Oklahoma State Department of Education requests $4.4 billion budget

OKLAHOMA CITY — A new literacy law and rising insurance costs drove a request for $123.3 million in additional funding for the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

The agency is asking the Oklahoma Legislature for a total of $4.4 billion in the 2028 fiscal year, a 2.88% increase, but the budget proposal could change.

The Education Department’s current leader, state Superintendent Lindel Fields, did not seek reelection. His elected successor, either Robert Franklin or Jennettie Marshall, will take office in January and could bring different budget priorities.

Fields’ administration presented its budget request to the Oklahoma State Board of Education on Thursday. The request now goes to the state Legislature for consideration during lawmakers’ 2027 session, which begins in February.

Most of the requested budget increase comes from the cost of school employees’ insurance benefits, which is projected to rise by $110 million next year, said Kristin Stephens, deputy superintendent of operations.

As the state implements stricter laws on elementary reading instruction, the Education Department proposed bringing literacy training and services to districts’ local areas by opening regional service centers. Otherwise, educators and school leaders would have to drive to the agency’s headquarters in Oklahoma City, Stephens said.

Placing agency staff around the state would cost $7 million while partnering with local stakeholders, like CareerTech centers, to use existing facilities.

“Districts need for us to be more accessible to them,” she said. “We want to lean in and support as best we can. We also want to be able to deploy literacy training and the best methodologies that we can do. There is something about proximity. Proximity matters.”

The new literacy law also will require second graders to take the third-grade state reading test starting in the 2027-28 school year, giving students an early opportunity to pass it. Administering the extra tests will cost $2 million, according to the budget request.

The Education Department asked for another $3 million for improvements to its Oklahoma City building, particularly to improve the customer entry and experience, Stephens said. 

The agency also requested $1.3 million for its operational budget. Stephens said some of those funds would establish a research department within the agency.

“I think a lot of folks look to (the Education Department) as the expert on all things that are going on across the state,” she said. “What families are doing, where they’re going, all of those types of data points, and I think that’s what the emphasis would be for us — having a research department that would have those data points at the ready and not rely on outside stakeholders.”