Oklahoma Education and You

Governor Kevin Stitt has again raised the issue of how Oklahoma funds charter schools. On August 12, he released former Secretary of Education Dan Hamlin’s school-finance report, which recommends developing a strategy to reduce the funding disparity between traditional districts and brick-and-mortar charter schools by giving charters access to local property tax dollars. That renews a debate Stitt has championed before. In 2021, Stitt applauded the settlement of a lawsuit between the state board of education and Oklahoma charter schools, which ultimately led to the creation of the Redbud Act, making charter schools eligible for “local revenues.”⁠^[1]

If that discussion leads to giving charter schools greater access to locally generated ad valorem dollars, Oklahoma should first answer a more fundamental question: What should a charter school demonstrate before taxpayers are asked to finance its expansion?

It should start with whether the school can teach the students it already has to read and do mathematics.

There is a legitimate argument for charter schools. The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board reports that brick-and-mortar charters serve higher percentages of economically disadvantaged students and English learners than traditional public schools, receive fewer state and local dollars per student, and, as a group, have improved academically in recent years. The board also reports that a majority of districts outperform traditional districts that share their geographic boundaries.⁠^[2]

However, that is not true of every charter. Consider the recently released 2025-26 OSTP results.

Statewide among students in grades 3–5, 40.1% scored Below Basic in reading/ELA and 31.6% scored Below Basic in mathematics. Only 25.0% were Proficient or Above in reading and 31.0% in mathematics.

Among students in grades 6–8, 39.3% were Below Basic in reading and 46.8% were Below Basic in mathematics. Only about 22.4% were Proficient or Above in either subject.⁠^[3]

Those numbers support the argument for publicly funded alternatives to traditional public schools.

However, some charter organizations are undertaking major expansions while performing substantially worse.

ASTEC Charter School: Large debt along with low performance.

ASTEC Charter Schools provides one of the clearest examples.

In 2024, ASTEC completed a $64.325 million bond transaction. According to Baird, the underwriter, it was the first publicly offered and largest charter-school financing transaction in Oklahoma at the time. The financing included a new middle and high school, an elementary school expansion, administrative space, an auditorium, a gymnasium, and related improvements.⁠^[4]

In 2025–26, among ASTEC elementary students in grades 3–5, 59.5% were Below Basic in reading and only 5.8% were Proficient or Above. In mathematics, 57.3% were Below Basic and only 7.4% were Proficient or Above.

At the middle-school level, 52.0% were Below Basic in reading and 62.2% were Below Basic in mathematics. Only 10.3% were Proficient or Above in reading and 8.8% in mathematics.⁠^[3]

ASTEC’s construction decision preceded these particular scores. But those results should matter greatly when Oklahoma determines what happens next.

Before giving an organization additional local tax revenue to support more growth, shouldn’t Oklahoma first require evidence that the academic program is improving?

Tulsa Honor Academy: Growth with Declining Results

Tulsa Honor Academy offers an even more instructive example.

THA grew from a small fifth-grade school into a network of middle and high schools. According to reporting by The 74, facility financing contributed to the decision to accelerate the opening of Flores Middle School in 2021—three years earlier than originally planned.

Brent Bushey of Fuel OKC, an organization that supports charter expansion, later offered a remarkably candid assessment: “They overextended, and that came through in the academic results.”⁠^[5]

Yet Tulsa Honor Academy is expanding again, including into the elementary grades.

The latest state tests provide arguments against that expansion.

At the original Tulsa Honor Academy middle school, 63.3% of students were Below Basic in reading and 68.9% were Below Basic in mathematics.

Tulsa Honor Academy recently announced it is expanding, while at Tulsa Honor Academy’s Flores Middle School, 57.2% were Below Basic in reading and 54.3% were Below Basic in mathematics.

Combined, 60.1% of Tulsa Honor Academy’s middle-school students were Below Basic in reading, and 61.2% were Below Basic in mathematics—roughly three of every five students.⁠^[3]

Tulsa Honor Academy serves an unusually high percentage of English learners and has evidence of strong student growth. Those facts matter.

But growth and proficiency are not interchangeable.

A school can demonstrate meaningful growth while most students remain far below grade-level expectations. Both should matter when determining whether their model is ready for replication.

Harding Charter Prep: A strong high school doesn’t always equate to a strong feeder system.

Sometimes a successful high school does not equate to successful expansion into lower grades. For example, consider Harding Charter Prep.

