Plenty of ideas but not much money for education in this year's legislative session

Committee and floor deadlines will winnow that number considerably over the next few weeks, but it does nevertheless indicate just how much education is on the minds of state lawmakers.

The first bill passed by the House this session, HB 2247, by Rep. Randy McDaniel, R-Oklahoma City, is intended to help ease the state’s teacher shortage by encouraging retired educators to return to the classroom.

In the past, legislators have complained about retired teachers “double-dipping” by taking their pensions while going back to work part-time in Oklahoma or full-time elsewhere.

HB 2247, however, would give older teachers an incentive to return or remain in the classroom by raising to $18,000 a year the amount of money they can earn without a corresponding loss in pension benefits.

Teacher pay has been much discussed in recent weeks, with raises of $3,000 to $5,000 proposed by Gov. Mary Fallin and several lawmakers. In truth, all require not one but a sequence of unlikely circumstances.

And all were predicated on a $900 million general revenue shortfall, not the $1.3 billion now being discussed.

Still, it is an election year, and educators, parents and community leaders seem to be getting restless about the situation.

One option already killed in committee is allowing districts to increase teacher pay by cutting benefits. One still under consideration would allow districts to use some of the property tax millage set aside by the state constitution for buildings to pay teachers or for other operating expenses.

Also in the mix is financial aid for college students who commit to a teaching career and a directive to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to come up with teacher-retention incentives.

Fallin’s proposal for $3,000 raises involves a sharp increase in the cigarette tax, broadening the sales tax base while lowering the rate, eliminating some tax preferences, and school consolidation — all of which are meeting resistance.

Unlike teacher raises, school consolidation requires little or no upfront money, and is regarded by some as a relatively simple efficiency measure.

Oklahoma legislators have been thinking that for more than 100 years.

Turns out, consolidation is not nearly as easy or even necessarily as efficient as one might think. Some of the state’s smallest districts are also some of its most financially secure — and their patrons will fight to the last breath to hang onto them.

But some sort of consolidation measure is likely.

Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, proposes consolidating the state’s 100 or so dependent districts with independent districts for administrative purposes. Bingman says his plan would not close dependent schools, only eliminate some administrative jobs.

Independent districts are those that have accredited high schools. Dependent districts do not.

Other ideas include reorganizing public schools into one district per county and reducing the number of districts from just over 500 to 200 or fewer. A bill that would have required districts to spend at least 63 percent of their operating revenue on instruction failed in committee last week.

School-choice advocates are expected to make another strong run at authorizing vouchers — now called education savings accounts by proponents.

Education savings accounts do not actually involve savings accounts for education. Under the legislation proposed, they would be state-funded accounts parents could use to send their children to private schools, with the amount based on per-pupil funding.

Opponents warn ESAs would further underfund public schools that already rank near the bottom nationally, but proponents say districts could actually be better off because students going elsewhere would not take the full per capita funding with them.

School accountability, which has been at the forefront of school legislation for at least a decade, has retreated somewhat with the defeat of Common Core and repeal of No Child Left Behind.

There remain, however, many important issues, including the adoption of state learning standards and resolution of teacher evaluation and student testing. Some major battles could develop over the use of standardized tests such as ACT products as end-of-instruction exams.

Most education legislation deals with common ed, but one trend affects higher education. Several bills have been filed this year that would alter the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program, also known as Oklahoma’s Promise. All would, in one way or the other, reduce the value of the grants, either by lowering caps or restricting the types of schools students must attend.