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School Choice in Oklahoma

Summary

Oklahoma has two private school choice programs (special-needs vouchers, tax-credit scholarships). The state also has a charter school law. Oklahoma enables public virtual schooling. Open enrollment exists, both for intradistrict and interdistrict public school choice.

Laws & Regulations Governing Private Schools

Constitutionality

Tax credit programs are the best school choice option for Oklahoma. Its Constitution contains a Blaine Amendment on which the Oklahoma Supreme Court premised its decision to strike down a private school transportation bill after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Everson upholding a transportation program in New Jersey under the Establishment Clause. This failure to distinguish between aiding students and aiding the schools they attend would probably foreclose voucher legislation.

–Quote from the Institute for Justice (April 2007)

Legislative Updates

8/4/2009	2009 Legislation: Scholarship Tax Credit Proposals
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School Choice Programs

Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarships

Enacted 2011 • Launches 2013

Oklahoma provides tax credits for donations to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs), nonprofits that must spend a portion of their expenditures on private school scholarships for low-income students in an amount equal to or greater than the... Read More

Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities

Enacted 2010 • Launched 2010

Any Oklahoma student with special needs currently in public school is eligible to participate in the Lindsey Nicole Henry voucher program to attend a private school of his or her parents’ choosing. Read More

Research

The Fiscal Impact of Tax-Credit Scholarships in Oklahoma

6/15/2011

This study seeks to provide outcomes-based information on Oklahoma’s proposal to give tax credits for contributing to organizations that provide scholarships to K-12 private schools. The study constructs a model to determine the fiscal impact... Read More

Reforms With Results: What Oklahoma can learn from Florida’s K-12 education revolution

7/21/2010

Florida lawmakers began a comprehensive education reform effort in 1999 combining accountability, transparency, and parental choice with other far-reaching changes. In March 2010, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released new... Read More

Reforms With Results: What Oklahoma can learn from Florida’s K-12 education revolution

7/21/2010

The Fiscal Impact of Tax-Credit Scholarships in Oklahoma

6/30/2009

Parents of students with disabilities face perhaps the greatest challenges in finding the best education for their child. Any student identified as needing special education is guaranteed to receive a “free and appropriate public... Read More

News

3/27/2013	President's Comments: Milton Friedman’s Advice for Crafting School Choice Policies
11/20/2012	School Vouchers Survive Legal Fight in Oklahoma, Face Hearing in Indiana
5/10/2012	Hiner & Walden Ford \| Moms Believe in Vouchers
11/3/2011	Atlanta Journal-Constitution \| Georgia Can Return to Leading Role in Giving Students Choices
11/1/2011	Bixby Bulletin \| Dollars to the Classroom Looked at by Lawmakers
9/30/2011	2011’s New School Choice Programs
8/3/2011	EducationNext \| No Matter How You Ask the Question
8/2/2011	AP \| School Voucher Bills Flood GOP-led Statehouses
7/30/2011	Enlow \| Friedman's Dream Unleashed
7/6/2011	Reason - Hit & Run \| More Children Escape from Public Schools!
7/5/2011	Wall Street Journal \| The Year of School Choice
6/22/2011	Reed \| Vouchers Improve Public Schools
6/8/2011	KFOR (Oklahoma) \| School Choice
5/16/2011	Oklahoma Education Scholarship Act Becomes Law
5/6/2011	Oklahoma Legislature Sends Education Scholarship Act to Governor’s Desk
5/5/2011	Forster \| Indiana Triple Play Delivers the Win
4/29/2011	Enlow \| School Choice: Alive and Well
4/28/2011	Washington Times \| States Leaving Feds Behind on School Reforms
4/26/2011	Oklahoma House Passes School Choice Program with Broad Student Eligibility
2/28/2011	Why 2011 will be a Year of Growth for School Choice
2/19/2011	Ladner \| Parents should have option to choose nontraditional schools
2/6/2011	National Review \| The Education Ex-Governor
1/26/2011	CapitolBeatOK \| Superintendent Janet Barresi deems NAEP results a call to action
7/28/2010	Ladner \| Oklahoma making strides in education reform
7/21/2010	Oklahoma academic performance suffers without widespread reform
6/17/2010	Special-needs scholarships advance in Oklahoma and will reach governor’s desk
6/8/2010	Oklahoma Governor Henry Signs Special-needs Scholarships
2/16/2010	Reading and writing, but mostly arithmetic
8/4/2009	Friedman's legacy of school choice honored at OKC Zoo
7/8/2009	Special-Needs tax credit program unveiled
7/7/2009	Special needs: Tax credit program is worth a look
7/1/2009	OCPA, Friedman, legislators tout school-choice for special-needs students
7/1/2009	Oklahoma school credit program pitched for special needs students
6/30/2009	Special-Needs Tax Credit Program Proposed
4/15/2009	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: school choice in Obama's America and our Oklahoma
11/4/2008	OEA Initiative Petition
7/3/2008	Survey Reveals Education Desires
6/26/2008	Oklahomans want education alternatives