Harding Independence Charter received a $2 million Charter Schools Program grant to help open another elementary school in fall 2027.⁠^[6]

Harding Charter Preparatory High School has developed a strong academic reputation. But Harding is no longer simply a high school.

Independence Charter Middle School and Harding Charter Preparatory were consolidated into a single organization. Harding subsequently expanded downward into fifth grade and elementary school and is developing a PK–12 network.⁠^[7]

A Fuel OKC investment analysis describes a still larger vision: eventually four elementary schools feeding two middle schools and a larger high school. Even more noteworthy, the pro-charter investment analysis describes Harding as having a “consistently strong high school and a consistently struggling middle school” and recommends performance milestones before all expansion funding is released.⁠^[8]

The 2025–26 data reinforce the need for that caution.

Harding Elementary had only 24 tested third graders, so its results should not be overinterpreted. Still, 15 of 24—62.5%—were Below Basic in reading. In math, 50% were Below Basic and 25% were Proficient or Above.

At Harding Middle School at Independence, 41.2% were Below Basic in reading versus 39.3% statewide, and 49.7% were Below Basic in mathematics versus 46.8% statewide. Math proficiency was 18.2%, below the statewide middle-school rate of 22.4%. Reading proficiency, at 23.3%, was slightly above the state.⁠^[3]

Harding’s high-school success should be celebrated.

But success at one grade level does not automatically prove that an organization has figured out how to educate elementary and middle-school students equally well. Additionally, Harding Charter Prep provides Advanced Placement courses for every student in the school, raising the question of whether their high performance on state tests at the high school level is more a result of selection bias than the effectiveness of instruction.

Academies of Oklahoma: Replication Should Have to Prove Itself Too

Academies of Oklahoma provides perhaps the best example of why even a successful original charter should not be taken as automatic evidence that every replication will work.

The organization began as The Academy of Seminole, opening in August 2018 with just 30 ninth- and tenth-grade students. It subsequently expanded into a PK–12 school serving hundreds of students.⁠^[9]

In December 2023, the State Board of Education approved an Academy of Seminole campus in Okmulgee. State Superintendent Ryan Walters called the Seminole school an “incredibly successful rural charter school” and said the expansion provided a model for increasing rural school choice.⁠^[10]

Subsequently, the Academy of Okmulgee opened in fall 2024. Then, in September 2024, the Statewide Charter School Board approved changing the organization’s name to Academies of Oklahoma and approved a third campus in Blanchard. At the time, the organization said it envisioned additional expansion into rural communities over the coming decade. The Statewide Charter School Board’s current charter listing now shows all three campuses: Academy of Seminole, Academy of Okmulgee and Academy of Blanchard.⁠^[11]

This is precisely how charter replication is supposed to work in theory: create something effective, prove it and then take it elsewhere. However, that has yet to be the case with the Academy.

The original Academy of Seminole’s elementary results provide some evidence for the argument that the model had merit. In grades 3–5 in 2025–26, 33.9% of Seminole students were Below Basic in reading, which was better than the statewide rate of 40.1%. 32.2% were Proficient or Above in reading, compared with 25.0% statewide. In mathematics, 44.1% were Proficient or Above, substantially better than the statewide elementary rate of 31.0%.⁠^[3]

But the new Academy of Okmulgee produced a very different picture.

Among its students in grades 3–5:

• 55.7% were Below Basic in reading;
• 52.9% were Below Basic in mathematics; and
• only 10.0% were Proficient or Above in mathematics.⁠^[3]

Among Okmulgee students in grades 6–8, 59.7% were Below Basic in reading, while only 9.7% were Proficient or Above.⁠^[3]

Perhaps, given time, the Okmulgee campus will produce results similar to Seminole’s. Yet, without evidence that the Academy of Seminole’s model could be replicated, the state charter board approved a third campus in Blanchard.

When an organization moves from one campus to two, the state should examine whether campus two has actually replicated the success of campus one before automatically moving to campuses three, four, and five

Oklahoma’s Own Accreditation Data Raises an Even Bigger Question

There is an even bigger reason to take a closer look at charter expansion.

The 2025 Academic Deficiency Summary on the Oklahoma State Department Website lists schools where more than half the students score in the lowest category (Below Basic) on state tests.⁠^[12]

Oklahoma’s academic-deficiency approach was designed around a relatively straightforward threshold. If more than 50% of a district’s students score Below Basic in ELA or mathematics, the district can receive an academic deficiency. Continued failure to make sufficient progress can result in escalation to warning and ultimately probation.⁠^[13]

In 2025, 17 charter districts were marked as Academically Deficient by the State Department of Education.

