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OKLAHOMA CITY — A Senate panel passed a voucher bill on Monday that would allow public money to follow students to private schools.

The measure, Senate Bill 560, by Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, passed the Senate Education Committee by a vote of 8-7. The measure heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The bill was amended to limit it to counties with 150,000 residents or more, which would make it apply only to Oklahoma, Tulsa and Cleveland counties.

Standridge said the measure is about opportunity and school choice for inner-city students.

Zack Stoycoff, vice president of government affairs for the Tulsa Regional Chamber, said programs that divert public school funding during a budget crisis are not the answer to the problem of education inequity.

Stoycoff noted that the vast majority of students rely on public education.

“We know a portion of the funding associated with a departing student would stay with the school under this voucher program,” he said, “But to our schools and teachers, this is a funding cut with no significant reduction in the cost of performing school functions.