Oklahoma lawmakers race against the legislative clock to come up with education plan
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — The ping pong game over education reform is speeding up at the Capitol, as the time clock to pass a budget winds down.
With a tax credit bill for private school students passed in both chambers but held up in negotiations, the conversation is focused in on funding public schools.
There could be a possible agreement on school choice after the House passed the Senate plan, but as the Speaker of the House confirmed, that bill will not go to the Governor's desk until rural schools are taken care of.
“The tax credit doesn’t bring any value to rural Oklahoma. Rural members and urban members in the House are asking to make part of the package what rural Oklahoma needs, which is additional resources for their public schools," Speaker Charles McCall said.
There's multiple different public school funding plans on the negotiation table. The House's wasn't voted on by the Senate. The Governor's plan was passed by the House but not voted on by the Senate. And the third plan is the Senate plan, which was taken up by the House partly.
“I believe the Senate needs to show some leadership, step up and take some votes," Speaker McCall said.
The Senate teacher pay raise bill was rejected in the House claims that the numbers are off.
“What this boils down to is making sure that every school receives the money to pay for those teacher pay raises," McCall said. "The Senate did not send enough money in their most recent bill to cover anything.”
The Speaker said fiscal impacts and legal memos from the Department of Education showed the Senate teacher pay plan is hundreds of millions of dollars under-funded, adding that a teacher pay raise would potentially have to come out of school districts' pockets.
The President Pro Tem of the Senate said that's not the case.
"In that bill it appropriated the money for the forumla. And the formula was both the teacher pay raise and the formula dollars that school districts could use more flexibly," President Pro Tem Greg Treat said.
Senator Treat added that while the bill mentions one time stipends for support staff, it's not funded in that particular bill and will need attached legislation.
"We have been very clear with our counterparts across the rotunda that we needed to do that. They knew that. They're not stupid, they're quite intelligent people," Senator Treat said. "They're trying to confuse the situation because we have a better plan."
The conversation could be continued outside of the Capitol. State Superintendent Ryan Walters requested to meet with the Speaker, Governor and Pro Tem on Thursday.
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