Even more striking, 11 charter districts are marked as being on academic-deficiency probation:

• ASTEC Charter School
• Cherokee Immersion Charter School
• College Bound Academy of Tulsa
• eSchool Virtual Charter Academy
• Epic Charter School
• Insight School of Oklahoma
• KIPP Tulsa
• Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy
• Tulsa Honor Academy
• Tulsa Legacy Charter School
• Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences

Another four charter districts are marked with an academic-deficiency warning:

• Comanche Academy
• Oklahoma Connections Academy
• Virtual Preparatory Academy of Oklahoma
• Western Gateway Charter School

And Dove Virtual Charter Academy and W.K. Jackson Leadership Academy are marked as having a current academic deficiency, without a warning or probation designation in the file.⁠^[12]

Not all of those schools are relevant to an ad valorem proposal. Several are virtual charters.

But ten of the 17 are brick-and-mortar charter districts, the category most directly implicated in the current debate over closing the local-funding gap.

Among those brick-and-mortar charters are ASTEC and Tulsa Honor Academy,, both of which have undertaken substantial expansion and incurred large amounts of debt to do so.

If Oklahoma’s own accreditation system says a charter organization has reached the point of academic-deficiency probation, shouldn’t that create at least a presumption against taxpayer-subsidized expansion until the deficiency is corrected?

Otherwise, what is the purpose of the accountability system?

Santa Fe South Shows Expansion and Improvement Can Occur Together

Santa Fe South provides an important counterexample to the idea that charter growth is doomed to failure.

The organization has expanded substantially over time, adding campuses and grade levels throughout south Oklahoma City.

Santa Fe South reports that over five years, the percentage of students performing at or above grade level on NWEA MAP assessments increased from 30% to 71% in mathematics and from 42% to 68% in reading. Because those figures were published in material sponsored by Santa Fe South, they should properly be described as district-reported results rather than an independent evaluation.⁠^[14]

More importantly, the 2025–26 state tests independently demonstrate strong performance at several Santa Fe South campuses.

At Santa Fe South Middle School, 30.6% were Below Basic in reading compared with 39.3% statewide, while 27.7% were Proficient or Above compared with 22.4% statewide.

The mathematics difference was even greater:

25.5% Below Basic compared with 46.8% statewide and 39.7% Proficient or Above compared with 22.4% statewide.

At Spero Elementary, 54.1% were Proficient or Above in mathematics, and at Penn Elementary, 50.7% were Proficient or Above, compared with 31.0% statewide.⁠^[3]

Not every Santa Fe South campus performs equally well.

Again, that is the point.

Expansion decisions should follow actual campus results, not simply an organization’s brand.

Dove Charter Network Provides Another Example of Expansion Backed by Results

Dove Schools provides another useful contrast.

A federal Charter Schools Program grant calls for expansion at eight Dove schools, replication of another school, and approximately $9.24 million in expected federal funding. Dove proposes increasing network enrollment by roughly 66% over five years.⁠^[15]

That is major expansion.

But some Dove campuses are producing results that make an expansion argument considerably easier to defend.

At Dove Science Academy Elementary:

• 52.8% were Proficient or Above in reading;
• 67.5% were Proficient or Above in mathematics;
• only 19.8% were Below Basic in reading; and
• only 7.5% were Below Basic in mathematics.⁠^[3]

At Dove Science Academy Middle School, 44.5% were Proficient or Above in reading and 50.0% in mathematics, compared with about 22.4% statewide in each subject.⁠^[3]

Dove Science Academy Junior High recorded 46.4% reading proficiency and 48.2% math proficiency.⁠^[3]

Reward What Works

Oklahoma should encourage top-tier charter schools.

That is what performance-based charter policy should look like.

Before additional local ad valorem revenue is used to finance charter expansion or replication, Oklahoma should require several years of evidence demonstrating:

• declining percentages of students scoring Below Basic;
• proficiency competitive with state and appropriate local benchmarks;
• sustained academic growth;
• successful performance among economically disadvantaged students, English learners and students with disabilities;
• correction of any academic accreditation deficiency;
• responsible financial management; and
• evidence that existing campuses are working before adding new campuses.

The original promise of charter schools was greater freedom in exchange for greater accountability. Successful charters could replicate their success, and unsuccessful ones could be corrected or ultimately closed.

Oklahoma has a poor record of doing either of those things.

Accountability was supposed to make charter schools different in the first place.

