Small: On teacher pay, perception and reality often clash

On teacher pay, perception and reality often clash

By Jonathan Small

In a press release issued earlier this year, House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson of Oklahoma City declared that Oklahoma ranks “last in the region for teacher pay.”

That claim may align with longstanding stereotype, but not with reality. By any measure, Oklahoma teacher pay is not the last in the region nor anywhere near the bottom. And nationally, our average teacher pay is in the middle-tier of states.

It’s not “right wing” entities making that claim, but data from liberal entities including the National Education Association (NEA), a teachers’ union, and the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA), a lobbying entity employed by public schools.

Small on education funding increase: Will it produce results?

Will funding produce results?

By Jonathan Small

Public-school advocates have long suggested that if Oklahoma schools had more money, then student outcomes would increase as well. That theory is being put to the test.

When they announced this year’s education-funding plan, policymakers noted that state school appropriations rose by $1.35 billion from 1993 to 2018. In contrast, under this year’s agreement, state school appropriations will have increased by $1.37 billion from 2019 to 2024.

In other words, state school spending will have increased more in the last five years than in the 25 years prior to 2019. Will we see a commensurate increase in academic performance?

Small: School-board election reform will empower parents

School-board election reform will empower parents

By Jonathan Small

Recently, the Stillwater Board of Education announced it will not change course on its policy of allowing boys to use the girls’ bathrooms unless given “no choice” by state officials.

They took that stance despite countless requests to change course from Stillwater parents and the fact that the rare non-gender-conforming student can easily use a single-stall bathroom at the school. The Stillwater board stuck with recommendations from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister’s agency and ignored both parent wishes and actual legal requirements.

For parents who wonder why local school boards—not just in Oklahoma, but nationwide—seem increasingly indifferent to the needs of student families, one answer can be found in the fact that most school-board elections are in the spring, which results in very low turnout.

Senate passes bill to help fill teacher shortage

Measure to help fill teacher void heads to House

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Senate gave approval Wednesday to legislation to allow schools to utilize highly-qualified professionals in their classrooms as long as needed. Sen. Jessica Garvin, R-Duncan, authored Senate Bill 1119 to remove the 270-hour cap for adjunct teachers per semester as the state continues to struggle with the teacher shortage.

According to the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA), the number of adjunct teachers in Oklahoma schools has increased annually from around 175 during the 2015-2016 school year to more than 400 last school year. The State Board of Education has also approved more than 3,800 emergency certifications so far this school year, pointing to districts’ ongoing need for classroom teachers.

“Until we no longer have a need for emergency certified or adjunct teachers, we must remove any barriers keeping districts from being able to have these highly qualified individuals in the classroom,” Garvin said. “Not only are these professionals helping fill a teaching void, but they’re also helping expose students to their professions, industries and perspective career fields, which is so important as students make decisions about their futures.”

Adjunct teachers are professionals with distinguished qualifications in their field, such as scientists or accountants. Because of their professional background, they do not have to meet the standard certification requirements but can be authorized by the local school board to teach a subject related to their field of expertise.

Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay, is the principal House author of the measure that now moves across the rotunda for further consideration.       

LT. GOVERNOR PINNELL APPLAUDS SENATE PASSAGE OF BILL TO HELP FILL TEACHER VOID 

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell commends the Oklahoma Senate for passing Senate Bill 1119, authored by Senator Jessica Garvin.  The bill removes the 270-hour cap per semester for adjunct teachers in order to help combat Oklahoma’s teacher shortage.

“In a time where many Oklahoma school districts are struggling to fill teaching positions, we need to explore different avenues to get great instructors in the classroom,” said Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell. “Oklahoma has many professionals who are highly qualified to teach courses within their fields. We should not be limiting them with arbitrary caps when they are ready and willing to provide quality education to Oklahoma students.”

National School Boards Association compared parents to terrorists; 17 states have left, but not Oklahoma

AS OTHERS EXIT, OSSBA MAINTAINS NSBA TIES

by Ray Carter, Director, Center for Independent Journalism

A majority of state school boards associations have publicly distanced themselves from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) after the national group compared parents to terrorists, and 17 state associations have withdrawn from the NSBA.

But the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA) is not among them, and the organization continues its policy of public silence regarding the controversy even as state lawmakers may be poised to require parental approval for schools funds to go, directly or indirectly, to the NSBA.

In a public letter issued to the Biden administration on Sept. 29, NSBA officials declared that opponents of Critical Race Theory and mask mandates represented “an immediate threat” that included “threats of violence and acts of intimidation,” and said “the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”

“NSBA believes immediate assistance is required to protect our students, school board members, and educators who are susceptible to acts of violence affecting interstate commerce because of threats to their districts, families, and personal safety,” the letter stated. “As our school boards continue coronavirus recovery operations within their respective districts, they are also persevering against other challenges that could impede this progress in a number of communities. Coupled with attacks against school board members and educators for approving policies for masks to protect the health and safety of students and school employees, many public school officials are also facing physical threats because of propaganda purporting the false inclusion of critical race theory within classroom instruction and curricula.”

