Corporate Charter Group Sues Local Taxpayers for MORE MONEY

   The Oklahoma Public Charter School Association (OPCSA) is suing the State for more money. Not content with only state appropriated dollars which it now receives, the OPCSA (made up of 30 corporate charter schools) believes it is entitled to local tax dollars - in the form of property taxes, gross production tax, vehicle tax, and even county taxes, which our local public schools now receive. The OPCSA is supported and partially funded by the American Federation for Children Support Fund (is that redundant?) of which Betsy DeVos, the new Secretary of Education and billionaire heiress, is the former CEO. I truly hope DeVos is fired by President Trump, just as many of his other cabinet members have been axed. But I digress... The OPCSA has thirty members, including the Fethullah Gulen's (Muslim Clerc) four Oklahoma schools, Janet Barresi's charter school, and several rural and virtual charter schools. Most of them have one thing in common, they are managed by out-of-state or foreign corporations. I understand that many rural communities would like their public school managed by a foreign corporation (according to voucher proponents), but I believe that most would not. Two possible scenarios: If the OPCSA is successful in accessing local property taxation, oil and gas production tax, vehicle tax, and local county taxes, look for these local taxes to rise exponentially over the next several years - for local tax payers. If the OPCSA is successful in accessing local property tax our local public schools could be choked out of existence. If you are a social conservative who believes in retaining our traditional public schools, either one of these scenarios should scare the hell out of you. If you are a fiscal conservative who believes in low government spending, then the OPCSA is not for you..
   The OPCSA must have Legislator support in order to be successful in accessing local tax dollars, and I believe some have been identified. Those elected Senators and Representatives who've received $hundreds of thousands in campaign support from the corporate voucher groups and are members of the secret organization ALEC are key in identifying them. We have seen the enemy, and he is us - They would be Ex-Rep. Dan Kirby, Republican; Ex-Senator Ralph Shortey, Republican; Ex-Senator Kyle Loveless, Republican; Ex-Senator Dan Newberry, Republican; Senator Julie Daniels, Republican; Representative Elise Hall, Republican; and Representative Tim Downing, Republican..
   Of course there are many more corporatists in the Legislature than the ones listed above, but this is a start in identifying them. Organizations such as ALEC keep their members anonymous, so it's difficult to identify all. Oklahoma taxpayers have excellent legal support, so I believe the lawsuit will be unsuccessful. We must hope so...