Education

Oklahoma’s public-school staffing surge raises eyebrows

November 18, 2024

Curtis Shelton

Between 2011 and 2022 (the latest year for which federal data are available), Oklahoma increased funding to common education by $4.2 billion when adjusted for inflation. Much of that funding was aimed at raising teacher pay to retain and hire new teachers. However, the data show that hiring district administration staff and principals took priority over hiring teachers.

Oklahoma’s student population grew by five percent during that period but the number of teachers grew by only two percent. School-district administrative staff grew by 23 percent. Hiring for principals grew by 19 percent. 

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics. No data were available for 2020.