A bill that would nullify a controversial settlement announced by Oklahoma’s State Board of Education and fix funding disparities between charter and traditional public schools with medical marijauna money, passed through the Oklahoma House of Representatives Thursday.
The measure is gaining popularity and has won praise from public and charter education advocates and now State Superintendent for Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister.
"By creating a new, state-dedicated funding source, schools will be able to rely on these dollars for many years to come as they plan for facility improvements benefiting students," Hofmeister said in a statement.
It works like this: if a school district - traditional public or brick and mortar charter - receives below a certain threshold of local property taxes, it will receive a block of money from medical marijuana taxes to equalize it with other districts. Since those funds are supposed to be for physical building purposes, that’s what the money is designed for too.
"This bill creates funding certainty for all of our public schools," Rep. Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow), one of the bill's authors, said in a statement. "A majority of school districts will receive more funding under this act, without creating winners and losers."
Senate Bill 229 passed the House unanimously by a vote of 88 to 0. Since the original bill was amended, it now moves back to the Senate.
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