State High Court Allows Education Initiative to Proceed
The measure, known as Initiative Petition No. 403, was proposed by a group of education and business leaders including University of Oklahoma President David Boren. Boren called the court decision a great victory for the school children and the people of Oklahoma. "It will allow the people to vote to solve our crisis in education. The court was absolutely right to not stand in the way of the right of the people to vote on this crucial issue. The reasoning of the majority was strong and correct," said Boren.
Amber England, Executive Director of Stand for Children Oklahoma, which is spearheading the proposal, said: "We are delighted that the State Supreme Court ruled in favor of sending the initiative petition forward. Oklahomans deserve the opportunity to solve the state's education funding crisis by voting to pass this plan. We will begin immediately with the signature collection process and already have the staff and resources in place to get this measure on the ballot. In light of the current budget crisis, time is of the essence. This is the only plan on the table to keep us from falling to dead last in the nation for education funding and teacher pay."
The Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration (CCOSA), Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA), and the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) issued a joint statement: "We are grateful for the leadership of David Boren and others who stepped up to find a solution that specifically addresses the severe teacher shortage. The governing boards of CCOSA, OSSBA and OEA have voted in support of the initiative, and we pledge our support in making sure that the November 2016 election becomes a resounding reflection of just how much Oklahomans believe in our children and dedicated educators."
The case went to the court when the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA), a conservative think-tank, through its OCPA Impact arm challenged the petition. OCPA Impact Executive Director David Bond explained that the measure lumps several unrelated subjects into the proposed constitutional amendment. Justices Steven Taylor, Yvonne Kauger and James Winchester agreed. "An extremely popular one-time pay raise for a group of state employees paired with other less popular tangentially related questions is repulsive to this constitutional provision," Justice Taylor wrote in the dissent on the opinion. "Even if logrolling were not the determinative issue, the proposed initiative petition impacts several other constitutional provisions in which allocations for salaries are delegated to the Legislature, and only the Legislature."
Bond said his organization will continue the fight against the "Boren tax increase" and educate the public that less than half of the sales tax hike would go to teachers while also creating the highest average combined state and local sales tax rate in the nation. Bond said his group will monitor the initiative petition as it moves into the signature collection phase.
The current state sales tax rate in Oklahoma is 4.5 percent, with additional sales taxes imposed by local governments. It is estimated that the proposed tax increase would raise approximately $615 million per year. Based on that amount, $378 million would be used to fund an increase of approximately $5,000 per year in teacher salaries. An additional fund of $50 million would be used for grants for locally controlled reforms such as incentive pay or reading programs. Approximately $125 million would go to higher education to hold down the cost of college tuition and fees. Another $50 million would go for early childhood programs, and $12.5 million for the state vo-tech system.
"Teacher salaries average $44,373 in Oklahoma, far below those in every one of the surrounding states. Texas is more than $5,000 ahead of us. We rank 49th of all 50 states in the amount the state spends per pupil," says Boren. He also says that college tuition and fees have had to be raised as the state's share of support for the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University has dropped from 52 percent in the 1970s to 34 percent in the 1990s to 16 percent now.
Boren and other education leaders have been frustrated at the inability to get the Legislature to increase taxes. A bill raising taxes would have to be passed by the Legislature and would also likely require a public vote due to State Question 640 which amended the constitution in 1992. That change requires a revenue-increasing bill to receive a supermajority support of three-fourths of both bodies of the Legislature, or it must be placed on the ballot for vote of the people. The super-majority requirement has prevented state tax increases since its inception.
Oklahoma state government receives a substantial amount of its revenue from sales taxes. For the 2015 Fiscal Year which ended on June 30, Oklahoma collected $9.78 billion in tax revenue. Of that, $3.64 billion came from income taxes, and $2.69 billion came from the state's portion of sales and use taxes.
Supporters of the petition hope to place the measure on the November 2016 General Election ballot. For an initiative petition not requiring a constitutional change, petitioners must gather signatures totaling 8 percent of the number of votes cast in the last general election. Since 824,831 people voted for governor in 2014, the number of valid signatures required would be 123,725.
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