School Board Recognition Month

   Tom Brokaw, anchor and managing editor of the NBC Nightly News from 1982-2004 authored The Greatest Generation, a book which described those who grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II. In the book, Brokaw wrote, "it is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced." He wrote that these men and women fought not for fame, recognition, or wealth, but because it was the "right thing to do." Tom Brokaw also wrote, "There is a place in America to take a stand: it is public education. It is the underpinning of our cultural and political system. It is the great common ground. Public education after all is the engine that moves us as a society toward a common destiny... It is in public education that the American Dream begins to take shape."
   While there are not many local school board members who are also members of "the greatest generation", there are many children and grandchildren of those heroes, who serve our local public schools. They are the descendants of The Greatest Generation.
   It is only fitting that in salute and gratitude to the more than 2,700 Oklahoma School Board members, January 2017 is designated as School Board Recognition Month by the Oklahoma State School Board Association. Our school board members serve not for fame, wealth, or recognition, but because it's the right thing to do. They believe that providing our communities' children with a solid public education is the right thing to do. They work hundreds of hours each year for our students, parents, and teachers, at no charge. They typically receive very little thanks, but much criticism for doing one of the most difficult jobs in our communities - ensuring a top-notch education for all our kids.
   Most Oklahoma citizens have read or heard about how underappreciated and underpaid our teachers are in Oklahoma. Their salaries lag teachers in most states and they are fleeing Oklahoma in record numbers because of the disrespect doled out by our state legislators. Disrespect in the form of low salaries and the attitude of "don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out", is common among our state lawmakers.
   While Oklahoma teachers are ridiculed and made to feel worthless by our own state government, our local school boards have been providing salary increases to teachers for several years now - with little thanks from the general public. Perhaps it's because Oklahoma citizens and public school supporters simply do not know about this board support provided to teachers, that so little gratitude has been provided - so I'll give you an example.
   Since 2008, Oklahoma's cuts to general education funding leads the nation at -26.9%. This figure not only leads the nation in school funding cuts, but is nearly double the percentage of cuts made by Alabama (-14.2%), the second worst state for education funding reductions. I guess this fact makes Oklahoma the absolute worst state in the nation for funding our public schools. The 26.9% figure breaks the record that Oklahoma set in 2015 (24.2%), which broke the previous 2014 record (23.6%). It will most likely be listed in the Guinness Book as the world record least likely to be broken (by any state other than Oklahoma). As a matter of fact, Education News provided a letter grade of an "Enhanced F", scoring Oklahoma legislators 43.4% for state spending on our public schools. This legislative "appreciation" for our public schools, teachers, and local school board members, should be noted by our citizens. For Blanchard Public Schools, this 26.9% reduction results in $1093 per student (inflation adjusted). As recently as January 6, 2017, school districts across Oklahoma were notified of a .53% reduction in state aid, beginning with the January payment. If this revenue failure continues, Blanchard Public Schools will be cut $30,081 by the end of the year! With today's 2005 students and without the legislative reductions, the Blanchard Board of Education would have $2,191,465 more (in 2008 dollars) to provide salaries to 48 more teachers, or $18,262 in raises to each teacher. This could have been done by our legislature, without raising taxes.
   Those Oklahoma senators and representatives who prefer private and corporate charter schools for our public tax dollars, say that administrative costs are too high, and the reason for the cuts and low state allocations. The fact is that administrative costs in our Oklahoma Public Schools hover around 5% of expenditures, and Blanchard Public Schools' administrative costs have ranged from between 1.9% and 3% over the past several years.One state senator who prefers sending public tax dollars to private and out-of-state corporate charter schools is Senator Kyle Loveless. He has lied about civil forfeiture bills, so there is no reason he wouldn't lie about our public schools. A View from the Edge says it best about Senator Loveless when it comes to his "support" (non-support) of our public schools. Unfortunately for our public schools, there are also a lot more of "Senator Loveless" out there in our Oklahoma Legislature, as reported by the corporate charter school and voucher organization American Federation of Children.
   One might tend to believe that teacher salaries have been reduced over the years, in order to compensate for Oklahoma legislative shortcomings. In many school districts, however, just the opposite has happened. For example, Blanchard School Board members have provided $1,400,263 in pay raises (stipends) to Blanchard Public Schools staff since 2008. This amounts to $7369.80 in pay raises to every staff member in Blanchard Public Schools since 2008. I know, it sounds impossible if not improbable, but the fact speaks for itself. One must remember that most local board members are children and grandchildren of "The Greatest Generation" in the words of Tom Brokaw. Local board members can perform what many believe are miracles, and should be thanked by Oklahoma legislators, public school students, parents, and teachers.