The Governor and the leader of the Oklahoma State Senate are enthusiastic about a voucher bill but the Speaker of the House said the bill won’t get a hearing.
It seems that rural districts don’t want vouchers. This has been the case in Texas, where rural Republicans have repeatedly joined with urban Democrats to kill vouchers. Pastors for Texas Children organized against vouchers in their state, and so did Pastors for Oklahoma Children.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A proposal endorsed by Oklahoma’s governor and Senate leader to allow public school funding to follow students to private schools or home schools won’t be heard in the House, Speaker Charles McCall said Thursday.
“I don’t plan to hear that bill this year, and I’ve communicated that,” McCall, R-Atoka, told reporters at a legislative forum hosted by The Associated Press and the Oklahoma Press Association.
“That topic is just not on the radar or the minds of our members as a priority,” McCall said. “It’s never been discussed in our caucus retreat as a priority of our members.”
The proposal is a priority for Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, and Gov. Kevin Stitt endorsed the idea Monday in his State of the State address to the Legislature, saying it would make the state a national leader in school choice.
“We know education is not one-size-fits-all, and I pledge to support any legislation that gives parents more school choice, because in Oklahoma, we need to fund students, not systems,” Stitt said Monday.
But the idea has faced bipartisan opposition in the Legislature, particularly from members who represent rural districts where there are few private school options for students.
“It’s a bit of geographical issue,” said McCall, whose district in southeast Oklahoma includes towns like Atoka, Davis, Mannsville and Tishomingo. “He (Treat) is a suburban Oklahoma guy. I’m a rural Oklahoman. We see things through the lens of our individual districts.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Rural vs. urban-
Researchers report that if trends continue, 70% of the population will live in just 15 states by 2040. Rural states, regardless of population will continue to have two electoral college
votes each.
a key understanding about why change feels impossible even when we are desperate for it
And a key to understand why rural states feel left out and are ripe for fascist picking.
“left behind”, then, both parties attempted to take Main Street’s assets (replacing the fabric of rural communities – their schools- with charter schools).
Gov. Lee was almost a failure in Tennessee for the same reason. Then he figured out a way to get around the majority rule thing
Oh, that thing.
Good news, but it’s still alive and well in Utah. HB 331: https://le.utah.gov/~2022/bills/static/HB0331.html
Utah spends almost the lowest per pupil in the nation and THIS is what they want? The legislature also wants to cut income taxes by $200 million. All income taxes go to the Uniform School Fund, which used to be just K-12 until about 20 years ago, when it began including higher ed. Last year, social services were ALSO added to take from the fund, and NOW they want to cut those taxes? Those tax savings would be less than $10 a month for the average Utah family, and yet THAT’S what they want to do????