A proposed Oklahoma ballot measure to increase education funding would tie lawmakers' hands during fiscal emergencies and decimate funding for other state services, economists from the state's top two public universities said Tuesday.
NewsOK
By The Associated Press
Published: September 7, 2010
A proposed Oklahoma ballot measure to increase education funding would tie lawmakers' hands during fiscal emergencies and decimate funding for other state services, economists from the state's top two public universities said Tuesday.
The two professors joined fiscal analysts from a pair of Oklahoma think tanks during a press conference at the Capitol to oppose State Question 744, one of 11 questions on the November ballot. If approved, it would amend the state's constitution to require Oklahoma to meet surrounding states' average per-student spending within three years.
Oklahoma ranked 49th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in per-pupil expenditures in 2008, according to a recent report by the National Center for Education Statistics. Only Utah and Idaho ranked lower.
Retired Oklahoma State University economics professor Larkin Warner said he's a strong supporter of public education, but decried the "unintended consequences" the initiative would impose on other state services by forcing lawmakers to divert state revenue to education... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Tue, September 7, 2010
by Crystal Drwenski