Republican House leaders vowed Thursday to protect funding for public schools in next year's budget, saying cuts in state funding for education will not exceed 5 percent.
Speaker of the House Jeff Hickman said he and his GOP colleagues want to send a message to local schools, some of which are bracing for budget cuts as deep as 15 or 20 percent, that the funding crisis next year won't be that dire.
"The budget situation is serious, but the position that the House is taking is that we will not support any cuts to common education any greater than 5 percent," Hickman said. "Our hope is to get that number down even smaller, and we're doing a lot of work and have been for many months trying to figure out how to do that."
The Oklahoma Legislature is grappling with a $1.3 billion hole in the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. But lawmakers also have access to various revenue sources, including more than $300 million in the state's Rainy Day Fund.
Hickman said the Republican-controlled House will not support any budget that cuts state appropriations to K-12 schools by more than 5 percent from last year's adjusted spending.
Any budget proposal would have to be agreed upon by the House, Senate and governor, but all three sides have indicated that shielding public education from deep budget cuts will be a priority.
But even a cut of 5 percent will be devastating to the budgets of Oklahoma school districts, which already had state appropriations slashed this year amid a revenue failure.
"The thought of what an additional 5 percent cut to public education will mean for Oklahoma's students next year is heartbreaking," Oklahoma Education Association President Alicia Priest said in a statement. "Our Legislature must find a way to fund our critical services, including public education, to meet the needs of Oklahomans."
Hickman and Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman both said Thursday that budget negotiations are ongoing, but there is no agreement on ways to shore up the budget hole.
