By Steve Biehn, Staff Writer
The Ardmoreite
Posted Oct 10, 2010 @ 08:00 AM
Ardmore — Because voters in the upcoming general election will be facing a lengthy ballot that includes 11 state questions, those who learn about the issues before entering the polls on Nov. 2 will be better informed than most of their peers.
Former state election board secretary Lee Slater said voters who wait until they are in the voting booth to try to read the 11 state questions will not have time to understand each one.
State Question 744
Because of its potential impact on the state budget, State Question 744 has drawn a great deal of opposition over the past few months. However, supporters of the ballot measure say it is needed because Oklahoma schools are severely underfunded in comparison to those in neighboring states.
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.
The only question on the ballot that resulted from a signature drive, the proposed constitutional amendment would require Oklahoma to meet the regional average of per-student spending in surrounding states within three years. Estimates of how much the proposal would cost Oklahoma during the next three years range from about $900 million to $1.7 billion... FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Sun, October 10, 2010
by Crystal Drwenski