{"id":34663,"date":"2022-03-17T05:00:46","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T10:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=34663"},"modified":"2022-03-23T20:48:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T01:48:48","slug":"what-does-school-choice-look-like-in-rural-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2022\/03\/17\/what-does-school-choice-look-like-in-rural-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"What does school choice look like in rural Oklahoma?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 20px; border-radius: 6px; overflow: hidden;\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px;\" src=\"https:\/\/player.captivate.fm\/episode\/74656939-c8e1-46ff-ad3d-73f3b788e956\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">School choice was just about the last thing on Nash Williamson\u2019s mind.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a hot button issue in Oklahoma City &#8211; where he was visiting to participate in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/okyouthexpo.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oklahoma Youth Expo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; a livestock show &#8211; at the State Fairgrounds. But it\u2019s really a nascent concept for him and his classmates.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, his mind is on the pigs.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe&#8217;ve got three pigs here with us,\u201d he said outside a stall in a barn filled with squealing hogs. \u201cThey&#8217;re crossbreed pigs, which is two different breeds put together.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nash is a freshman at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sulphurk12.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sulphur High Schoo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">l. He\u2019s involved in football and agriculture. In fact, it was those two things that attracted him to Sulphur.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Nash\u2019s family actually lives closer to Wynnewood, a town one whole county north. And he even attended Wynnewood schools up until sixth grade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But he wasn\u2019t really happy there. He didn\u2019t feel challenged. Nash has two younger brothers, and his dad Jamie Williamson said he and his wife wanted better for Nash and their two younger boys.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe made the decision as a family, we have to put our children in a better environment for them to reach their potential,\u201d Jamie Williamson said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So the Williamsons looked around. The family went as far away as Ardmore and Ada to look at potential schools before landing on his top choice: Sulphur.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He said Sulphur was a natural fit with those strong athletics and agriculture programs. Plus, there\u2019s plenty of college level courses.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhen Nash graduates he can actually have up to 18 hours of college credits under his belt, all on campus in Sulphur,\u201d he said. \u201cSo his junior year and senior year, instead of just coasting to graduation for those that are motivated and higher achievers, they can have a full semester, possibly even a full year under their belt right there on the campus.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is what school choice looks like for many kids in rural Oklahoma.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though homeschooling appeals to some, it didn\u2019t to the Williamsons. There are very few private school options and they don\u2019t have athletics and ag offerings like at Sulphur. They never thought of looking beyond public schools.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, Sulphur superintendent Matt Holder said before an open transfer law was passed last year, the schools already let kids come and go based on their own personal needs and desires. And though several rural Oklahoma education advocates in this area are quick to call for money for private education or creating more choice, they\u2019re just as quick to say they have no problem with the public school system and recognize its importance to the community.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s what made the flyers and TV ads so weird.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sulphur, with its population of 5,000, is the largest city in Oklahoma House District 22. And because of the man who represents it &#8211; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.okhouse.gov\/Members\/District.aspx?District=22\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">House Speaker Charles McCall<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; it\u2019s become a battleground in a major fight in Oklahoma City over private school vouchers.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34672\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 323px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34672\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-323x672.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-323x672.jpg 323w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-924x1920.jpg 924w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-768x1597.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-739x1536.jpg 739w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-985x2048.jpg 985w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-72x150.jpg 72w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-144x300.jpg 144w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-493x1024.jpg 493w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-519x1080.jpg 519w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/FNvDTIUX0AITHmP-scaled.jpg 1231w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 323px) 100vw, 323px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">The Oklahoman newspaper<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A political ad from the Club for Growth that ran in The Oklahoman newspaper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>Political money hits south-central Oklahoma<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holder distinctly remembers the political <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.koco.com\/article\/oklahoma-house-speaker-charles-mccall-under-fire\/39134717\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mailer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First of all, it was huge. Like maybe one of the biggest pieces of mail he\u2019s ever gotten. But, one thing especially stuck out.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI think the return address was the first thing that caught my attention,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Washington D.C.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The mailers came from Club for Growth. That group spent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oklahoman.com\/story\/news\/2022\/02\/19\/oklahoma-house-speaker-mccall-faces-attack-ads-school-vouchers\/6845084001\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tens of thousands<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to attack House Speaker Charles McCall in his district, which stretches across portions of Atoka, Garvin, Johnston and Murray Counties. It also purchased television ad time.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The attacks came over <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.oklegislature.gov\/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=SB1647&Session=2200\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senate Bill 1647<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a controversial school choice measure generating a lot of buzz in Oklahoma City. McCall is against it. Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat authored it, and it has the backing of Gov. Kevin Stitt.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI pledge to support any legislation that gives parents more school choice, because in Oklahoma, we need to fund students, not systems,\u201d he said at his State of the State address.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The mechanics of the bill works like this: if a family enrolls in an Oklahoma private school they become eligible for a publicly funded Education Savings Account. That account is worth whatever the student\u2019s weight is on the public school funding formula, a massive pot of money that is distributed to public schools across the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Homeschool students aren\u2019t eligible after homeschool parents lobbied to be left out. And there is an income cap of 300% of reduced lunch, which means a family of four must make less than $154,000 annually to qualify.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Treat has said the accounts will help students transfer to schools that are better for them as the bill has been debated in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kosu.org\/education\/2022-03-02\/education-voucher-bill-no-longer-includes-home-schoolers-as-it-jumps-another-hurdle-to-becoming-oklahoma-law\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">committee<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are trying to help make sure that we fund students in the best educational environment for their needs,\u201d Treat said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bill is expected to be heard next week on the Senate floor. But McCall has repeatedly said that it will go no further.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe House of Representatives was not approached or worked with to try to craft this policy to get it ready for this session,\u201d he <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kten.com\/story\/45916653\/bill-to-reallocate-oklahoma-school-funding-meets-opposition\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">told Ardmore television station KTEN<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. So there\u2019s just a lot of unanswered questions.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McCall is incredibly popular in his district. In 2020 nobody challenged him. In 2018, he beat his Democratic opponent by more than 30 percent. So the attacks were confusing for district voters when they hit local airwaves and mailboxes. And he\u2019s gotten that way by listening to constituents, both Holder and Jamie Williamson said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He\u2019s talked about education legislation with Holder and agricultural legislation with Williamson, they both said.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34675\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34675\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-672x504.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-672x504.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-150x113.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-620x465.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8366-1440x1080.jpeg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robby Korth \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sulphur Public Schools superintendent Matt Holder.<\/p>\n<\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On this bill, Holder said, he\u2019s listened. And Holder believes McCall will continue to refuse hearing SB 1647. After all, it could end up being very costly for Sulphur.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s welcome news for rural superintendents like Sulphur\u2019s Holder. Cost estimates for the bill range from $118 to upwards of $160 million. If that money was given to Oklahoma public schools instead, Sulphur would stand to get roughly $350,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cReal quick math, that\u2019s six to seven teacher salaries,\u201d Holder said. \u201cThat is what we\u2019re looking at.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The public school campus is the cultural center of Sulphur. Drive through town and you\u2019ll see signs cheering on the Bulldogs everywhere from grocery store windows to bank signs.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI would hope that our legislators understand the core values that we have in rural Oklahoma and will stand up for those core values, and I think Speaker McCall understands that and has so far put his heels in the ground and said, \u2018You know, this is this is not going to happen,\u2019\u201d Holder said.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34671\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34671\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-672x504.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-672x504.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-150x113.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-620x465.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8350-1440x1080.jpeg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robby Korth \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Donna Abla at the Veritas Christian School science fair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>A rural Oklahoma private school<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is one school in Sulphur where parents would benefit from the bill. That would be Veritas Christian Academy.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it\u2019s a school where kids don\u2019t just sit around reading the Bible &#8211; they do that, founder Donna Abla said &#8211; but they also do more.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The school recently hosted a science fair. And the posters look pretty typical.<\/span><\/p><p><b>\u201c<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have certain things they have to follow,\u201d Abla said. \u201cThey have to have a picture of themselves, the name, the purpose, their Bible verse that goes with their project.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a small Christian school. Abla has purposely never advertised, only letting the school grow based on word of mouth. After roughly a decade in Sulphur, the K-12 private school has 66 students, compared with more than 1,400 that attend Sulphur Public Schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students get very small class sizes. No more than eight to a class. Plus parents like Garrett Leveridge said they know their children won\u2019t be taught to just pass a test. He said the school offers great building blocks for early childhood education for his daughter.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSmaller class sizes, more individual attention and learning, we felt like she could grow more as a reader, which at this age is almost almost the most important,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His family would do anything to help his daughter learn.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMixed with that would be the Christian aspect of it,\u201d Leveridge said. \u201cHer biblical learning would go along with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though she said she hasn\u2019t kept up with every evolution of the bill, Abla said she\u2019s supportive of SB 1647. She said she would welcome tuition relief for her students.