I think many people know by now that the state budget fiasco is the perfect storm for destroying our local public schools, state parks, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, our rural hospitals, and many more public services. The question which now should be answered is who or what governmental agency or group is responsible for our budgeting calamity? While it's easy to pin the blame on our senators and representatives who are responsible for maintaining appropriate public services, the answer is probably more complicated.
A recap of where the state is now as far as funding our public education system can partially answer the question. Over the last several years, Oklahoma public schools have had their funding cut more than public schools in any state in the nation (approximately 27%). Lawmakers whose job it is to provide appropriations to state agencies have blamed these draconian cuts on everything from the downturn in the economy (other states have also experienced downturns but state agency funding remained static) to high administrative costs (approximately 3% of all school expenditures is administrative, while 97% is non-administrative) to the sighting of an owl in the daytime (bad luck). Since January schools have received no less than three reductions in state aid, and will probably receive three more cuts before the end of the fiscal year (June 30). For Blanchard Public Schools, we have endured a $146,000 reduction in budgeted revenue so far, and if the trend continues for April, May, and June - we will in all likelihood be reduced by $317,000 by year's end. All schools will have to use their general fund balance, a non-recurring revenue source, to survive. The general fund carryover is an emergency fund only, but this is an emergency. To place this $317,000 budget reduction in perspective, consider the following: If the salary and fringe benefits of the average teacher is $45,000, then a $317,000 state ordered reduction would result in cutting 7 teachers or 16 support employees at $20,000 each. Fortunately, teachers cannot be cut until the end of the school year because they are contracted for the entire year, but support employees can be cut - because they are considered hourly staff. This scenario (cutting support now) will not happen in Blanchard because we will use our general fund carryover to absorb the government ordered reductions... until June 30, 2017. But what about next year?
As many people have probably heard by now, the Oklahoma legislature has dug itself a $900 million hole to fill in next year's budget. In many budgeting experts' opinion, this monstrous revenue snafu was created by our elected legislature because they do not have any expertise (or the sense God gave a goose) in budgeting - the fine art of "adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing", as Jim Crawford, my high school Algebra I teacher would say. Applying simple mathematics to reducing next year's public school budget by $321 million (the public school portion of the budget hole), could result in a maximum 15% reduction in state aid. For Blanchard Public Schools, a 15% reduction in legislator appropriated funding would mean a $900,000 hit. Again, for Blanchard Schools, this reduction in state aid would translate to 20 teachers losing their jobs (reduction in force). This amounts to almost 17% of our total number of teachers.
The responsibility for this budgeting fiasco lands directly at the feet of our lawmakers, but another entity bears at least some responsibilty - the Oklahoma taxpayers and voters. The voters in Oklahoma bear responsibility for sending lawmakers like Ralph Shortey to the capitol. They also share some of the responsibility for sending the "big-spending and mathematically challenged" senators and representatives to the capitol. Just as Ralph Shortey's victim might have a case for suing the state (Oklahoma voters and taxpayers who sent him to the capitol), public services such as safety, education, and health care, might have a case for suing the state for this legislator created budget hole... think about it.
It can't be said that all lawmakers have been oblivious to the fact that the state budget has been headed towards this cliff for several years. As a matter of fact, many lawmakers have been seeking credit for providing more funding for schools - all the while reducing state aid. One example of lawmakers seeking credit for allocating more money for schools is the Oklahoma lottery revenue. The lottery for schools was voted on by Oklahoma citizens in 2003 as a way to provide schools more operational funding. Once the voters passed it, the legislature confiscated the lottery proceeds during what many believe was a "hostile takeover" of school funding. Instead of the lottery money being sent directly to schools as intended by the Oklahoma voters, the lottery money was spent by the legislature to replace state appropriated dollars. The legislature used school lottery proceeds to supplant legislatively appropriated state aid. In the lottery law that voters passed, a clause made it illegal to supplant state aid with lottery money. Many public school funding experts pointed this fact out to the public in 2005, but our legislature knew at the time that most people would not understand this shell game. Our legislature understood full well what they were doing as they broke the law, but did not care. They wanted two things: to control lottery money, so they could spend it elsewhere - and to receive credit for school lottery proceeds, both of which they accomplished.
After 12 years of the legislature receiving credit for sending lottery money to schools, but spending it anywhere but schools, the legislature has finally been caught with their hand in the public school cookie jar. Just last week in March of 2017, they were found guilty of supplanting state aid with lottery money. The legislature has been ordered to pay schools more than $10 million, which they confiscated this year. Just think about how much schools would receive if the legislature were forced to pay back lottery money over the last 12 years - more than $120 million..
Now the money-minded legislature is trying to confiscate another school revenue source with House Bill 1846, which allows lawmakers to confiscate gross production revenue (oil and gas taxes). They will not be satisfied until they have control of all school revenue sources, so they will get credit for providing every penny which schools receive. They will use the gross production revenue the same way they used the lottery money - to supplant state aid, in order to get credit for providing funding, while at the same time spending the supplanted state aid elsewhere...
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