In 1999 the Legislature passed HB 1759, a comprehensive education reform bill. Reforms include:

• requiring all high school graduates to complete the ACT-recommended core curriculum by the 2003-04 school year;
  
  
• creating a diploma of honor for students who complete the ACT curriculum plus additional hours in technology with a minimum 3.0 GPA;
  
  
• charter school legislation that enables specific school or vo-tech districts to establish charter schools; and
  
  
• $1 million in Rainy Day funds was appropriated to the Charter Schools Incentive Fund.

HB 1759 also includes several provisions that become effective once Oklahoma reaches 90% of the regional average per-pupil expenditure:

• creates of the Oklahoma Tuition Scholarship Act. The scholarship would pay for the tuition of all students with a family income of $70,000 or less who complete the ACT core curriculum and score a 22 or above on the ACT;
  
  
• mandates that all school districts offer full-day kindergarten classes. Parents are provided the option of either half- or full-day classes; and
  
  
• develops of the Academic Performance Index that would be used to establish goals and benchmarks for schools and school districts. Schools or districts that showed improvement would receive incentive rewards.