On the heels of Tulsa Public Schools passing a $609 million bond package, a new coalition says Tulsa families need another $30 million annually to support child care and after-school programs.
The Yes for Tulsa Kids coalition launched Wednesday, pushing for local support to fill gaps left by pandemic-era funding cuts to child care and after-school programs. The group cited then-Mayor Jim Inhofe’s 1980 sales tax and former Mayor G.T. Bynum’s 2018 Vision Tulsa funding as precedents, but noted a lack of similar support in recent years.
“With so many funding cuts, without a new commitment or new revenue source the gains for Tulsa’s children are slipping away,” said Lauren Sivak, executive director of the Opp Project, which connects families to after-school programs in Tulsa. “At the same time, the cost of child care is becoming prohibitive for too many Tulsa families and state-level cuts will make things harder.”
Nearly 20 nonprofits and philanthropies are publicly involved in the nonpartisan coalition, including Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, the Tulsa Women’s Commission, the Terence Crutcher Foundation and MET Cares.
There isn’t a specific plan for how that $30 million would take shape — whether through a voter-approved tax increase or newly appropriated city funds. The coalition points to voter-approved initiatives in Louisiana, Texas and Florida that created dedicated tax revenue for early childhood or funded entirely new entities for children, youth and families within a county.