Fueling Quality Schools in Oklahoma City
By Brent Bushey, Fuel OKC CEO
When I moved to Oklahoma City in 2013, people would learn that I was a recent transplant and immediately ask, “Have you heard of MAPS?” Although I had already heard the story of MAPS on my first visit before moving here with my family, I would always respond by asking them to share their version. I loved hearing locals from all walks of life describe how the city invested in itself and the pride they felt in helping to shape the community we all helped build.
Through these conversations, I learned how Bricktown transformed from a mostly abandoned warehouse district into the city’s booming tourism hub, thanks to MAPS funding that helped build the minor league baseball stadium and the Bricktown Canal. I also learned the phrase “We used to mow it, now we row it” referring to the Oklahoma City River after MAPS funds were used to build a dam on the river, resulting in the development of the Boathouse District and the construction of Riversport OKC.
I could go on and on sharing stories about MAPS and its impact on Oklahoma City, but if you live here or have visited, I’m sure you’ve heard many of them. I’m proud to call Oklahoma City home and frequently share our story of civic pride and how MAPS has played a central role in shaping it with people across the country.. While it’s an exciting story, and one that I think cities across the country can learn from, not every part of Oklahoma City has experienced the same growth, specifically public education. This fact is the driving motivation behind the creation of Fuel OKC — to increase quality public school options for Oklahoma City students and families, in much the same way that MAPS has improved the quality of life for its residents.
There are two reasons why Oklahoma City residents should be concerned about public education in our city. First, it’s alarming that a significant number of students attend public schools where less than 10% of students score proficient on standardized tests. As a father of two girls, I can’t imagine sending my daughters to a school with such low academic proficiency, and it’s heartbreaking to know that many families across this city have no other feasible option but to send their children to these schools.
Beyond the moral issue, there’s a second reason to be concerned: the lack of quality public school options is impacting the economic future of our city. Most Oklahoma City residents are familiar with the tremendous growth our city has experienced — we’re one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, and the latest census data ranks Oklahoma City as the 20th largest city in the country. Given this growth, I was shocked to learn that in the past 10 years, there has been a 6% decrease in the number of children living within the boundaries of Oklahoma City Public Schools.
Think about all the progress our city has made in the last decade — we’ve built Scissortail Park and the nearby convention center; countless new restaurants have opened and we recently learned that Oklahoma City will host two events of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. The city’s progress is amazing, yet while all of this has gone on, families have been leaving the city’s core, and survey data shows that the primary factor is the lack of quality public schools. If we want Oklahoma City to continue to grow and thrive, it’s clear we must provide more quality public school options to attract and retain families in the heart of our city.
With this in mind, we’ve launched Fuel OKC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a simple mission: to triple the number of quality public school options in Oklahoma City in the next 10 years. In future blog posts, I’ll detail how we hope to help expand existing quality school options, support existing schools that aim to improve and build programs that will support quality schools across the city.
