Oklahoma State Question 744 is a proposed constitutional amendment that, if passed, will require the Oklahoma State legislature to increase funding for public education.
If the measure passes, it will require the Oklahoma state budget to fund public education to, at minimum, the per-student average of six neighboring states — Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado and New Mexico.
Proponents of the measure say it will help correct the lack of funding for education and Oklahoma’s position at 49th in the nation and last in the region in education spending. Opponents claim there is simply not enough money in the state budget or accountability built into the measure to ensure the money is used properly.
“At the levels we’re at right now, it’s clear that we’re sending our kids into the workforce with one arm tied behind their backs,” said Walton Robinson, communications director for Yes on 744.
The measure doesn’t do anything to guarantee this will change, said Jeff Wilson, campaign manager for One Oklahoma Coalition, a group comprised of organizations created to oppose SQ 744.
“We’re not changing the nature of what we do for the better here,” Wilson said. “We’re simply cutting a blank check.”
The measure mandates there must be an increase in education spending the first fiscal year after passage, and the surrounding state average must be met within three years.
The increased spending would amount to approximately $51 million to $57 million the first year and between $850 million and $900 million after three years, Robinson said. Wilson estimates the cost will be at least $850 million and could surpass $1 billion, he said.
“Oklahoma has to have a balanced budget every year,” Wilson said. “If you take roughly a billion dollars out of the state budget and shift it directly into the common education budget, we have to do things. We either have to cut state services or increase taxes.”
Robinson dismisses the proposition of state services being cut as mere fear tactics.
“There are adequate resources to pay for 744,” Robinson said.
Robinson proposes putting an end to special interest tax credits and pork barrel projects to free up the money, citing transferable tax credits the legislature gave to three aerospace companies, that all went bankrupt, as examples of the way the legislature wastes money.
Wilson said he has a problem with the accountability measures built into the proposition. The initiative includes a provision that the Education Oversight Board and the Office of Accountability will publish an annual report on education spending, but Wilson said he doesn’t consider this good enough.
“Accountability occurs on the front [end],” he said. “Having a report that says, ‘Hey, we spent the money in the wrong place’ — that’s not accountability.”
Common education is important to him too, but that doesn’t mean 744 is a good idea, Wilson said.
“It’s not a question of whether or not common education is sufficiently funded; it’s a question of whether or not common education should get the money this way,” he said.
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glawson57 1 year, 7 months ago
This seems to be a moot point to me, didn't the passage of the lotterey fund education? Where is all that money going?