Data reveals Oklahoma school choice program sending significant share of funds to wealthiest families

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Oklahoma’s school choice program was billed, in large part, as a way to help low-income families get their kids the best education possible, but new state data shows a major share of its funds are going to the state’s wealthiest families, while the share going to families making below the average income remains unclear.

Now, some lawmakers say something has to change.

Supporters of the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit program advertised it as being built on a promise: to allow families who couldn’t otherwise afford it, to send their kids to private schools.

“Now we’re gonna put the parents back in charge,” Governor Kevin Stitt said when advocating for the program in 2023.

“This is an every kid wins policy and funding plan,” then-Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) said about the program in 2023.

“Every parent should be able to make any decision they want with their kid,” Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said at a rally advocating for “school choice” policies in 2023.

Supporters also claimed it could be funded without hurting public schools.

“We’re not pulling money from the appropriated funds for public education,” McCall said in 2023.

But new data from the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) has some questioning whether the program is living up to its promise.

“It’s sort of school choice for thee but not for me,” said State Rep. Melissa Provenzano (D-Tulsa).

“We’re going to see this hurt the state’s economy,” former Republican State Rep. Mark McBride said.

The data shows Oklahoma paid out $91.7 million to families taking part in the Parental Choice Tax Credit system.

That money was divided among families based on their income.

A $27.1 million portion, about 30%, went to families making below $75,000 a year.

A nearly equal amount, $26.3 million, went to families making between $75,000 and $150,000.

Another $15.7 million, or 17%, went to families making between $150,000 and $225,000.

But about a fourth of the money, $22.6 million, went to the wealthiest families, those making more than $225,000 a year.

That concerns Provenzano.

“When you’re saying school choice for all, what do you mean?” Provenzano said. “And what we’ve discovered is overwhelmingly… tax credits went to families that are already attending private school.”

It also stood out to McBride, who was one of several Republicans who voted in favor of the tax credit, in order to pass a large public school funding bill alongside it.

"I had people come to my office and they talk to me and it was always wealthy people or for profit groups,” McBride said. “I always had a problem with that. I said, bring me somebody that makes household income less than $60,000 a year or $50,000 a year, because they kept saying when they when they would talk to me, that's what we're trying to help out."

Governor Stitt addressed concerns about the program at a press conference on Wednesday.

“It’s working like we wanted it,” Stitt said. “I mean, the fact is we’ve got we’ve got people using it.”

He pointed out the majority of funds did not go to the richest families.

“79% went to working families,” Stitt said.

It is true that 79% of the money went to families making below $250,000 a year.

But a majority of that amount, about 65% of it, went to families making above $75,000.

Oklahoma’s median income is around $60,000.

It is unclear how much of the money went to families making at or below the median income, as the OTC did not release that data.

“They set up these income bands of who gets access to these private schools through this credit,” Provenzano said. “And the first band is $0 to $75,000. That really doesn’t demonstrate accurately for our families that may fall below the poverty line — are they getting access?”

Tim Gilpin, a former Oklahoma State School Board member, said the numbers were not surprising.

“It’s no surprise that there isn’t a voucher or a credit big enough so that someone, a middle-class or lower-economic-means family could pay private school tuition,” Gilpin said.

He said the legislature could amend the bill to address the concerns.

“I think a good change would be to lower the income level of anyone who can apply for it,” Gilpin said.

“Let’s just say, okay, if you make $60,000 or lower, you get the tax credit,” McBride said. “If you make above that, you don’t.”

Getting any changes past the governor could be difficult.

Stitt is pushing to lift the financial cap on the program, and expand it.

That’s something Provenzano and McBride say has not worked out well in other states.

“They tried that in Arizona. It was a train wreck. It led to a revenue shortfall,” Provenzano said.

“They got a $1.4 billion deficit and most of that is due to their voucher system,” McBride said.

“And the question is, is that a responsible thing to do in a in a fiscal year like this?” Provenzano said.

Gilpin said lifting the cap would come at a cost: the state’s public school system.

“You would drain the state budget,” Gilpin said. “Our state’s already strapped for public school funds, and it can’t be responsible for public policy means because that is the elimination of our public school system. We’re going to create—and have created—a two-tier class system where there are those of us who can already afford to put our kids in a school of choice, a private school, and those of us who can’t.”

News 4 reached out to Governor Stitt’s Office with specific questions about the program, but no one responded.