Oklahoma governor sends controversial school funding measure to November ballot

On Thursday, Governor Mary Fallin issued an election proclamation that places on the November ballot a state question approved by legislators that would allow school districts to use property tax revenue, now used primarily for building funds, for operational costs such as teacher pay.

State Question 801 would give local school board the flexibility and options to use existing property tax funds for use in the classroom, such as teacher pay and textbooks, without raising taxes. Like all state questions, it requires a simple majority by voters to be approved.

Lawmakers this year approved Senate Joint Resolution 70, which sends to a vote of the people an amendment to the state constitution that would allow property taxes collected for a school building fund to be used for expenses associated with the general operations of a school district. Currently, a school district can levy up to five mills for a building fund.

Currently the state constitution limits this particular part of property taxes to a building fund, which may be used for building construction, remodeling or repair of school buildings. Expanding it to operations would potentially take that money away from needed maintenance of school buildings.

The proposed amendment was not without controversy, with voting in both houses of the legislature mixed. The senate vote was 28 to 15, with seven of the eight Democrats in the body voting no (one Democrat had an excused absence). The house vote was 57 to 34.

Oklahoma Education Association President Alicia Priest released a statement saying, “Our schools don’t have enough funding, and State Question 801 doesn’t do anything to fix that.”

She added that SQ 801 “merely shifts the burden of funding our schools from the state to our local communities.”

Here is Priest's full statement:

"Our schools don’t have enough funding, and State Question 801 doesn’t do anything to fix that. Schools already use the funding addressed in SQ 801 to pay for capital projects and repairs. By putting this measure on the ballot, Governor Fallin is asking schools to start choosing between paying their teachers and repairing broken buildings.

“While it’s being pitched as a solution, in reality, SQ 801 merely shifts the burden of funding our schools from the state to our local communities. Not all communities have the same wealth, so this measure will increase the funding disparity between our richest and poorest school districts. SQ 801 does nothing to improve our public schools for Oklahoma’s students.”

To be approved the measure must receive a majority of the votes cast on the question.

To view the measure as passed by the legislature, click here.

To view Gov. Fallin’s proclamation, click here.

Copyright The Gayly – August 3, 2018 @ 12:25 p.m. CDT.