The real villains in the teacher walk-out

   Corporate lawmakers are fond of quoting facts without context in order to vilify teachers and those who support teachers. One fact that spews from the mouth of some very sly corporate minions is that "superintendent salaries in Oklahoma schools total over $55 million each year", or "superintendent salaries in one rural county total over $1 million per year". The legislators who trumpet these "facts" know their supporters will undoubtedly believe that "superintendents earn too much money" and school consolidation is needed because we have too many superintendents. While most people know that to "tell a lie" is unethical, many corporate lawmakers believe that telling a half-lie is acceptable and ethical. Many corporate minions also believe that convincing their supporters to arrive at the conclusion - "We have too many school districts, so if we could just consolidate superintendents, teachers and schools would have plenty of money".
   Many people believe that corporate lawmakers (minions) are less than ethical when convincing their followers to believe a lie, even though the minion never lied. An example of the minion effect is the above statement "superintendent salaries in Oklahoma schools total over $55 million each year". A supporter of the minion only hears the statement itself, and assumes that he knows what he's talking about (because he is very smart). What the minion supporter does not know is the following:
   While Oklahoma superintendents total about $55 million in salary each year, it represents only .98% of total school expenditures, or less than 1%. . The total expenditures for Oklahoma public schools in 2015-2016 was over $5.6 billion. Do the math... The corporate minion wants his followers to believe that if we could only reduce the number of superintendents, we could pay teachers better - or the minions could fund education properly. Nothing could be further from the truth. They want their followers and others to believe that the real villains in this teacher walk-out is superintendents. As a matter of fact, total administrative expenditures in 2015-2016 made up only 2.8% of total expenditures.
    Minions often assert that we have too many school districts in Oklahoma, and simply consolidating schools or superintendents will result in teachers receiving pay raises (Again implying that superintendents are the real villains.) The facts indicate something far different - Many states have fewer school districts and fewer superintendents than Oklahoma, but spend far more on administration. Oklahoma has 516 school districts with approximately 490 superintendents and spent about $686 per student for administrative services in one year. Alabama has 132 school districts and spent $813 per student, Arkansas (which only recently consolidated schools) has 315 schools and spent $732 for administration, Kansas has 308 schools and spent $825, Missouri has 527 schools (similar to Oklahoma) but spent $946 per student for administrative services. Then there is Tennessee, Mississippi, and many others.
   Many corporate minions, such as the District 42 Rep. Tim Downing, say that consolidating Oklahoma public school administrations will solve the school funding issue, but a look at research and anecdotal examples of consolidation indicate that this presumption is just one more "big lie". In 2010, Governor Fallin commissioned the Office of Accountability to conduct a study which would surely indicate that school consolidation would save the state $ millions. The subsequent research indicated just the opposite - that school administrative consolidation often costs the state more money. As an example, according to study results, if administrations in all McLain County schools were consolidated under one superintendent with over 8,000 students - the administrative costs for McLain County Public Schools would still be less than several individual districts with 8,000 students.It's a fact.
   Mr. Downing has also stated recently that the eleven superintendents in his district earn a combined total of over $1 million, so should be reduced. Many of his supporters take his claim at face value, but fail to acknowledge the facts. The fact is that several schools have already consolidated around the state, and administrative costs for those schools have actually increased. As an anecdotal example, one small school in Downing's district consolidated with another small school in 2016. For the '14-'15 school year, the two separate districts had cumulative administrative expenditures of $269,946 and $5,945,507 in total expenditures (4.5% in administrative costs). For '15-'16, after administrative consolidation, the now single school district spent $255,691 for administration as compared with overall expenditures of $5,070,599 (5% in admin. costs)  Fuzzy math experts like Downing may interpret these expenditure results to say that admin. costs were reduced because of consolidation. It can be argued, however, that the only factor reduced was overall school expenditures because of the massive cuts in legislative appropriations. So, the question then becomes: If the motivation behind the mad rush to consolidate school districts or reduce superintendents is not saving money - then what is the minion motivation?
Update: On a personal note, I had a bull and six heifers "walk-out" of my pasture yesterday - because I was evidently not feeding them enough. Since many corporate lawmakers claim to be farmers and cattle ranchers, they must surely understand my situation. I haven't blamed the walk-out on the bull nor any of the heifers, because it's my own fault. It's my fault I cut the hay feedings back too soon after a hard winter. I'm not blaming any of my cattle for walking out - It's my fault and no one else. This fact is something that the Corporate House Leadership can't seem to understand, for they are now blaming the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators (OASA) for the teacher walk-out. There are currently several school consolidation bills, such as Senator Bice's small school consolidation bill and several voucher bills such as Tim Downing's HB 2782 which would invariably transfer school operational funding away from our public schools and toward corporate charter and private schools. The funding threat has been understood by superintendents to mean "Either call your teachers in, or we'll pass legislation which will be harmful to your teachers and students alike". Most superintendents don't respond very well to threats, so don't look for any to "call in teachers". But wait, there was even more threatened legislation on Monday - which corporate minions hope will persuade superintendents to "call in the troops": The corporate minions threatened to pass bills which will also reduce or cap superintendent salaries, which will not save money nor provide teacher pay raises. It is hoped that by attacking superintendents personally, they will persuade teacher to go back to the classroom. While I don't speak for all administrators, I'll say this to our corporate lawmakers: Go ahead and throw me in the brier-patch, and if you're feeling froggie - jump!
