Education a passionate issue in 2014 legislative session

In April, complications with Henke’s first pregnancy caused doctors to order bed rest. But with the session winding down and her bill modifying third-grade reading requirements languishing, Henke returned to the Capitol and ultimately won adoption of the measure over Gov. Mary Fallin’s veto. Henke said later she was dealing with what is sometimes called false labor while presenting the bill for the override attempt in the House.

That was on Wednesday. Henke spent the remaining two days of the legislative session resting at an Oklahoma City apartment — with one exception. On Thursday night, she went to the Capitol to essentially cast the deciding vote in favor of a Fallin-supported proposal on school storm shelters.

Because of her condition, Henke said, she considered giving the third-grade reading bill — House Bill 2625 — to another legislator, but in the end decided it was something she had to do herself.

That’s the sort of year it was for education.

The budget is always the most important thing the Legislature does. It is the one thing the Legislature must do. But education was the issue that set blood racing and rhetoric flying in 2014.

The energy for this emotion came from parents’ and communities’ resistance to being told what to do with their kids by anyone — be it state, federal or corporate authorities. Local educators sometimes joined in, especially on HB 2625, but the real impetus came from angry moms and dads giving their legislators what-for.

The most publicized legislation to arise from this were HB 2625 and HB 3399.

HB 2625 removed from statute mandatory retention for most third-graders not scoring acceptably on a specific statewide reading test. Some and maybe most of those students would have been covered by exceptions to the retention law, but Henke’s bill leaves the final decision to a “team” that will assess each of the struggling students. These teams will be composed of the child’s parents or guardian and local educators. The bill also provides for additional assessment and assistance for these students, whether they are promoted or not.

HB 3399 essentially repeals the state’s involvement in Common Core, a set of national academic standards that began as a project of the National Governors Association and has been embraced by the Obama administration. The original idea was to establish uniform education minimums across the states so that a fourth-grader in Oklahoma had roughly the same basic knowledge and skills as a fourth-grader in other states, and vice versa.

But Common Core’s linkage to the Obama administration’s Race to the Top Program, lingering resentment of previous federal education programs, suspicion caused by the involvement of big-money supporters such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and general resistance to anything that smacked of surrendering control of their schools and children sent Oklahomans to the barricades.

So Common Core and mandatory retention were stopped.

Oklahoma standards

As legislators on all sides of the issues acknowledged in the session’s immediate aftermath, the real problems are far from solved. Oklahoma still has a lot of school children not reading at grade level and a lot of teens exiting the school system without the basic skills needed to function in the workplace or society.

And it has limited resources.

“What we’ve got is a plan to achieve what it is we want to achieve, which is high standards to make sure kids are successful when they leave high school,” said Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City.

Nelson carried HB 3399 in its form on the House floor.

“What you see is an attempt to take a deliberate approach to complex problems that people are passionate about,” he said. “I don’t think we’re retreating. There is sometimes sharp disagreement about how we get to where we want to be, but I think everybody ... wants kids to know how to read and that they can be successful.”

Nelson said he believes HB 3399 sets up a structure to develop standards that are both rigorous and practical.

“It may take us a little longer to achieve than what we originally thought ... but what you do see is a commitment to get there,” he said.

Some people, especially Common Core opponents, may have to accept there are only so many ways to describe an atom. The state Department of Education’s proposed science standards were shot down in the House this year, in part because their definitions of atomic particles appeared to be copied from a source that some members said is a Common Core clone.

Rep. Lee Denney, R-Cushing, chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget subcommittee on Common Education, said some of the standards developed by the state over the next few years may wind up looking a lot like Common Core.

“A lot of members are hoping that whatever standards we come up with won’t be Common Core,” said Denney. “But they may resemble Common Core a little bit. Common Core are higher standards, and we’re going to look for higher standards. What we will not have is federal overreach. These standards will be designed in Oklahoma by Oklahomans.”

Money troubles

Many educators and other observers, though, say the state will simply not be able to improve its education system without more money for teachers.

House Appropriations and Budget Chairman Scott Martin, R-Norman, said Friday that he is proud of the fact that appropriations to common education have increased $200 million over the the past two sessions. And given the state’s general revenue situation, that may be about as good as common ed could hope for.

But appropriations are still below 2008, particularly when adjusted for inflation and enrollment growth. Half of common education’s new money for fiscal year 2015 is going for employee benefits.

And with general revenue down $188 million for no apparent economic reason, one might wonder if flat or diminishing financial resources might be the new norm.

Legislative leaders say no.

“Oklahoma doesn’t have a revenue problem,” said Speaker Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview. “It has a tax-credit problem.”

Hickman, Martin, and A&B vice chairman Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville, agreed there are some structural problems with the state’s tax and revenue workings that need to be addressed. Not enough of the money coming into the state treasury is making it into the general fund for appropriations. They said steps are being taken to plug those leaks.

But that’s the business end of state government, and it’s boring. Kids and the United Nations taking over the schools are what set the blood to racing.

“Where was all this emotionalism,” asked Rep. Jerry McPeak, D-Warner, during Friday’s debate of HB 3399, “when we were talking about the budget?”