Education report ranks Oklahoma 37th

<br>(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Oklahoma's public school students rank 37th in the nation in academic achievement according to a national report card. <br><br>The report by the American Legislative Exchange

Tuesday, April 17th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Oklahoma's public school students rank 37th in the nation in academic achievement according to a national report card.

The report by the American Legislative Exchange Council says the state spent just over 53-hundred dollars per student in 1998-99, about 900-dollars lower than the national average. The amount spent per student rose in Oklahoma by about 17-and-a-half percent from 1978 to 1999, while the national average increased by nearly 23 percent.

The study found the average Oklahoma teacher salary is just below 33-thousand dollars a year, almost ten-thousand dollars lower than the national average. However, the teacher salary is 30 percent higher than other state workers in Oklahoma.

The study ranks Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin public schools at the top of its list, while Mississippi, Washington, D-C and Louisiana are at the bottom.