   Our teachers walked-out because of their knowledge of school funding, not because any superintendents encouraged them to walk-out. Superintendents cannot order teachers back to class either, even if we wanted to. Corporate lawmakers should remember that this walk-out is not over until teachers say "It's over", and for many teachers - it ain't over until November 4, the state elections... Corporate minions should remember this fact...
Update: Got my bull and heifers back to my side of the fence.. All I had to do was offer them some range cubes, and they came running back. Just as it was my responsibility to get them to come back, it is the minions responsibility to end the teacher walk-out - by providing reliable revenue streams for our public schools. The corporate minions only answer is to raise taxes on the poor and middle income earners for our public schools. They have not been able to eliminate corporate welfare because their bosses are corporate. They have not been able to re-instate the massive tax cuts they provided to their bosses, such as the corporate income tax, the corporate intangible property tax, and the gross production tax. They cannot eliminate their wasteful spending on corporate charter schools and private schools. They cannot eliminate property taxes being used by municipalities, which would normally go to public schools (TIF). The corporate minions only recourse is to raise taxes on those of us who can least afford it. So, once again, I ask that our lawmakers send our teachers back to the classroom... but once again, as Don McLean said in his song "Vincent"- They're not listening still.
Update: Many teachers and other public school supporters believe the best way to remedy our busted state budget and the starvation of all state services is to "vote" the minions out, on November 6. That's easier said, than done... Consider the following: My home House District 42 voters elected Tim Downing in 2016, an avowed corporate interest supporter and "anti-public school/teacher" minion. Fifteen thousand one hundred thirty (15,130) voters showed up at the polls that day. There are approximately 850 teachers in District 42, but one report indicated that only 27% of all teachers voted that day, or 229 teachers. Many teachers voted for Tim Downing, with a few even donating to his campaign. While it's unknown how many actually voted for him, let's say 100 - it leaves only 129 who probably supported his opponent. In other words, Downing's opponent probably received more teacher support than he did, but the election results proved to be a land-slide. Also, the fact that our state superintendent of schools, Joy Hofmeister - endorsed Downing - probably contributed to the Downing teacher vote. Unfortunately for teachers and public schools, Downing has voted time and time again against teacher pay raises and school funding (although he has publicly stated that he has voted for all teacher pay raise bills).
   Tim Downing claims to be conservative, but Vote Smart (a publication which reports candidate endorsements from both liberal and conservative groups) reports that Downing scored a 33% Lifetime Score from The Oklahoma Constitution (a conservative group). The Oklahoma Constitution also reported a 33% on "conservative positions" for Mr. Downing. In addition, the Sooner Tea Party (conservative) gave Downing a score of 33% (F) for being fiscally conservative and 33% for being socially conservative. These failing scores from conservative groups must mean that Downing is not conservative. So, now the question becomes - if Downing is not conservative, and not liberal, then what exactly is he?
Update: A couple days ago, we mentioned the threats directed toward local school boards and superintendents as a legislative tactic to send teachers back to the classroom. The first two "scud missiles" have been launched in retaliation for the teacher walk-out as of yesterday. House Bill 1045 xx and HB 1046 xx are designed to subvert the authority of our local school boards by forcing school consolidation and limiting administrative expenditures. House Bill 1045 xx caps superintendent salaries at $147,000 per year. Many people believe the state is overstepping its authority with this proposed legislation, as local school boards currently make decisions regarding the selection of school personnel. It's called local control. This bill is a scud attempt at seizing authority from our locally elected boards. HB 1046 xx consolidates superintendents (I can't help but visualize a superintendent as he goes through a trash compactor) across Oklahoma's more than 500 school districts. This would affect only counties with populations less than 400,000. Another scud missile launch.. and miss.
   Both bills have no language attached as of yet, but it's clear the consolidation bill will be the "county consolidation" model, of which we spoke about earlier. Studies have indicated that no money can be saved by consolidating schools or superintendents. We'll come back to both bills when language is added...
Update: Evidently, some conservatives have read where Tim Downing failed the The Oklahoma Constitution and Sooner Tea Party (both conservative groups) by scoring only 33% on their tests of conservatism, as one has signed up to run against him in the primary. His actions in voting "no" on all teacher pay raise bills were not enough to persuade at least one conservative.
Update: Don Meredith in the beginning of Monday night football - "Turn out the lights, the party's over..." The teacher walk-out may be over for most schools, but the primary reason they walked out and stayed out has not been resolved by lawmakers - the inappropriate student funding for our public schools. The teachers in fact received a pay raise before walking out, so the reason for walking out stemmed from the fact that our legislature has cut school funding by 28% since 2008 - more than any other state. Teachers have accurately determined that the legislature will probably never replace lost school funding, unless they feel the heat to do so. It's a reason that continues to haunt our schools, so look for attention to be focused on the lack of funding, even through the November 6 state elections this fall.