HOW OKLAHOMA’S SCHOOLS LOST THREE DECADES OF GROUND AND WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM MISSISSIPPI

On nearly every important measure of academic success, Oklahoma now sits at the bottom.

That hasn’t always been the case.

In the 1990s, Oklahoma ranked in the top half of states in reading and math, but began to fall in 2000. The slide quickened from 2015 to 2024 as Oklahoma dropped from 37th to 48th.

“People in our state have always said things like ‘thank God for Mississippi,’ meaning that otherwis…