Oklahoma House Speaker Kyle Hilbert outlined House leadership’s education priorities this week as lawmakers begin floor debate ahead of a key legislative deadline.
Speaking during his weekly media availability, Hilbert said the House is advancing several education measures aimed at improving student outcomes, including legislation tying an increase in classroom instructional days to future increases in state education funding.
Hilbert said the proposal would require at least $175 million in additional funding for the state’s public education system in a future budget before an increase in minimum instructional days could take effect.
“We’re already funding schools to go 180 days,” Hilbert said. “But we worked out a compromise tying the policy to additional funding so we could reach agreement with education groups.”
Hilbert argued some Oklahoma school districts currently provide significantly fewer classroom days than neighboring states. He cited an example of a district operating with about 142 in-person instructional days compared to roughly 178 instructional days in nearby Arkansas schools.
“When you extrapolate that over the course of a student’s career, there can be nearly three additional years of classroom instruction in Arkansas compared to some Oklahoma districts,” Hilbert said.
The Speaker said increasing classroom time is one piece of a broader education agenda House leadership has been pursuing over the past two legislative sessions.
Hilbert pointed to recent reforms including limits on virtual school days, legislation banning cell phones in schools, and new reading and math initiatives designed to improve academic performance.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from Oklahomans that they’re tired of being near the bottom of education rankings,” Hilbert said. “It’s not going to change in one or two years. It’s going to change over the course of the next decade.”
Hilbert also cited Mississippi as an example of a state that improved student outcomes through sustained reforms. The state recently ranked among the top ten nationally in fourth-grade reading scores after years of policy changes focused on literacy and accountability.
House lawmakers are working through hundreds of bills on the chamber floor as they approach the deadline to pass legislation out of the House and send measures to the Senate for consideration.
You can watch Hilbert’s news availability below.
