A Strategy to Expand Community Schools in Oklahoma
Advocates for Oklahoma Community Schools (AOCS) is a bipartisan group of Oklahoma legislators, educators, nonprofits and private citizens working to help pass a bill that would provide enabling legislation for a statewide community school demonstration program. This program would build on the success of this model in Oklahoma’s Union District and in twelve other states that have passed similar legislation. Because of this success, Union has gradually expanded the number of their community schools to 10. Their district has a graduation rate of 90% with over 50% of students going on to postsecondary programs at technical schools and two or four-year colleges despite Union being a Title1 district serving low-income families where 68% are minorities. It is important to note that 60% of Oklahoma school districts are Title 1 and consequently the legislation would impact a majority of the students in our pubic schools.
Raising the percentage of students going on to some kind of postsecondary training is an important metric. The Oklahoma Department of Labor is projecting the percentage of jobs available to high school graduates will drop from 49% today to between 25% - 30% by 2030 as advancing technology will affect the workplace for both blue and white collar jobs.
The Community School model is more successful than traditional schools in Title 1 districts because it address a variety of needs beyond the classroom, creating support systems that enhance student engagement and parental involvement—aligning closely with the Oklahoma Department of Education's goal to increase parental engagement and improve overall educational outcomes. “In Title 1 districts with a high percentage of low-income students and minorities, community resources and support structures can transform educational experiences,” said Bill Langdon, a representative of AOKCS. “Unlike other models like charter schools, community schools also operate within existing schools public schools, making them accessible even in rural areas where transportation can be a barrier.”
Another reason the community school concept should be a funding priority, Union's community schools have proven more effective at improving student outcomes than charter and home schools for most families. While Union has a 90% graduation rate with over 50% going on to postsecondary programs in the trades or college. the most recent report on charter schools by the OK Department of Education produced after the 2021 school year shows only about 16% are performing above basic proficiency. There is also no published data on those going on to postsecondary programs for charter or home schools students. The few charter schools that are performing well academically and have high postsecondary enrollment also have high entrance requirements like public college prep and magnet schools and serve only a small portion of the 59% of students attending public schools that receive Title 1 funding. Furthermore, parents often must drive their children to and from a charter school if there is no bus service. This has proven to be a limiting factor to the expansion of charter schools in rural districts and also a limiting factor for many parents in our cities where parents are not able to drop off and pick up their kids because of their jobs. Since an existing school can be upgraded to a community school, there are no transportation issues.
Representative Tammy West is an educator who understands how community schools can improve outcomes and authored HB 3374 in 2022 to start demonstration programs in additional districts. Her bill was cosponsored by a bipartisan group of House members and passed with only two dissenting votes. But the bill stalled in the Senate. AOCS is working with the legislature to update the budget documentation that includes specific projections on the cost for an individual school moving to a community school model and estimates of the federal funding available.
Up until this year, Federal funding to support the community school model is part of the Title 4 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) where additional money is given to Title 1 schools to encourage adoption of the model. But this money may be eliminated or turned into block grants according to Ryan Walter in a letter he sent to superintendents after the presidential election. Because 59% of our schools are Title ! because of the high level of poverty and low average family income, Many districts would have been eligible to apply for ESSA grants through Oklahoma’s Department of Education if the OK Legislature passed enabling legislation like HB 3373 and Title 1 funding remained in place. But if Title ! money does go to the states as grants or is entirely eliminated, we believe writing and funding a bill like HB 3374 that would support expanding an initial demonstration in both rural and urban areas should be a funding priority.
Since we should expect as a minimum federal funding for education to be reduced, spending
our education budget on proven programs will become more important than ever, Being proactive in this legislative session to back a proven strategy that will help reverse the downward trend in educational achievement and key measures of our citizen’s wellbeing. Oklahoma is the 42nd poorest state based on family income, 49th in education, 45th in health and ranks 44th in the United States for life expectancy, with an average of 76.1 years versus the national average of 79. Addressing both personal wellbeing and academic achievement with the community school model is a positive step for reversing these trends in the key metrics that will drive the success of our state's economy as our students get smarter and healthier.
Los cuatro pilares de las escuelas comunitarias
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1. Apoyos integrados a los estudiantes
• Se ofrecen servicios integrales, como atención médica, asesoramiento en materia de salud mental y servicios sociales, para abordar las barreras no académicas que impiden el aprendizaje. Estos servicios suelen prestarse a través de asociaciones con organizaciones comunitarias, proveedores de atención médica y agencias de servicios sociales.
