Education

Oklahoma public schools spend $12,967 per student

February 8, 2023

Brandon Dutcher, Curtis Shelton

New results (updated yesterday) from a monthly tracking poll commissioned by EdChoice and conducted by the firm Morning Consult indicate that 57 percent of Oklahoma parents believe “public school funding is too low.” However, when informed that “on average, Oklahoma pays $9,395 per student attending public school each year,” the number drops to 41 percent of Oklahoma parents who say public school funding is too low.

Doubtless that drop would be even steeper if parents were informed that, in fact, Oklahoma spends $12,967 per student each year.

Here’s the calculation. According to Oklahoma State Department of Education data from the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System, school district expenditures in 2022 totaled $9,058,129,282.81. Student enrollment is 698,577. Thus, the per-student expenditure is $12,967.

It’s interesting to note that, although some elite private schools in our state are very expensive, the average private-school tuition in Oklahoma is $6,591 for elementary schools and $7,620 for high schools.