The Journal Record

High court gets effort to derail education initiative petition

09/18/06

by Bill Pitts

Another initiative petition is being tested in the Oklahoma Supreme Court. This one would require 65 percent of taxpayer-supported educational funding to be spent on classroom instruction.

The court recently rejected State Question 726, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights petition, on grounds signatures were fraudulently obtained.

State Question 731 is being challenged by the Oklahoma State School Boards Association and administrators who claim it violates a section of the Oklahoma Constitution prohibiting state questions from embracing more than one subject.

Educators constantly demand more money for education, but their opposition to this question reveals they are not interested in wiser prioritizing of their funds toward real education activities.

Give us more money, but don’t tell us how to spend it is their theme.

State Rep. Odilia Dank, R-Oklahoma City, and Linda Hollman, for the Washington-based First Class Education, filed the petition. Honorary chairman of the campaign was Tulsa business man Bob Sullivan, who raised most of the money including a $50,000 personal contribution.

The petition is not a constitutional amendment but only a change in the statutes adding a new section to Title 70, section 18-126. If adopted, it could be repealed by the Legislature.

It necessitates that 65 percent of the “operational expenditures of a school district be spent on classroom instruction.”

That makes sense. The more money spent on instruction the more likely there will be better education results for the taxpayers’ dollars.

Currently only about 58 percent of the tax dollar are going to classroom activities. The balance goes toward covering administrative and other non-education costs.

What is included in “classroom instruction” under the proposed statute is sufficiently broad as not to limit justifiable educational activities.

It covers “expenditures directly related to the classroom: instructional staff and materials, activities involving interaction between students and teachers or other classroom personnel, special education instruction, tutors, books, classroom computers, general instruction supplies, instructional aides, libraries and librarians, class activities such as field trips, athletics, arts, music and multidisciplinary learning and extra-curricular activities including drama, sports and band.”

Opponents claim the proposal will hurt school districts with high transportation costs. But the legislation allows the state superintendent of schools to waive the 65-percent requirement under certain circumstances, including but not limited to costs of transportation services.

They claim it takes away local control of education. It may to a certain extent but only to insure the primary purpose of all school funds is for education. It sets parameters for spending taxpayer dollars to increase the quality of education and prevent wasting both local and state tax dollars.

It is not surprising a large number of voters favor the issue. Petitioners were able to garner 170,000 signatures on the petition, far more than the 108,000 needed to put it on the ballot.

A new statewide opinion poll revealed last week 93 percent agree getting more of the education dollars into the classroom is important to improving education in Oklahoma.

The research report was originated by Bill Shapard of Sooner Poll. It was commissioned by First Class Education of Oklahoma.

More than three-fourths of all respondents indicated some degree of support for SQ 731 with more than half stating they definitely would support it. Only 7.8 percent of those polled said they would oppose it.

The support is bipartisan, with Republicans, Democrats and Independents about equally behind the ballot initiative. Backing was strong among all age groups, ethnic classifications and income levels.

The main issue of the court challenge is that the proposal relates to more than one subject. But its text is short and deals only with how to fund education. Hundreds of pieces of legislation are passed each legislative session with greater diversity of matter than this measure.

Opponents’ efforts appear to be a desperate attempt to delay and obstruct what is a popular issue among voters who want more of their tax dollars going directly to education in the classroom rather than to bloated administrative costs.

William O. Pitts, the former president and chief executive of Oklahoma Business News, was the president and chief lobbyist for the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association’s Oklahoma Division. You may reach him by phone at (405) 278-2880 or by e-mail, bill.pitts@journalrecord.com.

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