Debra Herlihy State Superintendent for Public Instruction in Oklahoma On The Issues

Enhancing early literacy to meet the critical third-grade proficiency milestone requires a blend of evidence-based instruction, personalized technology, and deep community integration. One example is to use a vocabulary journal to enhance fluency by having students read the same passage and improve their vocabulary usage.

Getting parents to be aware and involve children in Pre-K schooling for ages 3 & 4. Only 65% of 4-year-olds attend a public Pre-K school, a figure that is slowly decreasing. Missing this goal leaves children four times more likely to drop out of high school, making innovation in this area an economic and equity priority.

Post-pandemic, many students are missing 10% or more of the school year, and a decline of over 10,000 students compared to previous years places financial pressure on districts that rely on per-pupil funding. Oklahoma public school enrollment fell to 686,718 for the 2025-2026 school year, a decrease of over 1.5% from the 2024-2025 enrollment of 697,358.

As a community, Oklahoma has 20% of students who are chronically absent from school. Key strategies for increasing attendance in Oklahoma schools include removing barriers and offering mental health support and counseling to address chronic absenteeism. Provide clean clothes and address basic health needs to keep students attending and support their self-efficacy. Leveraging state and external resources, including the Ready Together Oklahoma resources hub, to help students return to normalcy.

Keep funding available for on-the-job training initiatives for educators. The Ready Together Oklahoma initiative provides up to $3,250 to eligible student teachers. Promoting a way to increase funding with Oklahoma's Legislature by $3,500-$4,000 would help initiate new student teachers in Oklahoma. Also, the Teacher Shortage Employment Incentive Program (TSEIP), administered by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, can help recruit mathematics and science teachers for public instruction.

Increase the percentage of Oklahoma school budgets spent directly in the classroom to 60%.

The national average is 62%, and Oklahoma currently spends 58%, though recent initiatives to increase this funding failed in 2025 HB 1280. With the increase, this will help fund STREAM programs instead of STEM programs and increase Artificial Intelligence in Education to 85%. Currently, Oklahoma uses Artificial Intelligence in 250 school districts, which is roughly 45.5% of its school districts (approximately school districts 516-549), based on a total of 549 school districts.