Giving Out Some Praise

    Normally several of us in the education community are pretty tough on our Representatives and our Senators here in Oklahoma.  We have not felt good about the path they have been leading us down. We have been blindly following the ALEC, Jeb Bush, FEE, and Rhee plan. Despite the lack of major success Florida has had we have copied many of their "reforms". We have instituted a faulty and invalid A-F. We have decided to punish 3rd graders for not passing a language arts test. We adopted Common Core before the standards were written and didn't give the people of this state a chance to comment or give input on the adoption of the standards. We have been caught up this crazy test, test, and more test hyperbole that has been going on for over 12 years. All this while taking the largest cuts to common education in the nation. Over $200 million worth of cuts. But alas, maybe some new light is starting to emerge.

   This legislative season has provided a glimmer of hope. Though we are still early in the process a number of common sense bills have made some headway with little opposition. HB 2642 would add $57.5 million dollars to the funding formula for schools over a ten year period. The funding formula is in serious need of some new money. This fund pays for everyday expenses which we have seen rise despite being behind 2009 dollars with more kids to teach. HB 2625 takes the 3rd Grade retention law and restores decisions to the local level where they belong and are not decided on one language arts bill. It keeps in place the extensive reading help that children need to read at an appropriate level. HB 2500 continues the ease of some accreditation standards that schools desperately need until funding is restored. HB 2492 makes it where cut scores can not be adjusted in the same year. Last year we saw adjustments made after kids took their tests. Once those cut score changes are made they will go into effect in the next school year. That is common sense, but some of that is lacking in certain positions within the state. Last night the House of Representatives passed HB 3399. This bill puts a delay on Common Core. It has a tough road to go, but it is at least a step.

  Obviously none of these bills are law yet, but as I stated it is a positive sign. Hopefully some common sense approaches and some financial support to common education are on their way. It sure would be a good sign for this state and its children. I would even say its future!!

My Big Problem With Educational Savings Accounts

   This past week the Oklahoma Education Community rallied together to defeat  House Bill 3398 sponsored by Rep. Jason Nelson. This bill reduced to basics would have allowed children who met the qualifications of free and reduced lunches to have money deposited into an account for them to attend a number of schools or institutions that are not public. The amount of money would depend on a couple different factors. This bill is a voucher bill. There is no question about that fact. This bill sends public money to private institutions claiming the money follows the kid, voucher. I don't believe the bill sponsor would deny this is a voucher bill, and that is my big problem.
   This bill was defeated for a number of reasons. Private schools don't in and of themselves cure the ills of poverty. People who pay taxes and don't use other services aren't allowed to take that money with them to a private organization. Another may be people just believe it's unconstitutional to send public funds in any way to private institutions. There were other reasons each of them valid in their own right.
   So back to my big problem with the Educational Savings Accounts. What bothers me most is the word Educational Savings Accounts. The word was used as a cover for the word vouchers. Why was this done? Because the word voucher in a bill means its DOA, Dead On Arrival. I believe Rep. Jason Nelson knows this as well. I believe that Rep. Jason Nelson thinks that school choice is the best for education. That is fine with me, I have absolutely know problem with a person having a firm belief in an idea. What I have a problem with is our Representative Officials putting their beliefs above the will of the people of this state. I don't limit that to Rep, Nelson either. If an official knows that the majority of people don't support vouchers then there shouldn't be a voucher bill. If you have to try to give it a cute sounding name to slide it by a committee or people then it shouldn't even be considered. If that person believes in school choice, then they need to go out and convince the majority of people why its better.
   This plays back to my belief that representatives on both the state and national level have gone away from representing a certain set of people to believing they know better. It is a disturbing trend. One which is another problem of mine.