intense lobbying against the bill by public education advocates, the House Education committee voted down HB 1871 (Rep. Hasenbeck) that would have moved school board primary elections to June and general elections to November. However, a nearly identical bill, HB 3563 (Rep. Banning and Sen. Siefried) passed the Ethics and Election committee and is eligible to be heard by the full House.

School Choice: For the past several years, the great drama of legislative sessions has centered on school choice legislation, which culminated last year in passage of HB 1934 creating a universal school voucher program in the form of Parental Choice Tax Credits.  While school choice legislation doesn’t seem likely to be front-and-center again this session, there are important school choice bills on this year's agenda.

Several bills that passed out of committee would make relatively minor tweaks to the new Parental Choice Tax Credits: HB 3387, HB 3388, and HB 3396, all authored by House Speaker Charles McCall, as well as SB 1477, authored by Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, modify administration of the program by specifying that the tax credits not be treated as taxable income, expanding eligibility to include students expected to enroll in private schools, and changing the application dates to align with the school calendar. While there has been talk of lifting the annual fiscal cap on the credit - which is currently set to increase from $150 million in 2024 to $200 million in 2025 and then remain at $250 million beginning in 2026 - the one introduced bill that proposed eliminating the cap, HB 3911 (Rep. Caldwell), was not heard in committee. However, there is always the chance of the cap being raised or eliminated later in session. 

Two bills that would have expanded the Lindsey Nicole Henry scholarship program, which subsidizes private school costs for students with disabilities and other categories of students, are dead after not being heard in committee. HB 3968 (Rep. Echols) would have removed the requirement that recipients must have previously attended public schools, while HB 3837 (Rep. Pittman) sought to expand eligibility to children of incarcerated parents. However, HB 3974 (Rep. Echols and Sen. Daniels) that expands the Equal Opportunity Education Scholarships by allowing donations to be used as grants for school buildings in addition to student scholarships, is still alive after passing the full Appropriations and Budget committee.

Finally, a number of bills revisiting the state’s Open Transfer Law, which was revised in 2021 to limit districts’ ability to refuse interdistrict transfers, met different fates in committee. The House Education Committee killed two transfer bills authored by Rep. Chad Caldwell, HB 3915 and HB 3916. However, similar bills by Pro Tem Treat,SB 1910 and SB 1911, which specify procedures for treating transfer requests for students with disabilities and tighten reporting requirements and penalties for school districts respectively, passed out of Senate committees.

School Discipline: Child advocates are continuing their push this session to protect students with disabilities from being subject to school corporal punishment. A 2023 carryover bill on the subject HB 1028 (Rep. Talley), now has a new Senate author, Sen. Dave Rader, and a new version that lists the categories of disability that would exempt students on an IEP (Individual Education Plan) from corporal punishment. The bill is eligible to be heard by the full Senate, and if approved, to be returned to the House to accept Senate amendments and go to the Governor.

A pair of problematic bills that would have expanded school exclusionary discipline by creating new categories of behavioral infractions - HB 3123 (Rep. Williams) and HB 3348 (Rep. Conley) - are now dead after failing to be heard in committee.

Student Health and Well-Being: A number of encouraging bills that aim to improve student health and well-being remain alive in the legislative process. 

An important carryover bill from last year is HB 1376 (Rep. Boatman and Sen. Garvin), that would require school districts to provide free school meals for the next two school years to children from families with an income less than 250% of the federal poverty level. The bill passed the House overwhelmingly last year but is currently stalled in the Senate. While several similar measures to expand the school meals program failed to get a hearing, SB 1324 (Sen. Roger Thompson and Rep. Lawson), which makes available to school districts an optional electronic universal application for free or reduced-price meals, has passed the full Senate and awaits action by the House. 