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhen you go to a private school, you&#8217;re paying twice, you&#8217;re paying tuition and you&#8217;re paying your taxes,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tuition here is some of the lowest you\u2019ll find in the state &#8211; at one point Abla looked it up and it was <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> lowest. It costs $375 a month or $3,750 a year to attend school here. And that\u2019s frankly not enough revenue. She estimates Veritas teachers make a third of what local public school teachers can make.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe teachers are here because they&#8217;re committed people,\u201d she said. \u201cThey want to help kids and they love teaching. They&#8217;re not here to get rich. Look at our cars and know that we&#8217;re not here to be rich.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A majority of families at the school would likely qualify for the program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Abla said she is wary of government programs funding private schools in general. She\u2019s only participated in one school voucher program in the past: that would be the Governor\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oklahoma.gov\/content\/dam\/ok\/en\/governor\/documents\/sis-report--print.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay in School Fund<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which gave private school vouchers to students for tuition as part of COVID-19 relief.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abla said she\u2019s sometimes cautious of school choice legislation because she doesn\u2019t want the government to get too involved in her school. She said she doesn\u2019t want to have to deal with rules, requirements and regulations like they have in public school districts. It could hurt the school\u2019s character and the education it provides.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNo strings,\u201d she said. \u201cWe got enough strings. I mean, from Washington to Oklahoma, we don&#8217;t need any more strings attached. We don&#8217;t need any little things written in at the bottom of a bill that are going to end up hurting us later.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34673\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34673\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-672x461.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-672x461.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-1920x1318.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-768x527.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-1536x1054.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-2048x1405.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-150x103.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-300x206.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-620x425.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8289-1574x1080.jpeg 1574w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crystal Gregory poses for a photo with three of her sons, Louden, &#8220;Tiny&#8221; and Shaffer Gregory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>Homeschooling and Epic<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crystal Gregory knows a thing or two about wariness toward government strings.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She\u2019s plugged into the homeschool community and she said, many homeschool parents don\u2019t want to accept government money for their kids education.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey don&#8217;t want to have to answer the government,\u201d she said. \u201c[A] reason why they homeschool, half the time is because they want to do their thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gregory is a homeschool advocate and currently teaches for Epic Charter Schools from her dining room table on the east side of Sulphur. She\u2019s also a mother of traditional public, Epic and homeschool children.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She actually disagrees with the homeschooling parents who don\u2019t want to accept state money. She\u2019s a teacher at Epic, which has 152 students in Murray County where Sulphur is located and has seen how her students have leveraged the learning fund, which gives $1,000 to students and their families to spend as they choose.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhen you spend your thousand dollars learning fund that you have, your child has the things they need for that year,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A lot of that money can go to textbooks, which are often better than the books kids might get in public schools that can be years out of date, she says. So when McCall says vouchers aren\u2019t good for rural Oklahoma families, Gregory disagrees.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere&#8217;s two or three hundred other students probably out here that you&#8217;re not representing, you know, and I get you do what&#8217;s best for the majority, you know, and not the minority,\u201d she said. \u201cBut at the same time, like to me, it feels like you&#8217;re choosing one child over another.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34674\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 672px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34674\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8276-672x282.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"672\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8276-672x282.jpeg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8276-1920x806.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8276-768x322.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8276-1536x645.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8276-2048x860.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8276-150x63.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8276-300x126.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2022\/03\/IMG_8276-620x260.jpeg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Robby Korth \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students gather their cattle for a walk during the Oklahoma Youth Expo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>What will rural school choice look like in the future?<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regardless of who gets their way on Senate Bill 1647, one thing is clear: In Oklahoma the school choice debate is here to stay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Parents like Gregory will continue to advocate for school choice legislation.Rural superintendents like Holder say they\u2019ll keep a close eye on these kinds of bills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And school choice will continue to be an option. If it fails, students will still be able to switch public schools. They\u2019ll be able to enroll in Epic or homeschool. And they can sign up at Veritas if slots are available.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, bills like it are liable to pop up again, Sulphur superintendent Holder said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI feel like it will be a continual fight every year for as long as the rest of my career in education. I don&#8217;t necessarily see it going away anytime soon. \u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>School choice was just about the last thing on Nash Williamson\u2019s mind.It\u2019s a hot button issue in Oklahoma City &#8211; where he was visiting to participate in the Oklahoma Youth Expo &#8211; a livestock show &#8211; at the State Fairgrounds. But it\u2019s really a nascent concept for him and his classmates.Instead, his mind is on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":34664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34663"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34663"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34708,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34663\/revisions\/34708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}