× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

On Sunday, we said the state’s first legislative priority should be adequate funding of public education. It appears Gov. Kevin Stitt prioritizes private schools and obsessive saving.

The only increase to public schools in the budget Stitt’s staff rolled out on Monday is $11 million to maintain teacher pay raises approved a year ago. That’s the pay raise that Stitt has claimed (falsely) gave the state the highest teacher salaries in the region. With no further effort in that direction, we could easily be headed back to last place in that regional metric and near the bottom in the nation, again.

There’s not a penny in the governor’s budget for reducing class sizes or giving schools more money to deal with higher operating costs. There’s no money to encourage school consolidation or to fund desperately needed school counselors. There’s no new funding to stop the exodus of Oklahoma teachers to other states.