I’ve spent most of my life advocating for children and families in Oklahoma. I’ve worked in early childhood programs, served families across the Tulsa area, and spent the last nine years teaching first grade at Deborah Brown Community School in North Tulsa. Years ago, I even ran for state representative because I believed our communities deserved stronger voices when decisions about education were being made.
Through all of those experiences, I have been guided by one principle: every child deserves a great public education, and every parent deserves the ability to find the school that is the right fit for their child. Public Charter schools help make that possible.
Oklahoma Public Charter schools are free, open to all and rank 6th nationally for quality. They are part of Oklahoma’s public education system. The students sitting in our classrooms are public school students. But despite serving the same students and meeting the same accountability standards, public charter schools often receive less funding than other public schools in Oklahoma.
I see the impact of that every day in my classroom. Deborah Brown Community School is deeply rooted in the North Tulsa community and most of our teachers and staff grew up here. When our students see us in the grocery store, at community events, or on Greenwood Avenue, they know we are invested in their success because this community is our home too.
For the past two years, Deborah Brown has been the only school in Oklahoma where every single third grader passed the state’s third-grade reading test—including students with disabilities and those receiving accommodations.
From pre-K onward, our students build strong foundations in reading, writing, math, and history. They practice phonics every day. They memorize poems, learn state facts, and master the building blocks of literacy that carry them forward.
But what really makes the difference is our ability to respond quickly when students need help. When a child struggles in reading or math, we intervene immediately. Teachers collaborate across grade levels to make sure students don’t fall behind. That work requires resources.
Right now, when we need additional testing, speech services, or intervention specialists, we often have to contract those services out of our own limited budget. If our school had the ability to keep more dollars in the classroom, we would invest immediately in more staff for reading and math intervention, expanded tutoring for students who need extra support, and additional instructional materials. Instead, public charter schools are forced to pay for facilities, maintenance, and other operations costs with our limited per pupil funding.
The debate around education funding often pits traditional public schools and public charter schools against each other but we all want the same thing: strong schools that serve kids well. Public schools and public charter schools are both working to educate Oklahoma’s children. The real question lawmakers should be asking is whether the funding system treats those students fairly. Right now, it doesn’t.
Fixing that funding gap isn’t about something new or choosing one type of school over another. It’s about making sure the public school students already sitting in charter classrooms have access to the same resources as students anywhere else.
Our students are capable of incredible things. They just need schools that believe in them, and a funding system that helps them succeed. Fair funding for public charter schools would mean more support for students, more resources for teachers, and more opportunities for communities like mine.
