Release: Governor Stitt Makes Oklahoma a National Leader in Education

During the COVID-19 crisis, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has been a persistent champion for students and families. Such leadership led to the “Stay in School” tuition assistance program, the success of which is highlighted in a just-released report.
Statement from Jennifer Carter, Oklahoma Senior Advisor for the American Federation for Children:
“Yesterday’s report on Governor Stitt’s ‘Stay in School’ tuition assistance program shows that families across Oklahoma, from all backgrounds, want school choice—and that robust school-choice programs can be implemented in a financially prudent way that actually spends less than the per-pupil cost in a traditional public-school setting. Thanks to Governor Stitt’s compassionate leadership, hundreds of very low-income families today are nonetheless able to provide a first-class education for their children, and Oklahoma is on the map as a national leader in education for all.”
Details:
A newly released report shows the “Stay in School” program has allowed 1,893 Oklahoma children to attend private schools at a cost of $5,132 per child. That’s in contrast to the traditional public-school setting, where per-pupil spending from all sources was $12,069 in 2019, based on data from the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System (OCAS).
The report showed 57 percent of Stay in School scholarship recipients are from Oklahoma families that qualify for the federal free-and-reduced lunch program and more than one out of every five comes from a home with income of $26,200 or less for a family of four.