By M. Scott Carter
The Journal Record
Posted: 10:26 PM Tuesday, July 20, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY – While they acknowledge Oklahoma’s education funding has not kept pace with the rest of the nation, officials with a Tulsa-based think tank said this week that State Question 744 was the “wrong solution” to the state’s education funding problem.
Known originally as the Hope Petition, SQ 744 would set the Oklahoma education budget to a funding level equal to those in six neighboring states.
But the proposal has drawn opposition from several groups, including agricultural organizations and two state think tanks – the Oklahoma Council for Public Affairs and now, the Oklahoma Policy Institute.
“We know that education funding in Oklahoma has failed to keep pace,” said David Blatt, director of the OPI. “However, the challenges faced by common education in Oklahoma are shared across the broad spectrum of state government. By mandating huge spending increases for common education without an overall expansion of state revenues, SQ 744 creates the strong likelihood of setting the state further behind in all our other critical areas of public investment, including higher education, health care, human services and public safety. This outcome would harm all Oklahomans, including our schoolchildren and teachers.” FULL ARTICLE
Posted on
Tue, July 20, 2010
by Crystal Drwenski