State Title I funds rise as number of children in poverty does same
Prepare yourself: There are a lot of numbers in this blog.
But what they reflect is important: the amount of money given to districts with a lot of children living in poverty. That actually makes Title I the largest federal school funding program, for which figures were released today.
Oklahoma received 15.8 percent more in Title I school funding allocations this year than last year, the seventh-highest percentage increase of all the states, according to a report by the Center on Education Policy.
Title I funding nationally totaled $13.8 billion, and all states had increases except for Wisconsin.
The 2008-09 allocations, which in Oklahoma total $148.5 million, are based on the number of low-income children in the 2005 calendar year. Oklahoma was one of 17 states that saw a more than 10% increase in the number of low-income children from the 2004 to 2005 calendar years.
Oklahoma’s percentage of low-income children spiked 16.8 percent, a smaller jump than only Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska and Idaho.
This spreadsheet shows how much each district in the state was allocated. Districts will likely receive less than their allocations after state adjustments for things like boundary changes and charter schools.
The districts in Oklahoma with the highest allocations are:
Oklahoma City – $22,277,435
Tulsa – $18,109,977
Lawton – $4,477,234
Putnam City – $4,431,600
Midwest City-Del City – $2,982,065
The districts in Oklahoma with the lowest allocations are:
Stidham – $8,545
Peckham – $0
Plainview (the one in Cimarron County) – $0
Reydon – $0
Straight – $0
Click here if you’re interested in how districts in other states fared.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
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How are our kids becoming poorer and poorer when Oklahoma’s economy is stable and “recession proof?” According to the Site Selection magazine, a niche publication monitoring business climates nationwide, Oklahoma ranked third in the nation in economic growth in 2007. Why is there such a disparity? Who is the money going to? The poor is getting poorer while the rich is getting richer. I am all for the American dream, but can we at least level the playing field for the kids? I will admit, I am an idealist. But it breaks my heart to see this, especially since I am not even a generation removed from poverty. To me personally, God blesses us with more, so we can give more. It seems that social responsiblity is being absorbed by individualism and the current state of our national econmy reflects this.