The NSBA letter specifically cited only a handful of examples of alleged extremism nationwide. Most fell far short of terrorism and often amounted to little more than verbal disruption.

The NSBA letter said such incidents justified investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service and its National Threat Assessment Center.

Shortly thereafter, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum announcing that he was ordering the FBI to meet with state and local officials to develop “strategies for addressing threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.”

The fallout from the incident has been nationwide as numerous state school boards associations have fled from any association with the NSBA.

Parents Defending Education has maintained a list of state school boards associations that have denounced the NSBA’s actions. That list has grown to include 27 states that have distanced themselves from the NSBA’s letter: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Seventeen state associations have further demonstrated their displeasure by withdrawing from the NSBA. That group includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Stearman files bill to stem outside influences on Oklahoma schools

Stearman Files Bill to Stem Outside Influences on Oklahoma Schools

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Wendi Stearman, R-Collinsville, has filed House Bill 2980, the "Keep Our Money in Oklahoma Act," which aims to protect the parents, children and taxpayers of Oklahoma's public school system from outside influences that do not reflect the Oklahoma Standard.

In September, the National School Board Association (NSBA), of which the Oklahoma State School Board Association (OSSBA) is a member, sent a letter to President Joe Biden requesting federal assistance at local school board meetings. In this letter, the NSBA declared concerned parents and taxpayers as "domestic terrorists." Therefore, under HB2980, schools within the Oklahoma public school system would not be able to use state appropriated funds to pay any membership dues to any organization that is owned or operated outside of Oklahoma. Further, they would not be allowed to use any taxpayer money to pay dues or membership to any organization that is a member of a national organization without the voters' approval.

"Oklahoma taxpayers should not be forced to fund organizations that seek to silence parents," Stearman said. "A transparent system in which families  determine where their tax money is spent will benefit both the children and their education."  

HB2980 would further require that school districts publish the criteria, finances and reports of an entity in which the district holds membership.

OCPA column: Teacher shortage tied to incentives

Teacher shortage tied to incentives

By Jonathan Small

If people are paid for tenure—length of service—rather than quality, what do you think is most likely? Will that system attract quality workers, or workers willing to simply hold down a spot?

The answer is obvious. That system incentives tenure over quality.

But in practice, policymakers are continually surprised a tenure-based pay system doesn’t attract the best and brightest, only those willing to fill a slot and bide their time. Thus, policymakers are “shocked” that Oklahoma still has a teacher shortage just three years after passing major, across-the-board pay raises.

In 2018, lawmakers raised taxes and bumped teacher pay significantly. An Oklahoma State School Boards Association official recently noted teacher salaries have now been increased by almost $10,000 apiece and state school appropriations are up by $750 million. But the teacher shortage persists, as indicated by the number of emergency-certified teachers.

OCPA: Testing results show need to fund students, not systems

Testing results show need to fund students, not systems

By Jonathan Small

There’s an old Simpsons episode where Bart’s teacher hands out state testing forms and informs her students, “Remember, class, the worse you do on this standardized test the more funding the school gets, so don’t knock yourselves out.”

The reason that joke had teeth was because it was based in reality, as the downward trajectory of academic achievement in Oklahoma public schools demonstrates. When you fund systems instead of students, the benefit never goes to the students.

State tests, administered last spring for the first time in Oklahoma since 2019, showed that academic achievement plunged during the COVID shutdowns that went statewide in spring 2020 and continued in many districts the following school year.

Previously, only about one-third of students performed at grade level in key subjects. Today, things are even worse.

Former Gov. Keating and OCPA react to false statements by OSSBA, CCOSA, and others

Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating and OCPA react to false statements by OSSBA, CCOSA, and others

 After the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA), the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA), and others falsely claimed that the Equal Opportunity Scholarship program is a voucher, former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) Chairman Larry Parman, and OCPA President Jonathan Small released the following statements:

Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating:

“I was shocked and saddened to read the false statements by OSSBA, CCOSA, and others claiming the Equal Opportunity Scholarship program is a voucher. A voucher provides government funding for a student to go to a school of their choice. The scholarships provided through the Equal Opportunity Scholarship program are privately funded. These groups have a right to oppose the scholarship program—which actually helps Oklahoma’s rural public schools and most vulnerable students—but their statements and lobbying in opposition should steer clear of an impossibility of truth.”

 OCPA Chairman Larry Parman:

“OSSBA, CCOSA, and others seek to deny families the opportunity for a better education for their children by claiming—without evidence—that the Equal Opportunity Scholarship program is a voucher program that robs public schools of state funding. That is no surprise considering both serve as lobbyists for public school boards and public-school administrators. In fact, the scholarship does not use any state funds. Instead, it encourages private citizens to provide a scholarship that helps families trapped in a poorly performing or unsuitable school. In the face of low test scores and no evidence of ability to remedy the situation, we should unlock educational options by expanding the Equal Opportunity Scholarship program and let parents decide what is best for their children.”

