OKLAHOMA CITY – The House today failed to pass a bill that would have required state public schools to spend at least 50% of their funding in the classroom.
House Bill 1280, authored by Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, would have required any district spending less than 50% on instruction to increase that amount by 2% each year until the target percentage is met.
“Oklahomans want to see Oklahoma kids perform better academically," Caldwell said. "Superintendents and the education lobbyists hired to represent them say better outcomes will just take more money. This measure just asked those in charge of our schools to do the right thing and put the money where their mouth is and invest in prioritizing students and teachers.
"If money really is the reason kids aren't performing better in school, then asking schools to devote at least half of their spending into the place where the bulk of learning actually happens – the classroom – shouldn’t be too big of an ask."
Caldwell said instruction would have included teacher and teacher aid salaries, as well as other direct classroom items such as books and materials for learning. To accommodate the specific needs of rural schools, he even amended the bill to allow transportation to be counted in the 50% of instructional expenses for schools with less than 1,000 average daily membership. The remaining 50% of a school's budget could have been spent on other school staff, including counselors, nurses, front desk personnel, cafeteria workers, as well as on other areas.
This would have allowed local control in the same way the minimum salary schedule and state academic standards do, he said. The Legislature sets the standard and leaves it up to the district to determine how best to achieve it.
The definition of instructional expenditures in the bill came from the U.S. Department of Education.
“That is important because it allowed for a true apples-to-apples comparison," Caldwell said. "So, when we discuss instructional expenditures in Oklahoma, we're using the same criteria as they do in every other state."
He said it's important to note the bill specified the percentage of funds schools put in the classroom, not the dollar amount. This would have allowed for different levels of investment from a total dollar perspective.
States that spend more on education, as well as states that spend less overall, still often exceed Oklahoma's percentage of classroom expenditures, Caldwell said. The national average for classroom spending is 62%, and 37 states spend a higher percentage in the classroom, on average, than Oklahoma schools do.
Caldwell said many schools in the state already exceed the 50% on instructional expenses, but about 150 schools do not. He suggested parents and other stakeholders look at their districts' public records to see how their schools are spending their funds. He created a spreadsheet, linked here, for reference: Instructional_Expenditures_2025_4d9ff515db.pdf.
Caldwell said since 2011, the Legislature has invested more in education than at any time previously in state history. During that time, administrative positions have grown by about 25%, while teachers and students have grown by only about 3% to 5%, according to the U.S. Department of Education. This shows that administrators, and not teachers or students, seem to be reaping the benefits of the additional funding put toward education, he said.
"This bill simply asked our schools to prioritize the classroom over other areas," Caldwell said. "It shifts the conversation from simply how much we spend on education to include questions about where and how we allocate those valuable resources. District leaders and education special interest groups continue to ask Oklahomans to invest more of our money in education. Isn’t it fair to ask our schools to do the same by spending at least half of their budget in the classroom? If more money for the classroom isn’t the answer, then it’s fair to question why they continue to claim money is the primary issue holding our students back.”
"This should have prompted our schools to change their spending habits for the benefit of their students. Our kids deserve it.”
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