Quotes of the Day

“The state legislature definitely has broken down the morale of teachers, and it’s becoming such a problem that not only are they leaving the profession, there are several that you don’t hear about that think about it every day.”

– Emily Durbin, first-year Teach for America teacher at Tulsa’s Nathan Hale High School, discussing the state’s teacher shortage. (Source)

“A runaway convention, and that is very possible, could be a threat to the Bill of Rights. Liberal states might try to alter the Second Amendment. Conservatives might want to change the First Amendment making Christianity the official religion of the country. There are no limits or restrictions on what such a convention could address.”

– The Tulsa World Editorial Board, writing against calls for a constitutional convention (Source)

“I like to think that we are all seeds planted into the soil of public education, until we get covered with the cement mixtures of EOIs, unfunded classes, and overstressed teachers. And how a few of us, the ones who fight through that adversity, see the light through the cracks of the cement, manage to have some type of growth. And what a glorious sight, right? A few trees going through the concrete. Well, looks can be deceiving because it’s not worth the hundreds, no, thousands that get left behind. For there is strength in numbers. It’s easy to remove a tree, but it takes an army to take on a forest.”

-Mustang High School student Kiante Miles, reading his poem during Monday’s education rally at the state Capitol (Source).

“Imagine a state with no general taxes, but a thousand inequitable fees, fines and charges that it uses to fund government services. That encourages cheating and bootlegging (Remember when half the cars on Oklahoma roads seemed to have Texas tags?) and creates a system that is less efficient, less equitable and less business-friendly. The solution is a graduated general tax system with rational user fees set at levels needed to support specific services and no more.”

– Tulsa World columnist Wayne Greene, arguing against a bill that would exempt Oklahoma public school teachers from paying income taxes (Source)

“Any cuts at this point are going to be monumental simply because education has not been funded at an adequate rate for many years. There’s only so many hits that a group can take and continue to sustain.”

– Moore Public Schools Superintendent Robert Romines, on reports that the State Department of Education may receive a 2 – 4 percent budget cut this year. Oklahoma has made the deepest cuts to school funding in the US since 2008. (Source)

“In Oklahoma and across the United States, we had this frantic, contrived debate about voter fraud. We’re finding out … that all of the arguments for the need for these laws were completely conflated and false. It was all designed to attack a problem that did not exist. I think the lawmakers of Oklahoma looked up and correctly surmised that they could march to the past with a new version of Jim Crow, or they could look to the future and the inherent intelligence and ability of the Oklahoma voter to go to the polls and cast a ballot.”

-Keith Gaddie, head of the University of Oklahoma Political Science Department, speaking about bills moving through the Legislature to encourage voter participation in Oklahoma (Source)

“It’s part of their business model and not something they have been particularly secretive about. They don’t want the poorest people — they are going after the working poor that have a consistent paycheck and they have enough income that they can get them trapped in a cycle of borrowing.”

-Oklahoma Assets Network coordinator Kate Richey, speaking about a new study that shows most most payday lenders in Oklahoma are clustered around military bases (Source).

“It is my intention to close school on March 30 so teachers can participate in the rally and meet with legislators. I am greatly concerned about teacher pay and the statewide teacher shortage. I am supportive of State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister’s initiative to improve the educational environment in Oklahoma.”

– Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Keith Ballard, announcing that he intends to ask the school board to approve using the district’s remaining snow day to allow teachers and staff to attend a rally for education funding at the state Capitol (Source)

“I agree we were high compared to states like Texas and Arkansas, but that was because they cut their benefits. But even those states would never dream of doing what we’re doing.”

– Michael Clingman, chief administrator of the Workers Compensation Court from 2011 to 2014. Clingman said last year’s workers comp reforms reduced some benefits by as much as 90 percent, and the state’s workers comp system is now among the worst in the country for injured workers (Source).

“We are left with a tiny fraction of the graduating class staying in Oklahoma. This happens year after year as we don’t provide a compelling reason for them to stay. Absolutely, hands down, the teacher shortage is the most important issue that affects student learning. If it is not solved, there is no way to increase student outcomes.”

– State Superintendent of schools Joy Hofmeister, arguing that most education majors in Oklahoma leave after graduation to work in states with better teacher pay (Source)