OPCSA Lawsuit

   Regarding "Charter schools sue over state funding inequities": The Oklahoma Public Charter School Association (OPCSA) is suing the State Board of Education and by extension, Oklahoma taxpayers - over inequities in how "corporate" charters are funded in comparison with traditional (conservative) public schools. The OPCSA is made up of thirty charter schools, most of which are managed by out-of-state and foreign corporate executives... who call themselves "board members". An example of the "inequities" claimed by the foreign "for profit" CEO's is - "they are trying to convince the public and the courts that charters are being shortchanged when it comes to the aquisition of state and local tax dollars. In fact, however, corporate charter schools in Oklahoma receive more state aid than traditional public schools, and here's how: A traditional public school with 2000 students may be entitled to $5,000,000 in state aid, but "chargeables" such as oil and gas (gross production) tax, vehicle tax, county tax, state land leases, and a portion of local property tax are reduced from that $5,000,000 to total much less. If the traditional school receives $200,000 in gross production, $200,000 in vehicle tax, $200,000 in land lease money, $200,000 in county tax, and $200,000 in chargeable property tax... the total state aid received by the school is only $4,000,000. A corporate charter with 2000 students receives the full $5,000,000, with no reduction. So, the OPCSA is suing Oklahoma taxpayers through the State Board of Education - for their share of the pie, plus traditional public schools' share (in the name of shareholder profits). It is doubtful if the corporate management groups can prevail in their taxpayer lawsuit, but they have several powerful Oklahoma corporate lawmakers on their side, so who really knows? For the sake of our traditional public schools, Oklahomans must hope not...