Careful with funding formula
In his State of the State speech, Gov. Kevin Stitt called for updating Oklahoma's school funding formula, which determines how state appropriations are divided among the hundreds of school districts in Oklahoma. While review and revision may be warranted, lawmakers need to make sure any updates don't inadvertently shift spending decisions from the Capitol to courtrooms.
We raise this concern because Stitt said funding formula changes should “take the handcuffs off local communities wanting to compete, recruit, and retain the very best teachers” and allow “communities to do more for their students without being penalized with the loss of state support.”
Under the current system, districts with strong local property tax collections receive less in state appropriations to better equalize total per-pupil spending across the state. It appears Stitt wants to let communities hike property taxes to support local schools without the offsetting reduction in state funding.
Yet if that change effectively creates disparities between “rich” and “poor” districts that are even greater than what already occurs, it opens the doors to lawsuits challenging the system as a violation of the Oklahoma Constitution's requirement for an equitable education system. And that, in turn, could lead to education funding decisions being dictated by judges, as often occurs in other states, rather than the lawmakers elected to make those choices. Judicial direction of state spending on schools would also indirectly impact funding for all other areas of government.
Lawmakers should proceed with caution.
Minimum wage and local control
One item on legislative Democrats' to-do list this session is to let municipalities increase their minimum wage. A bill approved in 2014 by the Republicancontrolled Legislature bans this option. The bill was a response to an effort that year to let Oklahoma City voters decide whether they wanted a higher minimum wage. In signing the bill, former Gov. Mary Fallin said that mandating local minimum wage increases would “drive businesses to other communities and states, and would raise prices for consumers.” She was right, but there was no need for the Legislature to take the decision out of the hands of municipalities. The Democrats' effort to undo that law is unlikely to succeed. However, if cities want to boost their minimum wage and thus potentially put themselves at an economic disadvantage with other cities, then that should be their prerogative, not the Legislature's.
Political infighting in Virginia
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is under fire for a photo in his medical school yearbook that indicates Northam attended a party dressed either in blackface or as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Northam's explanations have shifted and been incoherent at times. Thus, he faces calls to resign. Meanwhile, Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is under scrutiny after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2004. Fairfax claims the encounter was consensual. When asked if Northam or his supporters may have leaked the assault allegation, Fairfax appeared to blame the governor. “Does anybody think it's any coincidence that on the eve of potentially my being elevated that that's when this uncorroborated smear comes out?” Fairfax said. Northam and Fairfax are both Democrats. Oklahoma politicians have generated plenty of scandals, bad publicity and public embarrassment in recent years. But this problem is not unique to Oklahoma.
Commissioner stirring the pot?
As a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Kevin Calvey wasn't shy about making a point. One instance occurred in 2014, during debate about judicial pay. Calvey said that if he wasn't a Christian, he would set himself on fire to protest state Supreme Court rulings that thwarted legislative efforts to restrict abortions. Last Saturday morning, Calvey, a newly elected Oklahoma County commissioner, led a group of 18 people to do a head count at the county jail. They were turned away, with Sheriff P.D. Taylor citing security concerns for such a large party. Another new commissioner, Carrie Blumert, called the visit political posturing designed to cause a stir. “In my opinion, that's not what we need to fix our jail and to fix our criminal justice system,” Blumert said on Twitter. She's right. We don't doubt Calvey's motive — he ran on a promise to make county government more accountable — but his method in this instance left something to be desired.
Odd attack on GHW Bush's legacy
Legacy Park at Hampton University, a historically black university, features statues of prominent Americans, including Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. A statue of former President George H.W. Bush was recently added. Officials cited Bush's support of the United Negro College Fund going as far back as the 1940s when Bush was an undergraduate at Yale University. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., is among those who want Bush's statue removed. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Clay argues that Bush's legacy “really damaged the African-American community,” pointing specifically to Bush's “appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court” when Thurgood Marshall stepped down. To recap: Bush, who supported black causes long before the civil rights marches of the 1960s, should not be honored by a historically black school … because he appointed a black man to the U.S. Supreme Court. You really can't make this stuff up.