Leader Floyd Statement on the Legislature Missing April 1st Deadline to Fund Education

Senate Democratic Leader Kay Floyd (D-Oklahoma City) released the following statement regarding the Legislature missing the April 1st statutory deadline to fund public education:

“It is very disappointing that the Legislature has missed the April 1st deadline to fund public education in Oklahoma. Over the last two months we should have been working together in a bipartisan manner to invest in our schools. Last year, we demonstrated the Legislature is capable of passing education appropriations by April 1st if it chooses to make this a priority.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the start of the statewide teacher walkout. The Senate Democratic Caucus believes we should honor the spirit of that historic movement by building on last year’s progress with the necessary next steps in education funding. We need more money in our classrooms. We need to fund a pay increase for our critical school support personnel. We need to make teacher pay the highest in the region so we can address the teacher shortage and reduce class sizes.

We know what needs to be done, now is the time for us to come together and get it done.”