New Oklahoma Laws in Effect as of July 2025

If July feels a little different across Oklahoma, it's not just the heat. This month also comes with a fresh batch of new laws—many focused on schools, teachers, and how state government handles certain touchy topics.

Let’s start with public education.

Lawmakers added another school day to the calendar, bumping it to 181 days. Virtual learning days are now limited to just two a year unless something major happens—like a tornado outbreak or another pandemic-level curveball. Districts also have to adopt policies limiting student cell phone use during the school day.

No word yet on how many students are expected to comply.

On the curriculum side, high schoolers will need to pass a financial literacy course to graduate. And teachers with certain certifications now qualify for annual bonuses—ranging from $3,000 to $10,000—funded through the state lottery. The Oklahoma Promise scholarship has been expanded too. It now includes children of long-serving public school teachers if income requirements are met.

The real hot topic everyone is talking about is the ban on state colleges and universities using public funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Institutions must now certify every year that they’re in compliance.

For families, a new law grants six weeks of paid maternity leave to full-time higher-ed staff. There’s also a new statewide effort to educate students about the risks of human trafficking. And in a long-overdue fix, Oklahoma will now compensate wrongfully imprisoned individuals based on how many years they actually served—not a flat rate.

Fort Sill’s own National Guard got some love too. A new tuition assistance program helps members attending CareerTech programs as long as they meet the GPA and service requirements.

Altogether, it’s a stack of changes aimed at modernizing systems and tightening oversight. Whether they’ll work as intended is another story—but for now, they’re the law of the land.