Oklahoma’s chronic underinvestment in public education — and the long-term consequences of it — took center stage during this week’s Oklahoma Memo podcast featuring Democratic congressional candidate John Croisant and Democratic candidate for state superintendent Craig McVay.
The conversation, released during Teacher Appreciation Week, focused on teacher shortages, federal education funding concerns, classroom realities and what both men described as a widening gap between Oklahoma and neighboring states when it comes to investment in schools.
“We really aren’t 50th,” Croisant said during the discussion. “But we’re investing 50th, and we’re getting 50th outcomes.”
McVay pointed to new education spending data showing Oklahoma spending roughly $12,142 per student compared to a regional average of $14,975 and neighboring New Mexico at $17,802 per student. He estimated Oklahoma now trails the regional average by roughly $2.1 billion annually in education investment.
“If this were a football field at OU or Oklahoma State or TU, we would be talking about an entire athletic department being fired,” McVay said.
Both candidates criticized recent education policy trends nationally and in Oklahoma, particularly efforts to reduce the role of the federal Department of Education while expanding vouchers and charter programs.
Croisant recently traveled to Washington, D.C., with education leaders from Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska and said discussions with Republican lawmakers focused heavily on the Heritage Foundation, dismantling parts of public education and preserving — rather than expanding — federal education funding.
“There is no focus on K through 12, and there is no focus on improving outcomes,” Croisant said.
The pair also discussed the state’s teacher-shortage crisis, including Oklahoma’s growing reliance on emergency-certified teachers.
McVay, who spent years as a superintendent in El Reno, said many emergency-certified educators are doing “rock star kind of work,” but warned the state cannot simply place inexperienced teachers into classrooms without mentorship and support.
“The thing with education is everybody went to school,” McVay said. “So they automatically think they could teach school. Well, it’s not that easy.”
Croisant said one of the most misunderstood parts of teaching is classroom management, especially in overcrowded classrooms with high student-to-teacher ratios.
“It doesn’t matter if we give teachers a pay raise if we don’t make their job a little bit more sustainable,” Croisant said.
The full Oklahoma Memo podcast episode is available now on YouTube and podcast platforms.
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