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With the Oklahoma legislature preparing the final text of a school choice funding formula, SoonerPolitics undertook the task of compiling a couple of interactive maps, indicating the established private schools across the state. Some of this institutions are accredited by the Oklahoma Private School Accreditation Commission(OPSAC), but several dozens are decidedly not accredited, even though some are over 125 years old.
Current legislation provides families an advance tax credit between $5000 to $7500 per year for OPSAC accredited schools. If a family chooses a non-accredited education by ‘other means’ to educate their child, the tax credit drops severely. Perhaps just half the tax credit, and only after providing actual receipts. The current senate bill could drop the credit to a few hundred dollars, because of a household cap on credits. |
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Beat The Rush!
Several of the listed schools are already full for the fall semester. If the reforms become enacted law this session, we expect a rush to ensue. Every school is likely to have waiting lists that may become longer than their school’s current enrollment.
Parents would be wise to begin dialogues with private schools now.
Parents would be wise to begin dialogues with private schools now.
In the included two maps, we show about 200 private schools. Our data came from the OPSAC website and PrivateSchoolReview.com . We discovered errors and outdate info on both websites and sometimes we called the schools to get updated info.
You can also view the maps in Google Earth.
You can also view the maps in Google Earth.
This 2nd map shows schools not (yet) on a list of OPSAC accredited schools. Many of them are well-established and respected by the communities they serve. This map is also viewable on Google Earth.
Getting Accredited..
OPSAC is a commission whose mandate is to review the accrediting associations and determine if they are properly reviewing member schools. The accrediting associations set criteria for standards of educating process. While there are similarities, there are also diverse priorities in these accrediting associations.
OPSAC-approved private school associations:
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American Montessori Society (AMS)
Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) Association of Christian Teachers and Schools (ACTS) Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS) Christian School International (CSI) Cognia (formerly AdvancED) Ind. School Associations of the Southwest (ISAS) International Christian Accrediting Association (ICAA) |
American Montessori Society (AMS)
Middle States Association (MSA-CESS) National Christian School Association (NCSA) National Lutheran Schools Accreditation (NLSA) Okla. Conference of Catholic Schools Accreditation Assoc. (OCCSAA) Oklahoma Conference of Seventh Day Adventists (OCSDA) Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools (SAES) |
Journalist’s note:
In the 1980s, I taught at a private school in another state. That school was accredited by Accelerated Christian Education(ACE). In my certification training from ACE, I and the other educators were strongly urged by the ACE founder (Dr. Howard), to NOT submit to state accreditation. We were told to conduct our education ministry without handing over control to the state. Dr. Howard believed this was a fundamental 1st Amendment freedom of Religion from govt. suppression.
Howard told us; “Harvard University has never submitted to accreditation from any govt agency, and never will. Why would they allow their lessers to tell them how to educate?”
Howard told us; “Harvard University has never submitted to accreditation from any govt agency, and never will. Why would they allow their lessers to tell them how to educate?”
