CATOOSA, Okla. — The Cherokee Nation’s motor vehicle compact dedicates almost $8 million to local public schools.
Since its installation in 2002, the Nation set aside 38% of all revenue collected from the sales of its car tags for schools.
Education leaders and the Cherokee Nation gathered on March 26 for their Public School Appreciation Day, during which the districts were awarded their share of the funds.
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said this is a record-breaking year. They’ve given back the most to schools — $7.9 million.
- Previous coverage >>> Federal court rules in favor of tribes in gaming compact dispute with Gov. Stitt
“It’s tiny little districts in rural northeast Oklahoma and it’s large school districts like Tulsa, and when you think about the impact of those dollars, it really makes us feel good at Cherokee Nation,” said Hoskin. “We have a commitment to public education, and we don’t simply talk about it. We, year after year, provide more revenue, and of course this year is very consequential, because we’re at the end of our compact.”
The compact expires at the end of this year unless renewed. Failure to renew it would result in a massive loss of funding around the state.
In addition to supporting school districts, the compact funds local law enforcement and municipalities, as well as improvements to area roads and bridges.
To date, schools around the region received approximately $92 million in the 20 years of the compact’s existence.
“More important, though, than it working for us is that it works for all four million Oklahomans,” said Hoskin. "And if you look at northeast Oklahoma, and you look at some of these schools that are on the ropes, they get a lifeline from the Cherokee Nation every year. There’s no reason that shouldn’t continue.”
Superintendent Dr. Jarod Mendenhall oversees Muskogee Public Schools. His district received an additional $785,000 from the compact this fiscal year, which they are able to allocate however they see fit.
“Muskogee is right in the apex of Cherokee Nation, so we have a lot of students that we serve there, so we’re able to use this money back on them,” said Mendenhall. “We separate it into different pots of money. We have seven elementaries that we’ll use it for, we also use it at our secondary site, so we’re able to do different things with it but it depends on the needs of each site.”
The fate of the compact is now in Gov. Kevin Stitt’s hands. It must be renewed by the end of the calendar year or the funding different entities receive from the compact will vanish.
Disputes over compacts between the tribes and Stitt go back. Here's a clip from 2020 over gaming compacts:
Hoskin said it should not be about whether the state or the Nation receives a good deal since it’s a mutually beneficial agreement.
“If you think about Tulsa County this year, $1.8 million for Tulsa County schools completely gone because that revenue source is gone. I mean, that is what happens if we don’t renew it,” he said. “‘If the compact ends though, this whole region loses, and we can’t let that happen.”
While the event celebrated the additional funding the districts received, Hoskin also asked for support from his education partners.
Hoskin went to legislators and briefed them on where things stood and let them know if Stitt did not renew it, the Cherokee Nation would go to the legislature for an extension.
- Previous coverage >>> Oklahoma's Five Tribes reject Gov. Stitt's call to negotiate new gaming compacts
He told the educators in the room that they would not know what impact this would have if they didn’t speak up.
“We’ve been about public education before anyone even heard about the state of Oklahoma, so the commitment is there, but our ability to be able to deliver these resources is really inextricably linked to this compact,” said Hoskin. “We’ve had one on one conversations in which we said to school administrators, school board members, teachers, we will need you to have the back of the Cherokee Nation as we've had your back for decades now.”
The compact expires at the end of Dec. 2024.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- SUBSCRIBE on YouTube
