OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma bill would require students whose families receive public funds in return for sending their child to a private or home school to take the same standardized tests public school students are required to take to measure their performance.
House Bill 3585 would require any student attending a private school accredited by the Oklahoma State Board of Education, or any student “for whom a taxpayer has successfully claimed a tax credit pursuant to the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit Act” to take the same standardized tests as the law already requires Oklahoma public school students to take.
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“We test every year in our public schools that we can look and see if we’re successfully or not educating these kids,” said the bill’s sponsor, State Representative Judd Strom (R-Bartlesville).
And with taxpayer dollars now being handed out to private school and homeschool families through Oklahoma’s Parental Choice Tax Credit, Strom says he wants to be able to see if the taxpayers supporting the program are getting a return on their investment.