Andrea Eger

The desire to boost school budgets and the local economy are in direct conflict with some residents’ environmental concerns in the small town of Inola, as a plan to erect a $4 billion aluminum processing plant looms.

Oklahoma educators are spending their summer preparing to implement sweeping new reading requirements under the Strong Readers Act, including third-grade retention for struggling readers starting in 2027-28. Teachers and reading specialists are raising urgent questions about whether one year is enough time to build the foundation Mississippi took a decade to create.

Oklahoma lawmakers are celebrating record education funding, but the state still ranks 49th in per-pupil spending nationally and last among surrounding states. Despite recent increases, Oklahoma remains roughly $1 billion short of the regional average spending level, and teacher pay continues to lag behind neighboring states by thousands of dollars annually.

According to new data research, Oklahoma is falling short of more than 40 other states in getting more stopouts working-age adults who paused college with the intention of getting back on track toward graduation.

A new national report ranks Oklahoma fifth in preschool access for 4-year-olds, but researchers say public awareness needs to be heightened to help restore the program’s reach to prepandemic levels.