The State Of Education Dictates The State Of Everything

I'm just a guy living out here in Broken Arrow with very little knowledge of what goes on in the capital. I don't know the in and outs and nitty-gritty of the numbers or how they come to be so, but at the same time, this is something I trusted you to do. What I have learned is that you suck at it. I've also learned that with the cuts made to the budget in education along with how it has been managed to date even without this crisis, you also have no idea how things work in the real world of people, schools and businesses. You offer breaks to businesses while breaking schools, and that's a risky endeavor for the future of the entire state. You've been putting education in second place for years and driving it to the bottom of the nation, and it's starting to impact your budget. Why are you short on money? Here's the problem when it comes to the construction of an average life versus the mess you've made.

First, we have the problem of teacher pay. Why start there? Because people decide where they work based on a number of factors, but pay is a big part of it. If a teacher can afford to move only a few hours down the road, they can substantially increase their pay. The teachers who can make the move do so. Those that have family or other obligations, a spouse with a better paying job allowing them to support their "teaching habit" stay. Oklahoma is suffering from overcrowding in schools not because of a shortage of classrooms, but a shortage of teachers. It has gotten so bad that we're accepting people who want to help without degrees in teaching and giving them "emergency certifications."

Great schools start with great teachers. How many are you driving to neighboring states or out of the profession entirely by disrepecting their right to a professional wage? Yeah, not a living wage; a professional wage. Teachers need at least a bachelor's degree and they get paid as much as someone on the phone doing customer service. Most professions offer big incentives to people who get Master's or Doctoral degrees, but not education. Most teachers don't bother because it would cost more to get that degree than they could justify it in an insultingly tiny pay increase.

Next, with this little debacle of a lack of money, we are cutting all kinds of stuff to make up for it. Did you cut anything? Have you stopped tkaing your children to activities or extra things? Well, the schools have had to. Some are consolidating together creating more kids in less classrooms, some are cutting programs that aren't even extracurricular, but used as part of the curriculum. The Accelerated Reader program is threatened, and this was something in place to help children know which books are on their level or greater and incentivize them to read more. Some schools are talking about 4 day weeks to save on utilties. Sure, they'll rework the hours to make up the time, but it still translates to less class time. Bus routes are being cut meaning more kids will have more trouble getting to school.

The schools will suffer immesaureably as a result of your inability to take care of them. Guess what comes next? Schools affect many facets of our lives. I recently commented in my own district that people revolve their lives around school districts and where they want their kids to go. Houses are selected based on districts and target schools. Good schools raise property values. Undesirable schools lower them. If you send all of our schols right into the toilet, what's going to happen to the state? People who are not anchored will leave or never come.

This would have a domino effect on businesses you so desperately want to be located in Oklahoma. What if industries recognize that our schools are not supported by our legislature and are suffering? They won't want to come here because they know their employees would not want to come here. By making the schools second rate on your agenda, you are not only hurting our children, you are potentially making the entire state suffer. It may be a doomsday prediction, but if people plan their lives around schools, and businesses plan their future around people, then eventually, your careless neglect of our schools will send the whole state into ruin.

Everything is connected. Poor teacher pay leads to higher classroom ratios which leads to a decline in education quality. Cuts in education funding lead to cuts in school programs and even basic services which leads to further declines in educaiton quality. Poor quality of education leads businesses to reconsider their desire to come to Oklahoma since their employees would want a better education for their children. Decline of industry in Oklahoma means decline in revenues which leads back around to further declines in education.

Schools are the foundation of just about everything we have, not just in the education of our next generation, but in enticing more revenue to come into our state and keeping what we have. If you make education a priority, you will make everything else better. If you don't care, you are elected officials, and we'll keep voting you out until we find someone who does. To any voters reading this, until this problem is solved, we need to start reminding our government who actually has the power of change and start removing them. New blood is clearly required to fix this.

I considered sending this via email, but email is so easy to ignore and delete. Besides, this is not just for those who hold office. We're all in power because in a democratic republic, the people are the voice. Not special interest groups. Not those greasing palms. Not personal agendas or desired legacies. Those of us out here who are suffering and watching our children suffer because you can get your act together and do the job you were elected to do.

It's said you make time for what it important to and the same goes for money. You always prioritize money in the most important things first. You've shown that you find education unimportant.

You may have to put pet projects on hold. You may have to cut something you really wanted. You might have to not give tax breaks and bonuses to certain businesses or industries. You might actually piss some people off, but to redirect money to education is the right thing to do and it will benefit everyone in the long run. ANY cuts to education aren't worth it, and more money needs to be funneled into it. However you screwed up the lottery needs to be put right. If you don't know what to do, start reviewing states sitting at the top of the list of the best schools or at least those doing better than we are. They did something right. Maybe you can emulate them. There are lots of examples. At least 46 or 47 based on the most recent numbers I've found.

We're tired of our schools being at the bottom of the list of quality. We're tired of our teachers being at the bottom of the list in pay. We're doing the best we can with what you give us to work with, but we need you to care. We need you to realize that this needs to be a priority. Not SAY it is a priority and then continue business as usual. Do it.

How will we know when you've done it? When we start moving up the lists. We've been at the bottom for awhile, so clearly this isn't a priority. nothing has convinced you that we are serious. Teacher marches don't convince you. People have called and emailed, and that's not enough. Now look what you've done. A budget shortage. It is starting already. Is that enough? You can't cut education. You've been ruining it for years which is just making everything worse. Keep education at the top of your list of things that need to keep going up and cut other stuff. Once you've fixed education and the money starts rolling in again, you can put the other stuff back.

If education comes first, everything else will follow. If education is last, everything else will suffer.