OCPA President Jonathan Small:

“The false statements regarding the Equal Opportunity Scholarship program by OSSBA, CCOSA, and others are stunning. If these groups want to criticize voucher programs—Medicaid, child care assistance through the Department of Human Services, the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship program, or Oklahoma’s Promise, for example—they are well within their rights to do so. But they ought not falsely claim that something is a voucher when it is not.

“The Equal Opportunity Scholarship program, according to statutorily imposed limitations, provides a non-refundable credit against state taxes owed by individuals or corporations who make donations to scholarship or granting organizations. These organizations provide scholarships from private funds to assist students in obtaining an alternative education that better meets their needs or to cover innovative programs in public schools.

“It’s sad that these groups and others desperately resort to fabrications in order to try to block raising the cap on this program. Oklahoma’s Equal Opportunity Scholarship program is similar to programs in 17 other states, its structure has been found constitutional, and it has been found by an independent study to generate $2.91 in government savings for every $1 in tax-credit value.”

Oklahoman Editorial Board: Textbook complaints indict local school boards

Textbook complaints indict local OK school boards

by The Oklahoman Editorial Board

AT this week's teacher protests, many participants demanded that lawmakers attach more strings to state school funding. Teachers didn't use those exact words, of course, but the underlying message was the same, and it's an implicit indictment of local school boards' management.

Many teachers complained that their classes have outdated or worn-out textbooks. One teacher said, “I don't have one textbook in my classroom.” Some protesters held aloft battered copies of textbooks as visual props.

It's true Oklahoma lawmakers haven't provided a line-item appropriation for textbooks for several years. The reason for that change is worth noting. Fortunately, legislative leaders explicitly addressed the issue in 2016.

That year, former House Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview, and Senate Appropriations & Budget Committee Chairman Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, issued a release on elimination of a line-item appropriation for textbooks.

“The Legislature put $33 million previously line-itemed for textbooks into the state-aid funding formula so schools can make spending decisions at the local level based on their own unique needs,” Hickman said. “Education leaders, including Superintendent (Joy) Hofmeister, made it clear to us this session that schools wanted more money directed through the funding formula so schools will have more discretion and flexibility. The funds didn't go away. Schools are still receiving the money that would have been line-itemed for textbooks, but now they have greater discretion to use those dollars for more pressing needs at the local level or to buy new textbooks.”

Jolley noted that schools "have been crying out for more money to be placed in the formula for several years in a row. When I asked the leadership of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association if it would be more important for these funds to be in textbooks or the formula, I was told the formula gave the greatest flexibility to districts.”

In short, state textbook funding has not been eliminated. Instead, local schools have been given the chance to use that money elsewhere if desired. With a line-item appropriation, schools could spend the money only on textbooks.

So it's worth asking: If schools haven't used any of that money on textbooks since then, what did districts do with those millions? Based on the teachers' protests, the cash apparently didn't go to teacher pay. And if this is a problem, why aren't teacher union members protesting local school boards that diverted textbook funds to other uses?

On a similar note, the Senate has advanced a measure, Senate Joint Resolution 70, that would allow voters to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to give schools the flexibility to use local property tax for some operational costs, such as teacher pay. Currently, that money can be used only for buildings. Yet education groups opposed SJR 70.

If a good teacher is the most important expenditure in a school's budget, then why should the state make it illegal for schools to direct available money to teacher pay? The textbook issue suggests an answer.

Teachers often decry state “micromanagement.” Yet when it comes to textbook funds and use of schools' property taxes, it seems many educators have more faith in state-level dictates than in the financial oversight of their local school boards.

OSSBA: now with new funding, communities need children to return to class

STATEMENT FROM OSSBA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SHAWN HIME ON PASSAGE OF REVENUE BILLS

Today, the Senate’s passage of more revenue puts schools in their strongest financial position in more than a decade. The revenue bills approved the last two weeks generate half a billion dollars in new funding for schools.

Legislators clearly heard the voices of Oklahoma’s teachers, parents and education advocates who said that continued investment in children, teachers and their schools is critical. The phenomenal advocacy of Oklahoma’s teachers has created momentum to ensure that ongoing investment in education is the new normal and that those who want to represent Oklahomans at the state Capitol must support a long-term funding plan for competitive teacher pay and well-resourced classrooms. From every corner of the state, Oklahomans joined with teachers in demanding better for our children, and I’m grateful.

My hope now is local communities will begin a serious conversation about the need for children to return to class so they can finish the school year strong and ensure education employees can continue to be paid.


The Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA) posted this graphic the other day, detailing the increase in education spending that the Legislature has already approved and Governor Fallin has signed: