State Rep. Mark McBride, Chair of the House Appropriations & Budget Subcommittee on Education, today discussed joint budget hearings scheduled between the House and Senate for agencies that fall under the education umbrella.

“Education receives the lion’s share of the state budget, so it is important that we delve into each agency that gets appropriations under the covering of education,” McBride said. “We want to examine in detail their requests for the next fiscal year to make sure the services and programs they offer to Oklahomans represents the most efficient and necessary use of taxpayer dollars.

“There are few things as important as education when it comes to ensuring our children are ready for life and a future career,” McBride said. “We must ensure our dollars are being spent in ways that improve learning outcomes in areas like reading, math and other subjects, so they exit our schools ready to go to work and improve their lives and Oklahoma communities.”

Joint budget hearings between the House and Senate Education Subcommittee include the following meetings. All are at the State Capitol, 2300 N Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, and open to the public:

Jan. 8, Room 419-C
9 a.m. Oklahoma Department of Career and Technical Education
10 a.m. Commissioners of the Land Office
11 a.m. Office of Educational Quality and Accountability

Jan. 14, Room 419-C
10 a.m. Oklahoma Department of Libraries
11 a.m. Oklahoma Educational Television Authority

Jan. 21, Room 419-C
10 a.m. Physician Manpower Training Commission
11 a.m. Oklahoma Arts Council
1 p.m. Oklahoma School of Science and Math
2 p.m. Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology

Jan. 30, House Chamber
9 a.m. Oklahoma State Department of Education
1 p.m. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education