The results of nationwide testing show that students in Oklahoma lag behind students in nearly all of the 50 states when it comes to reading proficiency. Those results represent more than hardship for individual students or a loss of bragging rights for state officials.

According to experts, Oklahoma’s low reading outcomes also translate into a significant, lifelong drain on taxpayer resources and the state economy as students emerge from the K-12 system unprepared for work or college.

A recent report from the Education Consumers Foundation, “The Cost of Failure to Teach Reading: Projections From 3rd Grade Reading Scores,” shows millions of dollars in increased taxpayer expenses are likely to occur in Oklahoma given the many children who do not read proficiently in the state.

“For every student who fails to master reading by grade 3, taxpayers are subjected to what amounts to a hidden annual surtax—one that cumulates with each graduating class,” the report stated. “It is levied in the form of added local, state, and federal tax-funded resources absorbed by the resulting school dropouts and unprepared graduates.”

The reason for the added taxpayer cost is simple: Students who do not learn to read are far more likely to be unemployed or underemployed as adults and therefore rely more on government services.

“On average, over 2 out of 3 students who fail to reach the proficient reading level by third grade drop out or finish high school unprepared for college or the workplace,” the Education Consumers Foundation stated. “As a result, they are significantly more dependent on taxpayer-funded healthcare, public safety, and welfare than their successful peers—a fact that has profound economic, cultural, and social implications for the future of the U.S. Interventions capable of altering this trajectory are often negligently delayed.”

The report website includes a calculator that allows citizens to examine the added cost of undereducated students by district. It shows that even Oklahoma’s suburban districts, which often have lavish facilities and serve a student population with greater income than the statewide norm, are nonetheless producing millions of dollars in added cost to taxpayers over time.

For example, the results of third-grade reading tests in the Deer Creek district, located near Oklahoma City, indicate that school district will produce 21 dropouts and 92 unprepared graduates from just one third-grade cohort who will require $4.9 million in state, local, and federal tax funding as adults.

In the Edmond district, the Education Consumers Foundation estimated the school will produce 543 dropouts and unprepared students who will cost taxpayers an additional $24.9 million.

In the Tulsa area, the Jenks district is expected to produce 345 dropouts and unprepared students who impose an additional $16 million in taxpayer costs.

In the Bixby district, the school is expected to produce 114 dropouts and unprepared students at a taxpayer cost of $5.1 million.

In the Union district, the school system is expected to produce 568 dropouts and unprepared students, which will increase taxpayer costs by $27.5 million.

The state’s two largest brick-and-mortar school districts fare even worse.

The Oklahoma City district is expected to produce 2,093 dropouts and unprepared students who will increase taxpayer costs by $102.7 million, while the Tulsa district will add 1,843 dropouts and unprepared students who generate an additional tax burden of $91.6 million.

The calculator looks only at the results of third-grade reading tests in a single year—in this case, 2019 is the latest for which data are provided, and that round of testing preceded COVID. Since reading outcomes have fallen further in the years since, the actual taxpayer cost generated by each district is likely even greater than estimated.

The Education Consumers Foundation noted that “the above reported amounts are lifetime outlays arising from a single graduating class.”

“Over time, the costs created by each class add to those from previous classes, creating a tax burden that has been growing, year-by-year, for decades,” the report stated. “Without improvement in reading proficiency rates, it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”

The Education Consumers Foundation’s estimates of the reading-outcomes-related taxpayer burden provide reason for even greater alarm about Oklahoma’s poor academic outcomes.

According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests administered in Oklahoma and nationwide in 2024, Oklahoma fourth- and eighth-grade students’ achievement in reading and math remains lower than it was prior to the COVID pandemic, and the results in Oklahoma public schools were among the nation’s worst. Oklahoma’s score on fourth-grade reading was lower than the average in all but three states.

Researchers say 10 points on a state’s NAEP scale score roughly equates to a year of learning. Oklahoma’s fourth-grade reading NAEP score has declined nine points since 2019.

Experts say Oklahoma’s challenges will only grow over time unless policymakers act to reverse the current trajectory of reading outcomes in the state’s public school system.

“Literacy is both an educational and an economic imperative,” said Patricia Levesque, CEO of ExcelinEd, a national group that focuses on student learning. “Higher literacy rates are linked to better health, higher levels of civic engagement, and higher earnings in the labor market. Research indicates that the country could be losing trillions of dollars in economic growth due to low literacy rates. 

“When our students achieve higher levels of reading comprehension, we are setting them up for a more enriching life with a wider range of choices,” Levesque continued. “Ensuring children are reading on grade level is critical—not only for each and every student's future success but also for the overall wellbeing of our nation.”