The number of students in public schools in Oklahoma continues to rise steadily, as indicated by the newest enrollment numbers released by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Collected Oct. 1, the annual student count shows that 698,586 students were enrolled in Pre-K through 12th grade for the 2018-19 school year, a half-percent increase over the previous school year. This year’s enrollment shows an 8 percent increase over the last 11 years.
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“As our student population grows year after year, Oklahoma must be prepared to meet a greater set of education challenges than ever before,”said Joy Hofmeister, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “We must continue to focus on such priorities as a robust pipeline of trained educators in our classrooms, adequate funding to reduce class sizes and a counselor corps to address the trauma our children bring into the schoolhouse and the individual career planning that will ensure they have the opportunity for a successful future.” The ranking of the 10 largest public school districts remained unchanged from 2017-18, with Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Edmond topping the list, respectively. Other districts by descending order of size are Moore, Putnam City, Broken Arrow, Norman, Union, Midwest City-Del City and Lawton. Currently, Oklahoma has 512 traditional public school districts, 1,802 traditional school sites, 26 charter schools and four virtual charter schools. Demographic polling showed a slight shift in the racial makeup of Oklahoma’s schoolchildren. The number of those claiming two or more races, Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander ethnicities rose, while the Caucasian, black and American Indian populations dropped. All differences were fewer than 1 percent. The largest race identified in polling was Caucasian at 48.47 percent.
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