OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Public education advocates are butting heads with Governor Kevin Stitt after he used the term “ghost students” during the State of State address last week while referring to schools still receiving funding for kids no longer in the district.
He used the phrase when describing why the state funding formula for schools is flawed. He alleged it over-counts students who are not actually enrolled.
“A below the belt punch designed to sow disruption,” said education writer and former metro teacher John Thompson, who accused the governor of playing dirty politics with the term.
“It’s intellectually dishonest to say that the professionals who devised the formula because they thought it was the best way to serve our kids, are out doing something illegitimate and trying to make money off of ghost students,” Thompson said.
The term “ghost students” was first in the news back in 2019 when the OSBI alleged Epic Charter Schools falsely boosted its enrollment numbers for more money, an allegation Epic denies.
“He chose that verbiage because he knew it would be inflammatory and he has unfortunately been trying to pit folks against public schools in the name of promoting school choice issues,” said Alicia Priest, president of the Oklahoma Education Association.
Shawn Hime, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Board Association said he couldn’t guess why the governor decided to use a term so loaded with negative connotation to describe districts following state statute.
“It puts an image in people’s minds that characterizing something as being illegal or shady, which is absolutely not true,” Hime said, “and absolutely what almost every state in the nation uses for a funding mechanism.”
A spokesperson for the governor fired back Monday evening, saying in a statement, “That premise is completely and totally inaccurate and I have no idea where it’s coming from. The fact of the matter is by not watering down the funding formula with students who are counted multiple times, per-pupil funding increases for the schools students are currently attending.”