OCPAC e-mail - Grab your wallets - the educators are coming!

[Charlie Meadows]

Members and friends of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC)

++  AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

++  ANNOUNCEMENTS

++  DEFENDERS OF LIBERTY AWARDS BANQUET WINNERS

++  GRAB YOUR WALLETS - THE EDUCATORS ARE COMING!

++  AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, October 29th 2014, will be held at Olivet Baptist Chruch, 1201 Northwest 10th street in OKC. Several weeks ago I invited Congressman Bridenstine for tomorrow’s meeting, but have not been able to get confirmation. If he is able to make the meeting we will certainly make room for him. In the mean time, Oklahoma county District 1 candidate Darren Ward will speak briefly about his race and then one of the judicial candidates has asked for some time to address our group. In addition, I recently met Manish Jha and Juna Mathema, both of them are here on a business exchange program from the Nation of Nepal. They are involved in the polling, consulting and media efforts for political candidates as well as product merchandizing. They have been here for a few days observing our political processes. We will ask them to give their impressions and comparisons about our political processes and those in the Nation of Nepal which is very new to self government. 

++  ANNOUNCEMENTS

*  TUESDAY EVENING  -  KONAWA AREA  -  The Konawa Tea Party will host their monthly meeting this Tuesday evening, October 28th, 2014 beginning at 7:00 p.m. The location will be the Kennedy Library (Dougan Room) at the Konawa School, 701 west south street.

I will be the first speaker, talking about the U.S., State and Local Chambers of Commerce - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. My talk will be followed by a forum for Seminole County Commissioner District 1 candidates, Gary Choate and Kay Scarberry. I have been asked to moderate this forum and therefore will try to ask some important questions about the job and philosophies for the county commissioner‘s office. If you live anywhere in the area, please come on out, I would love to see everyone. 

*  LAST WEDNESDAY’S MEETING  -  I always try to inform candidates that the political process operates both on instinct and science. If you want to understand the science part of the process, then log on to our web site, www.oklahomacpac.com and view the video of last week’s meeting. Chris Wilson presented the most in-depth picture of the science I have ever seen.   

++  DEFENDERS OF LIBERTY AWARDS BANQUET WINNERS

This past Saturday evening Linda and I traveled to Tulsa for the 2nd annual Defenders of Liberty Grassroots Activism Awards banquet to join about 150 other activists from across the state to recognize grass roots activists for their efforts to promote liberty and smaller government. It was truly a great event, with some really fun videos spaced between some of the award recipients. 

As I mentioned in last week’s e-mail I was allowed to nominate 2 members from OCPAC to compete among the 36 nominees from across the state for the 12 awards presented. As it turned out 13 of the nominees were either current or past members of OCPAC and 4 of the winners fell into that category.

Following are the winners:  The Ben Franklin Award went to Bob Davies from the Owasso area, the Patrick Henry Award went to Kaye Beach from Norman, the Thomas Paine Award went to Paul Kelley from Edmond, the Thomas Jefferson Award went to Michael Bates from Tulsa, the Dolly Madison Award went to Megan Winburn from the OKC area, the Murray Rothbard Award went to Mark Keeling from Chickasha, the Lysander Spooner Award went to George McFarland, I don’t know where he is from, the George and Martha Washington Award went to Joe and Cindy Hampton, I believe from the Tulsa area, the Martin Luther King Jr. Award went to Marlene Lynch from Guthrie, the Paul Revere Award went to Bob and Pam Phillips from the OKC area, the Frederick Douglass Outstanding Achievement Award went Jennie White and the rest of the board members of ROPE (Restore Oklahoma Public Education) from the OKC area and the Samuel Adams Statesman of the Year award went to Michael Stoop from Tahlequah.

This event was a lot of fun and there are so many folks across the state that are deserving of recognition that this banquet only scratched the surface. We may try to incorporate some awards for deserving OCPAC volunteer members during our legislative awards banquet next year to be held in conjunction with the Clouds Over America Conference.     

++  GRAB YOUR WALLETS - THE EDUCATORS ARE COMING!

It makes little difference whether it is Janet Barresi, Joy Hofmeister or John Cox, they are all beating the same drum about the “NEED” to increase funding for education. Especially loud is the drum beat to give all the poor little teachers who barely escape poverty a raise of $2,500 per year across the board. Thus my statement: grab your wallets - the educators are coming, the educators are coming! 

Following is a recent load of BS (blue smoke) from Superintendent Barresi:  “Every teacher goes past the fact that they’re practically in poverty and they don’t have the resources they need and they can’t spend the time with their family they need to.” Wah wah, most families in the private sector would love to have a fall and spring break along with the many holidays and then 2 and a half months off in the summer to spend with their families. As far as poverty, most people working in the private sector that make an average salary of $35,000 per year and working 240 days per year for such would love to make the current average salary for a teacher of $45,000, much less another $2,500 per year.

Just a little review before I republish a column from the Oklahoman. Under the current proposal the teacher contract would go from 180 days per year to 185 and under such change the average salary of a teacher in Oklahoma would increase from $45,000 per year to $47,500 each year. 

Teacher contracts demand they be in school 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after each school day; which, tacked on to the 6 hours of an actual classroom time, means they must work at least 7 hours per day. That means they must work at least 35 hours per week. Under the proposed change and with an additional 5 days in their contract, it would mean the weekly pay for a teacher would be $1,280, $256 per day or an average hourly rate of $36.57. Of course, if they get the raise but the school year is not extended, the average weekly wage for a teacher will be $1,320 per week, $264 per day or $37.71 per hour. Boo ho, boo ho, oh please give me a couple of seconds to regain my composure and dry my eyes after realizing just how bad we treat our teachers. 

