Oklahoma’s new open transfer law has only been in effect since January 1, 2022, but House Speaker Charles McCall and House Republicans are calling the move an early success. The State Department of Education reported that nearly 11,000 transfer requests have been made with more than 8,400 transfers approved.
“In less than a year, Oklahoma is already seeing big success with open transfer,” said McCall. “Open transfer is equitably benefitting families in all parts of the state, regardless of geography or income level, without harming public school budgets. I appreciate all the work legislators, parents, school officials and others did to collaborate on a consensus law that is successfully giving families the choices they asked for within their child’s education.”
McCall was the primary House author of Senate Bill 783.
The early data shows that about three out of every four transfer requests were approved. Of those denied a transfer, nearly 90% were due to capacity limits. The remainder were due to student behavior, attendance, or documentation issues.
“Oklahoma’s open transfer law is what parental choice done right looks like. We are now one of the best states in the country for parental choice that works, thanks to open transfer,” McCall added.
“Parental choice within the public school system is very popular under the open transfer law because Oklahoma loves our public schools,” said Rep. Rhonda Baker, chair of the House Education Committee. “As a former school teacher, I am very pleased to see parents using choice to improve their children’s educational opportunities and outcomes within Oklahoma’s public school system.”
School districts are required to provide regular transfer request updates to the Department of Education. A portion of those will be audited each year by the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability to make ensure compliance with the new open transfer law.
