The people of Oklahoma may have voted Kevin Stitt back in the governor’s office and Ryan Walters in as secretary of education, but they did not give them a mandate to put public tax dollars into private education.
We believe voters only said they want conservative leadership in state government. They did not say they want publicly funded private school vouchers. Both Stitt and Walters have said they support vouchers and they will make this a priority in their new terms. Stitt said he wants to get the public on board.
We say the public is not on board, especially in rural Oklahoma.
The question becomes: Why is there such a push by Stitt and Walters to spend public education dollars on private education?
Are we becoming so internalized and selfish that we’ve lost the importance of providing public resources to those in need?
The idea of taxation is to provide for the welfare of all, especially those who cannot provide for themselves. In the case of education, taxation is used to finance public sector expenditures to promote public advantage.
We don’t believe there’s a place for public-private partnerships when it comes to educating our children. The private schools have always been able to fund themselves. Those who have the monetary resources and don’t want their child in a public school can send their child to a private school. Many times there are scholarships available. These schools also have a business model that has worked for them. They don’t need public funding.
Even parents who have paid for their child’s private education are saying they believe they should be paying for it themselves, and government funds should be going to public schools.
Stitt and Walters say they want to get the public on board. We say no! Keep our public schools strong by keeping tax dollars out of private education.
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