We are being told we must raise teacher salaries to address the problems of teacher shortages. The grandstanding and pandering by Janet, Joy and John is sickening. Well, it just so happens that the editorial page of the Oklahoman had a few things to say regarding this issue last Tuesday, October 21st in their lead editorial. It is as follows:

“Blanket spending boosts don’t solve every problem”

“A new report suggesting Oklahoma’s state education funding has been reduced by a greater amount than any other state since 2008 has prompted a predictable response from those who always claim schools are “financially starved.” But the report leaves unanswered a more important question: Exactly where should additional funds be directed to best improve educational outcomes?

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think thank, calculated per-pupil state-appropriation spending in 2008, and then adjusted it for inflation and student population growth. By this measure, Oklahoma’s current state-appropriated funding is 23.6 percent less than what it would be had the 2008 rate been maintained.

This doesn’t mean Oklahoma state funding hasn’t increased in recent years, just that spending growth is slower than what the center endorses. The report largely ignores the fact that Oklahoma schools aren’t solely funded by state budget appropriations. Accounting for all funds - state, local and federal - shows that Oklahoma school funding increased $1.1 billion between the 2008 and 2013 budget years.

The report also downplays the impact of the recent severe national recession. Nearly all states had to cut spending. Thus, the center’s report shows state school appropriations in 30 states remain below the 2008 baseline. Even so, the report implies that states with increased education appropriations will have better school systems. Is that true?

Adjusted for inflation and student growth, North Dakota leads the nation in increased per-pupil funding since 2008, with a jump of nearly 32 percent. Yet Prairie Public News reported in September that North Dakota schools were having trouble recruiting teachers to fill open spots.

Aimee Copas, executive director of the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders, told Prairie Public News that teacher vacancies were occurring in “areas we’ve never seen teacher openings before, such as in elementary or in physical education or in the social sciences.” Janet Welk, executive director of North Dakota’s Education Standards and Practices Board, noted fewer college students were pursuing teaching careers.

Sound familiar?  

Delaware increased per-pupil funding by more than all but three states. But the Delaware State Education Association, a teachers union, still declares, “Not all schools and classrooms are funded equitably.”

State appropriations in Massachusetts increased 6.3 percent (fifth most nationwide). But the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center declares the foundation budget for schools “understates” special-needs expenses by $1 billion and understates health insurance costs by $1.1 billion. The report concludes budget constraints have prevented new teacher hiring, leading to larger class room sizes, reduced teacher planning time “and the hiring of fewer specialist teachers, such as literacy specialists, language teachers, art teachers, etc.”

Sound familiar?

In Washington state, education funding increased 5.9 percent (sixth highest nationwide). Yet Washington ranks 47th in class size, leading to Initiative 1351. The proposal, going before Washington voters next month, would limit class sizes to 17 students in early grades and 25 students in grades 4 and beyond. This would require $6.6 billion in new spending and 7,000 additional teachers.

In short, states that increased per-pupil spending far more than Oklahoma still grapple with the same problems as Oklahoma. A useful analysis would have identified which states are getting the most bang for their education buck, not merely who increased spending. Contrary to the belief of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, blanket spending increases don’t automatically translate into reduced school challenges.”

If folks haven’t learned by now that throwing more money at education has not, does not and never will fix the problems with the government schools, then those folks may be the very people who suffer from the malady known as “invincible ignorance”. 

We don’t need a study to discover the most efficient states in education spending. My 31 years as an education researcher will prompt me to declare that any state which does not provide 4 year old pre-school, all day kindergarten and or mandate teacher to student class room size ratios will be the most efficient at getting the most bang for the buck. I will go even farther and say the goal should be to emulate the state that spends the least while at the same time has the highest academic achievement. The last time I looked at performance tied to costs and that was several years ago, Utah had the most efficient schools in the nation.

I recently heard my State Senator A.J. Griffin on the Mitchell in the Morning radio show deal with the claims of a Democrat operative on the subject of per-pupil spending. As Senator Griffin accurately declared, Oklahoma educates children in one and a half more grades than the states that don’t mandate 4 year old preschool and full day kindergarten. 

Study after study have shown that so called “early child hood education” gives an immediate boost to the children taking such, but by the second grade and going forward, there is no difference between the children that were thrust into the early stuff and children that were not.

If we would have the courage to eliminate the George Kiser induced 4 year old pre-school, return to half day kindergarten and eliminate the student teacher classroom size mandates several things would change. 

Number 1, we would  need several thousand less teachers which that would alleviate the teacher shortages. Number 2, half the costs saved could be translated into tax cuts. Number 3, the other half of the savings could go toward teacher salary increases and Number 4, it would relieve pressure on local school districts to keep building so many new class rooms, thus bringing property tax relief. While these changes would probably not improve the academic performance for students, there are plenty of studies to show performance would not be hurt.

Who would oppose such common sense ideas? The teacher union bosses as they would lose millions in dues and would have less political power as many of the teachers and their immediate family members are often the liberal progressives that make up the political base for the left. One more opponent, big business. You see, they know all the early education efforts amount to the taxpayer’s providing “child care” for their employees rather than those employees being responsible to come up with child care and then pay for such.

At the beginning of the school year it was announced we had a shortage of 800 teachers statewide. The OKC school district is the largest in the state. Did you know that 52% of the district is now made up of Hispanic students? I would guess at least half of those are illegal aliens and even more than that if we didn’t misinterpret the 14th Amendment which makes any child born on our soil to the mother of an illegal alien an automatic citizen. This travesty of justice identifies them as “anchor babies”. The massive invasion of illegal aliens has many problematic consequences, some of which are very expensive. It will also assure the OKC school district is doomed to low test scores, no matter how high we set the standards.     

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday, also I hope to have “Charlies Picks” out sometime Wednesday evening. 

Charlie Meadows

Charlie...@gmail.com