The number of students enrolled at Oklahoma’s public schools has increased again even as schools are facing reductions in funding for the rest of the school year. The Oklahoma Department of Education released the numbers which revealed teachers have nearly 4,400 more students to teach with a total of 692,670.
Last year, Oklahoma’s public school enrollment was 688,300. Compared to 2010 enrollment figures, Oklahoma’s schools are serving 33,055 more students in 2015.
State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister believes it is time for the state to realize the student population will continue growing.
“Once again, Oklahoma schools are educating more students than ever,” Hofmeister said. “While it’s not a surprise, it is important to remember that statewide enrollment increases every year. Given the current fiscal reality and the teacher shortage crisis, many schools started 2015 ready to add additional students to their rosters with few new resources. We need to plan for this trend to continue in the future and do everything we can to minimize the negative impact on students.”
The list of the 10 largest districts is identical to last year’s, although some changed position within the ranking. This year’s 10 largest districts are:
- Oklahoma City Public Schools: 45,577 students
- Tulsa Public Schools: 40,867
- Edmond Public Schools: 23,994
- Moore Public Schools: 23,890
- Putnam City Schools: 19,365
- Broken Arrow Public Schools: 18,868
- Norman Public Schools: 16,046
- Union Public Schools: 16,006
- Lawton Public Schools: 14,978
- Mid-Del Schools: 14,574
Broken Arrow had the largest year-to-year growth with a 2.57 percent increase over 2014.
Enrollment decreased in Lawton, Mid-Del, Tulsa, and Putnam City.
[…] 2015 session. Even before the recent cut of nearly $50M, it was a decrease in per pupil spending because of our rising enrollment in Oklahoma public schools. The same amount of money and more kids means less per pupil spending. That’s not politics. […]