An Unconventional Path to Universal School Choice: Oklahoma’s Parental Choice Tax Credit Program

A major concern with universal private school choice programs is that they will reduce funding for public schools. This article explores the adoption of Oklahoma’s universal private school choice legislation – the Parental Choice Tax Credit (PCTC) program. Oklahoma’s case is instructive because it demonstrates how the political compromises needed to pass universal private school choice legislation produced a historic increase in recurring funding for public schools despite claims that the program would have the opposite effect. Oklahoma’s law also structurally linked funding streams so that if public education funding declined, then funds for private school choice would be reduced.