Several advocacy groups are working hard in support of HB 3329 (Rep. Roe and Sen. Stanley) requiring middle schools and high schools to provide free menstrual products in all women’s bathrooms. The bill passed unanimously out of the Appropriations and Budget committee. Meanwhile, HB 3836 (Rep. Pittman and Sen. Garvin), the Handle with Care Oklahoma program, replicates a bill that passed the Legislature last year with overwhelming support but fell victim to a pocket veto from Gov. Stitt. The bill, which passed the Common Education committee unanimously, would involve numerous agencies working alongside schools to ensure that students who have been exposed to crime, violence abuse, and other forms of trauma receive appropriate interventions so they can succeed in school to the best of their ability. Finally, HB 3231 (Rep. Lawson and Sen. Stanley) aims to help students experiencing homelessness get Real-ID compliant identification cards at no cost has already passed the full House and advanced to the Senate. 

School and Student Performance: Legislators are pursuing several initiatives this session aimed at bolstering school and student performance. While Superintendent Walters and the State Board of Education have adopted new rules that would penalize school districts solely on the basis of student scores on standardized tests, lawmakers seem committed to a more constructive approach. Under HB 3273 (Rep. Baker and Sen. Kristen Thompson), a certain number of schools that are identified each year by the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability as needing comprehensive improvement would receive additional intensive supports. HB 3510 (Rep. Johns and Sen. Rader) modifies how school A-F report cards are determined by removing chronic absenteeism as one of the factors and tweaking how graduation rates are calculated. 

Another major piece of legislation is SB 1906 (Sen. Pugh and Rep. Baker) that proposes changes to the Reading Sufficiency Act. The bill would modify how and when students are assessed for reading proficiency and the intervention services to be provided students with reading deficiencies. Most importantly, the bill does away with the threat of retaining students in third grade who have failed to achieve reading proficiency. The author struck title on the bill, which indicates that it is a work in progress that will likely see further change as it moves through the process.

Finally, HB 3278 (Rep. Baker and Sen. Pugh) proposes to alter high school graduation requirements for students entering 8th grade beginning in 2025-26. According to the principal author, the bill is meant to better prepare students for the workforce by steering them to coursework that is closely aligned with their individual career plans.

Teacher Issues: Last session, legislators provided teachers their first major pay raise since 2018, with increases of $3,000 - $6,000 depending on experience. This year, Senate Education Chair Adam Pugh introduced SB 1313 that proposed additional raises of $1,500 - $3,000, but the bill failed to get heard by the full Appropriations Committee.  Sen. Pugh has recently indicated that providing $2,500 stipends for school support staff, who did not benefit from last year’s raises, will be a Senate budget priority this session. 

Last year, the Legislature also enacted a new bill that provides six weeks of paid maternity leave to teachers who have been employed for at least one year. This year, SB 1315 (Sen. Pugh and Rep. Baker) would provide teachers with up to 6 weeks of paid adoption leave, and also lifts the requirement that full-time teachers be employed for one year to be eligible for leave benefits. 

HB 4017 (Rep. McBride and Sen. Pugh), which has passed the full House, looks to reconfigure the controversial program initiated by Superintendent Ryan Walters that offers large signing bonuses to recruit new teachers to Oklahoma. Under the proposed bill, teachers who return to teaching in public schools who have at least 3 years experience will be eligible for bonuses of up to $7,000 per year for five years. Another bill that has passed committee, SB 1256 (Sen. Pugh and Rep. Baker) would amend a program launched two years ago that provides higher salaries for teachers who earn advanced, lead, and master teaching certificates by no longer requiring local school districts to match state funds. 

Finally, a major battle is shaping up over SB 1625 (Sen. Siefried and Rep. Hasenback) that would prohibit school districts from making payroll deductions for professional organization dues and political contributions. The measure, which passed the Senate Education committee on a party-line vote, is strongly opposed by teacher unions that fear that membership would plummet if dues could not be automatically deducted.

Written by David Blatt, Ph.D., Director of Research and Strategic Impact at OK Appleseed