• El objetivo es satisfacer las necesidades básicas de los estudiantes, mejorar su bienestar y garantizar que estén preparados para aprender. Por ejemplo, las escuelas pueden brindar acceso a atención médica, servicios dentales o asesoramiento en el campus.
2. Tiempo y oportunidades de aprendizaje ampliados y enriquecidos
• Las escuelas comunitarias extienden el aprendizaje más allá de la jornada escolar tradicional, ofreciendo apoyo académico adicional, tutoría y actividades de enriquecimiento como programas extraescolares, aprendizaje de verano y oportunidades de aprendizaje experiencial.
• Estas actividades están diseñadas para mejorar el currículo estándar y brindarles a los estudiantes oportunidades de participar en una variedad de experiencias de aprendizaje prácticas en el mundo real que pueden despertar la curiosidad y mejorar el rendimiento académico.
3. Participación activa de la familia y la comunidad
• Las sólidas alianzas entre la familia y la comunidad son fundamentales para el modelo de escuela comunitaria. Las familias participan en el aprendizaje de sus hijos y la escuela funciona como centro de actividades y apoyo comunitario.
• Esto implica crear líneas de comunicación sólidas entre las escuelas, los padres y las partes interesadas de la comunidad. Las escuelas organizan eventos y ofrecen servicios que benefician a las familias, como educación para adultos, asesoramiento familiar y clases para padres.
4. Liderazgo y prácticas colaborativas
• Las escuelas utilizan modelos de liderazgo compartido que involucran a maestros, líderes escolares, socios comunitarios, familias y, a veces, estudiantes en los procesos de toma de decisiones.
• La colaboración fomenta un sentido de responsabilidad compartida por el éxito de los estudiantes y permite una implementación más eficaz de las estrategias escolares comunitarias. Los equipos de educadores, administradores y miembros de la comunidad trabajan juntos para alinear los recursos y desarrollar planes integrales para apoyar el desarrollo integral de los estudiantes.
Estos cuatro pilares garantizan que las escuelas comunitarias ofrezcan un enfoque integral de la educación del niño, asegurándose de que los estudiantes reciban apoyo tanto dentro como fuera del aula y ayudando a cerrar las brechas de logros al abordar los desafíos académicos y no académicos.
Financiamiento federal para escuelas comunitarias bajo ESSA
ESSA es parte de la financiación del Título IV, Parte A, asignada a las agencias educativas estatales, que luego distribuyen los fondos a los distritos o escuelas individuales. Las escuelas y los distritos deben trabajar con su estado para determinar la elegibilidad y los requisitos de solicitud. Las escuelas autónomas que reciben financiación del Título 1 también son elegibles.
Como regla general para calcular el monto de una subvención para una escuela comunitaria, se basa en el monto de la financiación del Título 1 del distrito, y la asignación suele oscilar entre el 5 % y el 15 % del monto del Título I. El porcentaje exacto depende de diversos factores, como la asignación de fondos del Título IV por parte del estado, el total de fondos disponibles y las necesidades específicas de su escuela o distrito. Por lo tanto, por cada millón de dólares en financiación del Título I, una estimación razonable de la financiación del Título IV, Parte A oscilaría entre 50 000 y 150 000 dólares. Esto significa que un distrito como Union, que recibe 4 millones de dólares en subvenciones del Título 1, podría recibir entre 200 000 y 600 000 dólares, mientras que un distrito grande como Tulsa Public Schools, que recibe 20 millones de dólares, tiene el potencial de recibir entre 1 y 3 millones de dólares para programas de escuelas comunitarias.
Propuesta de ley para escuelas comunitarias de Oklahoma
AOCS has provided a link to a page on our website with a "Model Bill" based on Community School Legislation developed by the Learning Policy Institute from legislation fro two of twelve other states where their community schools have significantly raised academic performance and graduation rates accross their states.
Since most of the money needed to switch to a community school model comes from donors like food banks and medical service providers, the state's role will primarily be to process the applications for the ESSA grants to pay for a program coordinator at each school and to reimburse teachers for the additional programs for students and their parents after normal school hours.
We do not believe there is any need for separate legislation for just a demonstration program since the Oklahoma Department of Education can set limits on the number of grants it will accept in the first few years of the initial rollout. We are confident the Community School Model that has been so succesful at Union and these twelve other states will be successful in our state after this enabling legislation was passed and grant money began flowing to the schools.
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