April Editorial Winner

Public schools should get all stimulus money

Kim Poindexter, Tahlequah Daily Press

With the minds of Oklahomans on the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be easy for elected officials to take actions that play to their base and their donors, rather than serve the majority in this state. Any move by Gov. Kevin Stitt to funnel money toward private schools would fall into that category.
Oklahoma is reportedly in line to get $40 million in stimulus money earmarked for education. But that will hardly scratch the surface, now that the bottom has fallen out of the oil and gas market. Because of the insistence of successive regimes at the Capitol and governor’s mansion that the state put all its economic eggs into one basket, it was bound to happen, and it did – again. History will continue to repeat itself ad nauseum, because here in the Sooner state, top officials never learn their lesson. Many voters have a problem with that, too, since they keep returning to office the bootlickers of the fossil fuel industry, rather than moving forward with diversification like Texas has done.
Everyone pays the price for economic doldrums, which have been magnified exponentially by COVID-19. But there’s no entity stuck with a bigger tab than public education, and therein lies the rub when it comes to the stimulus money: The package gives Stitt latitude to spend money on either public or private institutions.
Especially given the dire straits Oklahoma and many other states find themselves in right now, there is no justification for funneling money into private schools. So though they may err on some matters, as we all do, the House Democratic Caucus is right to lobby the governor to back off his talks to take money from taxpayers – who for the most part send their kids to public schools – and hand it to private institutions where the greatest benefit will be to wealthy patrons.
Private schools have a place in Oklahoma, and parents who want to send their kids to one should have that option – if they can afford it without grubbing in the pocket of taxpayers. The trouble is, few can afford it, even with scholarships, grants and other monies to supplement parental payments. Oklahoma has 227 private schools, with 38,949 schools enrolled, and the average tuition is just over $5,000 for elementary schools and $7,031 for high schools. Who has that kind of money these days, especially with jobless rates at an all-time high?
On the other hand, public schools educate about 700,000 Oklahoma kids, as they are required to do by law. A number of legislators seem to be as unfamiliar with the state constitution as some federal-level top officials are ignorant about the contents of the U.S. Constitution. In Oklahoma, all students are guaranteed a free education. That cannot happen with private schools, no matter how much public funding the well-heeled procure for it.
The Democratic Caucus offered Stitt some suggestions as to ways the stimulus money could be put to good use. It’s clear that despite the Legislature’s attempts to fill some holes, public schools are still starving for money – and with a $1.3 billion revenue shortfall looming, the situation will worsen. Cherokee County residents should let the governor know that if he misuses this stimulus money, he’ll pay the price at the polls – and so will any legislators who get behind such a pie-in-the-sky plan.