Hope For HOPE

All Oklahomans, including political, corporate and education leaders, should get behind an initiative petition drive that could increase Oklahoma school funding to the regional statewide average.

The HOPE ballot initiative, which was recently approved by members of the Oklahoma Education Association, is seeking to place a constitutional amendment about school funding before Oklahoma voters through an initiative petition drive. The proposed amendment, if it makes it on the ballot, would simply require the state to fund education at least at the regional average on a per student basis. HOPE stands for “Helping Oklahoma Public Education.”

Petition circulators should begin collecting signatures in August.

“Missouri, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado and New Mexico have an average investment of $8,300 per pupil, while Oklahoma provides funding of $6,900 per-pupil,” according to a recent OEA press release posted on its Web site. “The initiative petition would increase the amount of annual funding for public education by approximately $850 million which would allow for enhanced educational services for all students in Oklahoma public schools.” (Here is an excellent article by Doug Folks about the initiative. The article is on page 4 of the pdf file.)

Oklahoma is ranked 48th in the nation in per student funding. Oklahoma teacher salaries also consistently rank in the bottom nationally.

“We owe it to our children to provide them with an educational opportunity that is at least average compared to the rest of the states in our region,” said OEA President Roy Bishop. “We offer our support to the petition and call on all Oklahomans to fight for a better future for our children and for our state as a whole.”

Bishop’s comments are basic common sense, but the ballot initiative is sure to draw opposition from some politicians and the corporate media, especially The Oklahoman.

The constitutional amendment is needed in Oklahoma because of the state’s poor historical record in providing adequate funding for education. In addition, recent tax cuts—spurred on by neoconservative ideology—have brought the state’s budget to a standstill. (The state’s wealthiest taxpayers benefited the most from these tax cuts.)

Extremely low educational funding and a declining tax base are not good for the state’s quality of life and hamper economic development. These issues affect people in all income groups.