Senate Bill 514: Small School Consolidation

 
   Senate Bill 514 is the Oklahoma Legislature's school consolidation bill, make no mistake, and the governor is likely to sign it next week. In order to comprehensively analyze the final version of SB 514, which creates a "task force" to study administrative efficiency (consolidation) of small schools.
   As introduced, SB 514 required the State Board of Education to consolidate or annex certain school districts, and required new school board elections be held for consolidated school districts. The school districts forced to consolidate would be those with less than 500 students and located within 65 miles of another school. Senate Bill 514 was a forced school consolidation bill in its original form. It was "billed" (no redundancy intended) as a way to save the state money, but research indicates that very little money, if any, would truly be saved by forced consolidation. Multiple studies conducted in various states, including Oklahoma, indicate that no significant money is saved.
   In comparing and analyzing SB 514, the soon-to-be consolidation law, it is different from the original, but the analysis may prove it to be identical to the enrolled version. Decide for yourself:
   The "original" SB 514 was authored by Senator Gary Stanislawski, R-Tulsa, and co-authored by Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City. Both "Stan the Man" (Stanislawski) and "Love Less Small Schools" (Loveless) have no schools with less than 500 students in their respective senate districts (# 35 and #45). There is no love lost (voters lost) as they support forced school consolidation for those schools with less than 500 students.
   Senate Bill 514, the "forced" school consolidation bill, then "morphed" into the new and improved school consolidation model. The new SB 514 allows for appointment of a "task force" which will study and make recommendations to the Legislature on administrative costs... and improving efficiency among school district operations. To "make recommendations to the Legislature on administrative costs" is code speak for small school consolidation. The "task" of the force is to provide justification to the Legislature for consolidating small schools, as it will examine ... the average daily membership (ADM) (less than 500 students in the old bill) and a school's proximity to another school district... (within 65 miles in the old bill). The task (small school consolidation) force will also study the performance of school districts "with less than 500 students" based on the "now discredited, invalid and unreliable A through F school grading scheme (my opinion only). The small school consolidation force will be composed of:
1) One member who is a member of the Senate, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. This member is likely to be a school consolidation supporter;
2) One member who is a member of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, also likely to be a school consolidation supporter;
3) One member who represents a statewide association of school board members, appointed by the State Department of Education. Joy Hofmeister, the State Superintendent of Schools, has expressed concern that "Oklahoma has too many public school districts", so this member is likely to be a school consolidation supporter;
4) One member who represents a statewide organization that represents school administrators, appointed by the State Department of Education. Since Joy Hofmeister may be a supporter of forced school consolidation, the appointed member may be a supporter of small school consolidation;
5) One member who is a superintendent for a school district with an ADM of 1000 students or less, appointed by the State Department of Education. This member may be a small school (less than 500 students) consolidation supporter;
6) One member who is an administrator for a school district with more than 1000 students, but less than 2,500 students... (see #5);
7) One member who is a financial officer for a school district... with more than 2,500 students but less than 10,000 students (see #5);
8) One member who is an administrator for a school district... with more than 10,000 students (see #5);
9) One member who is appointed by... (see #5);
10) Two members of the business community, appointed by the Governor. The Governor has indicated that small schools are "dinosaurs", extinct, so these members may be supporters of forced school consolidation; and
11) One member who represents the Career and Technology Education system, appointed by... (see #5).
   Those of us who support small schools can understand how the "deck can be stacked" to recommend forced small school consolidation, as the original SB 514 intended. Stan the Man is still the author, so it's reasonable to assume that the new SB 514 will achieve the same goal of forced small school consolidation, although it will just take longer to get there. To prevent this scenario from happening, small school supporters must ensure that unbiased members are appointed to the task force. In the words of Winston Churchill as the Nazis were closing in on London - Never give in...