In the headlong rush by corporate lawmakers to incorporate (consolidate) our rural Oklahoma public schools, many urban Oklahoma Legislators are resorting to rhetoric, half-lies, white lies, innuendos, false implications, and BIG lies to fool the public.
Senator Stephanie Bice, C-Oklahoma City ("C" for Corporate is the party Bice is affiliated with, not R, D, or L), has filed a bill that would incorporate the administrative services of school districts with fewer than 200 students. In a Daily Oklahoman article on October 2, Bice is quoted as saying "There is a lot of talk, especially in my district, that Oklahoma has too many school districts and too many superintendents". Of course, there is a lot of talk about school consolidation in Bice's Senate District 22. A quick look at Senate District 22 reveals the answer as to why constituents in her district want or don't care if small rural schools are consolidated. There are seven large public schools in or near Senator Bice's district, of which none would face consolidation under SB 9x (the Bice Bill). There are nine corporate charter schools, some of which have less than 200 students, in or near the Bice District (BD) and none would be consolidated. Corporate charter schools are exempted from consolidation efforts. There are twelve private schools in or near the BD, and guess what... private schools are exempted from all consolidation bills. A few of the private schools have less than 200 students and have even acquired state aid, but are still exempt. Many public school supporters believe these facts are the reason Bice has authored SB 9x.
Bice made another questionable assertion in the DOK article - "From a practical standpoint, it doesn't make sense that Yukon (public schools) can have one superintendent for 9,000 students and another county can have 16 different superintendents for fewer students." For most public school supporters, it doesn't make sense that Bice would comment on a subject that she knows nothing about.
In 2010, the Office of Accountabilty conducted a Capacity for Efficiency Study at the request of Governor Fallin which analyzed a (county school administration) consolidation model for public school districts in Oklahoma. The question was "Can public school districts in Oklahoma be more fiscally efficient if all schools in any particular county are administratively consolidated to only one county school district with one superintendent. The methodology utilized by the Office of Accountability was to compare the total administrative expenditures for all public schools in one county to the administrative expenditures for one school district which had a similar number of students. For instance, the total number of students attending all schools in McClain County (my home county) is approximately 8,000, which compared to Yukon Public Schools in BD. When the total administrative expenditures for McClain County schools (8000 students) were compared to Yukon Public Schools (8,000 students), No Capacity for Efficiency was observed when all schools in McClain County were consolidated. The results of the Capacity for Efficiency analysis were astounding, to say the least, and sent a shock wave through those who believed in public school consolidation.
A real example of small school and administrative consolidation may be observed in McClain County also. After the conclusion of the 2014-2015 school year, Byars Public Schools consolidated with Wayne Public Schools. Beginning in 2015-2016, Byars school no longer existed, so an analysis may be provided which shows administrative costs for Wayne and Byars both before and after administrative consolidation. The results of this analysis confounds, shocks, and confuses school consolidation advocates such as our Corporate Legislators:
The total administrative expenditures for Wayne and Byars in 2014-2015 was 5.99% of total expenditures. After consolidation, administrative expenditures were 6.21% of total expenditures (2015-2016), a .22% increase. In addition to losing a Superintendent, Byars also lost a Principal - so, if a Principal's salary is added to the consolidated Wayne/Byars District the Administrative expenditures reached 7.66%. The new administrative expenditures would have increased by $31,913 from '14-'15 to '15 -'16.
If one is a public school supporter who doesn't live in a district with 200 students or fewer, and doesn't believe "school consolidation" will affect his/her district - think again... House Bill 1065x requires the State Superintendent to provide a list of all Oklahoma public schools with 1000 students or less to the State Board of Education (SBE), of which several members are Corporatists (C), to force consolidation. In my House District 42 (Garvin and McClain Counties), there are 7 schools with 1000 students or less - Wynnewood, Paoli, Maysville, Elmore City-Pernell, Whitebead, Dibble, and Wayne. While it is still unknown if HB 1065x will become law, it is reportedly in the Governor's school consolidation budget plan, so has a very good chance. If any public school supporters think that "their" rural representative could never vote for HB 1065x - think again... If the bill comes up for a vote on the House floor, every Corporate (C) Representative, rural or urban, will vote in favor of HB 1065x! If the bill comes to a vote on the Senate floor, every Corporate (C) Senator, urban or rural, will vote in favor of HB 1065x!
So, the question for public school supporters is "How can we determine if an individual Representative or Senator is a public school hater and Corporatist, and not a Republican or Democrat?" It's really very easy -
1) If the Representative or Senator says "We have too many public school districts and superintendents in Oklahoma", then he's probably a Corporatist.
2) If the Representative or Senator has more corporate charter and private schools in his or her District than public schools, then he's probably a Corporatist.
3) If the Representative or Senator has more campaign contributions from out-of-state corporations than from local constituents, then he or she is probably a Corporatist.
4) If the Representative or Senator has authored a school consolidation bill under the guise of saving money, even though evidence suggests otherwise - then he's probably a Corporatist.
5) If the Representative or Senator says "We spend too much money in public schools just for superintendents" then he's probably a Corporatist. (By turning teachers against administrators, schools can be more easily consolidated). "Too much money" is only the (C)'s opinion and one would have to assume that 1% of school expenditures is "too much". The (C) is also betting that the general public does not know the facts about school expenditures.
6) If the Representative or Senator says "I support our local public schools and teacher pay raises", but always votes to the contrary - then he's probably a Corporatist. If the Representative or Senator answers all questions with the same response, then he's probably a Corporatist.
7) The easiest way to determine if your Senator or Representative is a Corporatist is by checking the website votesmart.org... and if his/her donations and support originate from outside Oklahoma - he's probably a Corporatist.
No one knows if school consolidation advocates are Big liars, half-liars, white liars, pants-on-fire liars, false implicaters, innuendo-ers, or just plain spewing rhetoric. One thing is certain though, they will continue to "twist the truth" and falsely implicate public school supporters as "crooks" until they incorporate every small school in Oklahoma.
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