Before Oklahoma redirects locally generated property-tax dollars toward charter expansion, taxpayers should be entitled to expect one basic thing in return:

Evidence that the model they are being asked to finance has already demonstrated that it can teach children to read and do math.

Sources and Notes

Clickable source links are provided beneath each numbered note. Links were verified on August 13, 2026.

[1] Office of Governor Kevin Stitt, Aug.12, 2026, release of the Dan Hamlin school-finance report. The report recommends developing a strategy to reduce the funding disparity between traditional districts and brick-and-mortar charter schools. Stitt separately supported charter access to local revenues in the 2021 charter-funding dispute.

Online sources: 2026 Hamlin school-finance report release | 2021 Stitt statement on charter local revenues

[2] Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, 2025 Annual Report of Oklahoma Charter Schools, Apr.13, 2026. The report states that brick-and-mortar charters serve higher proportions of economically disadvantaged students and English learners, and that they are improving sector-wide proficiency.

Online source: 2025 Annual Report of Oklahoma Charter Schools

[3] Oklahoma State Department of Education, 2025–26 OSTP media data, OKOSTP2526MediaRedacted; author’s calculations. Elementary comparisons aggregate grades 3–5, and middle-school comparisons aggregate grades 6–8, using valid, tested student counts. “Proficient or Above” equals Proficient plus Advanced. Suppressed cells were not estimated. See the accompanying Oklahoma Charter OSTP 2025–26 Rankings workbook.

Online sources: OSDE 2025-26 OSTP media CSV | OSDE 2025-26 state final results workbook

[4] Baird, ASTEC Charter Schools financing case study. Baird reports a $64.325 million transaction for refinancing and new school facilities.

Online source: Baird ASTEC Charter Schools financing case study

[5] Linda Jacobson, The 74, “Tulsa Charter Network Begins to Bounce Back From Pandemic Decline,” June 9, 2026, reporting THA’s accelerated expansion and subsequent academic problems.

Online source: The 74 – Tulsa Charter Network Begins to Bounce Back From Pandemic Decline

[6] Harding Charter Preparatory School District, May 2026 announcement of a $2 million Charter Schools Program subgrant to support an additional elementary school.

Online source: Harding – $2 Million Grant for New Elementary School

[7] Harding Charter Preparatory School District, district history describing the consolidation with Independence and subsequent PK–12 expansion.

Online source: Harding Charter Preparatory – Our Story

[8] Fuel OKC, Investment Analysis: Harding Charter Preparatory School District, describing the high school as consistently strong, the middle school as consistently struggling, and a long-range multi-campus expansion plan.

Online source: Fuel OKC – Harding Charter Preparatory Investment Analysis

[9] Academy of Seminole, school history; OSDE annual charter-school records. The school reports opening in August 2018 with 30 ninth- and tenth-grade students.

Online source: The Academy of Seminole – school history

[10] Oklahoma State Department of Education, Dec.22, 2023, announcement of approval for the Academy of Seminole’s expansion into Okmulgee.

Online source: OSDE – Academy of Seminole expansion into Okmulgee

[11] Statewide Charter School Board records and StateImpact Oklahoma reporting. In September 2024, the board approved the name change to Academies of Oklahoma and the addition of a third site in Blanchard. The SCSB currently lists the Academy of Seminole, the Academy of Okmulgee,, and the Academy of Blanchard as the Academies of Oklahoma campuses.

Online sources: StateImpact/KGOU – Academies of Oklahoma expansion to Blanchard | Statewide Charter School Board – current charter school listing

[12] Oklahoma State Department of Education, 2025 Academic Deficiency Summary, attached CSV; author’s identification of charter districts and tabulation of current deficiency, warning and probation fields. The file is a district-level 2025 accountability measure and should not be confused with the separate 2025–26 school-site OSTP analysis. View the attached Academic Deficiency Summary.

[13] OSDE’s academic-performance accreditation methodology provides for an academic deficiency when more than 50% of district students score Below Basic in ELA or mathematics, and describes escalation based on insufficient improvement, leading to warning and possible probation.

Online source: OSDE – academic-performance accreditation methodology

[14] Santa Fe South’s five-year NWEA figures were published in MetroFamily Magazine content sponsored by Santa Fe South and are therefore characterized as district-reported rather than independently verified results.

Online source: MetroFamily – Face of Charter Education: Santa Fe South Public Schools

[15] U.S. Department of Education Charter Schools Program grant materials for Dove Schools, describing a multi-school expansion and replication project totaling approximately $9.24 million in expected federal funding.

Online source: U.S. Department of Education – Dove Schools CSP grant abstract