State Revenue Failure

   Gary Jones, Vernon Florence, and several other budgeting experts had it pegged long before yesterday - the first revenue failure of the year, and its only February.. It has resulted in another $11.1 million in cuts to common education and a $39.2 million shortfall in the 1017 fund. We (Blanchard Schools) have already incurred two cuts because of the lack of cash on hand at the SDE, including a $30,000 reduction in our January State Aid payment and a $57,000 reduction from our February state aid payment. If the SDE figures are correct, Blanchard Public Schools could lose another $127,625 by the end of the year. The Daily Oklahoman as well as several other media outlets call this latest round of agency cuts "another surprise spending cut". The only surprise, however, is for our do-nothing senators and representatives at the State Capitol, who continue to "fiddle, while Rome burns". They (senators and representatives) may be smarter than we give them credit - as the "choking of our public schools" may be in their master plan. These corporate conservatives or "corporatists" continue to support voucher bills, such as Senate Bill 560, which will drain more student funding from our public schools - and school consolidation bills, such as Senate Bill 514, which consolidates schools with less than 500 students (all the while adding 33 corporate charter schools to burden the state). They might as well call their corporate bills the right to educate, as the supporters of the corporate farm bill (State Question 777) called their's the right to farm. By funneling more public money to corporate (charter schools managed by out-of-state corporations, such as the one in Seminole) and private schools, which SB 560 does - our rural public schools may be choked into extinction.
   The rural corporate senators and representatives, whose constituents are the rural citizens and rural public schools, say that they only want to support our urban schools - as an excuse for supporting SB 560. The same rural corporate senators and representatives say they only want to provide a better education for those students who attend small rural schools - as an excuse for supporting consolidation (Senate Bill 514). These corporate lawmakers also say that by consolidating these small rural schools, $ millions will be saved, although state after state has proven that consolidation of administrative services does not save one thin dime (see Arkansas).
   Their "master plan" may be succeeding, as more and more public school teachers are leaving Oklahoma, and more public schools will almost certainly "go under" as a result of this last state revenue failure.
 
(In order to identify rural corporate senators and representatives - it's really very simple: check out any suspected lawmaker's donation list, located on the Oklahoma Ethics Commission website. If several of their donations come from out-of-state corporations or they are supported by out-of-state non-profits such as the American Federation for Children (vouchers) - you can "bet the farm" that a rural senator or representative supports out-of state billionaires,and not his constituents.)

Update: As of February 23, 2017, the announced  revenue failure for Oklahoma state agencies will result in a $127,675 reduction for Blanchard Public Schools allocation. This figure represents the approximate salaries of 3.5 teachers. Our school boards must determine how to re-budget for the 2.8% cut in appropriations. To all the state legislators responsible for this debacle - Thanks a lot..