Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, released the following statement:
“Recently, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed House Bill (HB) 2905, authored by Representative Sheila Dills, into law. The bill addresses some of the problems with full-time virtual charter school education in the state.
Oklahoma’s current charter school law is vague in several areas and results in taxpayers sending significant sums of money to schools to provide funding for students who are no longer attending them. HB 2905 addresses some of these ambiguities through new requirements to verify enrollment, eliminate multiple same-year student transfers, and track student online participation. These provisions are strong improvements to the law.
The National Alliance applauds Representative Dills for working to strengthen the quality of education options for Oklahoma parents. Going forward, we urge the Oklahoma Legislature and Governor Stitt to fund full-time virtual charter schools based upon student participation. This is the most critical step for reforming full-time virtual charter schools, ensuring that students receive a high-quality education at them, and protecting taxpayer dollars.”
