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A comparison by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows Oklahoma leads the nation for the third straight year in cuts to the primary source of state funding for public schools.

After adjusting for inflation, analysts found that Oklahoma’s state aid to schools is 26.9 percent less for the current fiscal year than it was in 2008 — and that the margin between Oklahoma and the second-worst Alabama has nearly doubled in the past year to 12.7 percentage points.

“However you count it, Oklahoma’s per-pupil funding for education is way down,” said Gene Perry, policy director for the Oklahoma Policy Institute. “Unfortunately we haven’t seen any meaningful response from state lawmakers to reverse these cuts, and in fact they’ve cut even deeper.”

Most states raised general funding per student this year, but 19 states including Oklahoma imposed further cuts. Also on that list were six others of the 10 deepest-cutting states since the recession hit: Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and West Virginia.

The non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities works at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income individuals and families.