Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-6-195.1

Implementation contingency – Verification of expenditure levels.

A. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Legislature to

establish a continuing education program whereby teachers employed

to teach mathematics may obtain certification in mathematics and

teachers certified to teach mathematics in the state may take higher

education courses in order to obtain the competencies needed to

enable the teacher to successfully complete the subject area

examinations and become certified to teach any of the core

curriculum mathematics courses recommended by the State Department

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 460

of Education. The program shall pay up to One Hundred Dollars

($100.00) per credit hour up to a maximum of twenty-four (24) credit

hours for a teacher to take higher education courses in mathematics.

Teachers required to gain certification as provided in Section 6-

189.1 of this title shall be given priority in the funding for the

continuing education program. The purpose of the program is to

improve the knowledge and skills of teachers and to ensure that the

children of the state are taught by professional educators, fully

prepared in the area of mathematics.

B. Implementation of this section shall be contingent upon the

appropriation of state funds by the Legislature for the specific

purpose of implementing this section. Nothing in this section shall

prevent the State Board of Education or a school district board of

education from utilizing private, local, or federal funds to

implement this section.

C. Implementation of this section shall be delayed until the

current expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance in public

elementary and secondary schools in unadjusted dollars for the 1998-

99 school year or any school year thereafter for Oklahoma, as

reported by the National Center for Education Statistics annually in

the Digest of Education Statistics, reaches at least ninety percent

(90%) of the regional average expenditure for that same year, and

funds are provided. For purposes of this section, the regional

average expenditure shall consist of the current expenditure per

pupil in average daily attendance in public elementary and secondary

schools in unadjusted dollars for each of the following states:

Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and

Texas, averaged together. By January 1 of each year, the State

Board of Education shall report whether or not the ninety-percent

expenditure level has been reached based on information reported

annually in the Digest of Education Statistics by the National

Center for Education Statistics. This section shall be implemented

on July 1 after the first January 1 report verifies that the ninety-

percent expenditure level has been reached and funds have been

provided for the specific purposes of this section.