Education

Boost to school-choice program clears House committee

February 9, 2026

Ray Carter

Since its creation, the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit program has been popular with parents who want to shift their children to private school. But many parents could be turned away next year because demand is expected to exceed supply under the current program cap.

To ensure no children are denied educational opportunity, Oklahoma lawmakers have advanced legislation to boost the program’s size next year.

“It’s about expanding the opportunity and giving every single parent, no matter their income, no matter their ZIP code, the right to choose the school that best suits them,” said state Rep. Chad Caldwell, chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Education.

The Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit program provides refundable tax credits of $5,000 to $7,500 per child to cover the cost of private school tuition. As with the public-school system, all Oklahomans can participate in the tax-credit program. However, unlike the public-school system, the greatest financial benefit is provided to families with the smallest incomes.

Families earning up to $75,000 can receive a $7,500 per-child refundable tax credit; those earning $75,001 to $150,000 get a credit of $7,000 per child; families with income from $150,001 to $225,000 qualify for a $6,500 credit; those earning $225,001 to $250,000 receive a $6,000 credit; and those earning $250,001 and up qualify for a credit of $5,000 per child.

The Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit program is currently capped at $250 million per year. More than $248 million in credits have been claimed for the current school year.

House Bill 3705, by Caldwell, increases the cap to $300 million next year. The bill also provides for an additional increase of $50 million whenever at least 90 percent of available credits are claimed in future years.

According to the most recent report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission, 39,722 children are attending private school this year thanks to the school-choice program, with 56 percent from families with income of $150,000 or less.

Those families are considered middle class or lower based on widely accepted metrics. The Pew Research Center defines middle-class earners as those with annual household incomes between two-thirds and double the national median household income, or $55,820 to $167,460.

According to Census data, the median household income in Oklahoma among married-couple families is $95,573, meaning half of Oklahoma families earn more than that amount, and the Census reports that the overwhelming majority of children in the state live with married parents or in two-adult households.

Among families using the program to send a child to private school for the first time this year, 74 percent are from low-income or middle-class families.

Caldwell said the take-up rate for the Parental Choice Tax Credit program shows growing public demand from families across the state.

“Clearly, it has been very well received by the people of Oklahoma,” said Caldwell, R-Enid.

But some lawmakers opposed the program.

State Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa, argued the parental choice tax credit program is inflating private-school tuition, saying schools have raised tuition to match the maximum tax credit.

“I’ve got data specifically that shows while tuition increased for inflation, when we increased school choice, we saw tuition increase to cover what we’re giving to families,” McCane said.

However, data released by the Oklahoma Tax Commission indicates many private schools continue to serve children for less than $7,500 tuition.

Although children who qualify for government benefits and children from families with incomes of $75,000 or less qualify for a maximum tax credit of $7,500, the average credit awarded to those children so far this year has been an average of around $7,100.

In contrast, Oklahoma public schools have per-pupil revenue that is more than double that amount.

In the 2024-2025 school year, the most recent for which full data are available, public schools had $9,586,994,906 in revenue from all sources—local, state, and federal—excluding cash forward and other savings. Schools reported serving an average daily attendance of 645,904 students that year, meaning schools had per-pupil revenue of $14,842.

Caldwell said private school tuition has increased in recent years due in part to the massive inflation that occurred during the Biden administration, but also because lawmakers indirectly voted to increase private-school costs by raising public-school teacher salaries. He noted that private schools try to keep their teacher salaries competitive with public schools.

“In my district, we have four or five private schools,” Caldwell said. “They’ve increased their (teacher) compensation in the same way we have.”

The Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA) reports the average teacher pay in Oklahoma surged 36 percent from $45,292 in the 2016-2017 school year to $61,686 by the 2024-2025 school year.

State Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa, complained that the program is creating more opportunities for teachers in Oklahoma who now choose between working for a public school or a private school.

“We have the unexpected byproduct of increasing competition for teachers,” Waldron said.

Some opponents have claimed the school-choice program financially harms public school funding, but supporters noted that public-school funding has dramatically increased even as lawmakers created and expanded the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit program.

“When this program came into effect, we saw a huge increase in public-school funding,” Caldwell said.

“This is most definitely a both/and proposition,” said state Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond. “We can do both these things.”

Total Oklahoma public-school revenue from all sources has surged more than $3 billion since 2018, rising from $6.3 billion to $9.5 billion.

Caldwell said there is a “strong likelihood that we’ll see an increase in our public-school funding” this year. And, he noted, that increase will come even as enrollment is declining.

According to data recently released by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, public-school enrollment in Oklahoma declined by 14,540 students between the 2022-2023 school year and the current 2025-2026 school year.

“We can do both things,” Caldwell said. “We’re going to continue to fund and to invest in our public schools while investing in those families and those children who are looking for a different option. We can absolutely do both.”

Caldwell said it makes little sense to criticize private schools for modest increases in tuition while simultaneously calling for increased funding at public schools that already enjoy much higher levels of per-pupil revenue.

“The economics are not exponentially different,” Caldwell said.

A rolling poll by EdChoice currently shows that 62 percent of adults in Oklahoma, including 72 percent of school parents, support school vouchers.

In November 2025, a poll commissioned by the organization “yes. every kid. foundation” showed that 67 percent of likely Oklahoma Republican primary voters view the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit program favorably, and 64 percent support removing the cap. 

Furthermore, 53 percent of K-12 parents surveyed expressed interest in using the program (with 33 percent being “very interested”), while 13 percent reported they already use the program.

House Bill 3705 passed the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Education by a 7-4 vote.  The bill now proceeds to the full House Appropriations and Budget Committee.

[State Rep. Chad Caldwell is pictured above in the Oklahoma House of Representatives on March 27, 2025. Photo credit: Oklahoma House of Representatives]