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Oklahoma Engaged is a multi-platform project focused on election coverage. As a public service journalism collaboration of KGOU, KOSU, KWGS, KCCU, and StateImpact Oklahoma, the reporting includes community stories, audio reports, snapshots, state question breakdowns, profiles, videos, and more. Major support is provided by the Inasmuch Foundation, the Kirkpatrick Foundation, and Oklahoma Humanities.

Is A Sales Tax The Solution To Oklahoma's Education Funding Problems?

empty classroom
Jacob McCleland
/
KGOU

Oklahoma teachers haven’t received a statewide pay raise in eight years. But this November, voters will have a chance to boost teacher pay if they approve State Question 779.

It would fund the raises through a one percent sales tax. Education advocates say this could prevent teachers from fleeing the state, or the profession for better paying jobs. But opponents argue the proposal would create an entirely different set of problems.

THE CASE FOR MORE FUNDING

There’s a fairly widespread consensus in Oklahoma that education needs more funding.

Many Oklahoma classrooms are overcrowded. Teachers are leaving. And a majority of replacement teachers are under-qualified.

State revenue shortfalls have left school budgets so tight that classes are being cut. Some districts are going to a four-day-week to save money.

“Yes, it’s a problem,” said Dr. Marc Moore, Superintendent of Stillwater Public Schools. “I don’t think we have the resources that we need to meet the educational standards in Oklahoma.”

Moore has been an administrator in Oklahoma for 15 years. He’s been through multiple financial ups and downs and said it’s time the state develops a long-term strategic plan to fund education and raise teacher pay.

“We need to, as a state, figure out how to keep highly qualified, highly engaged teachers in the classroom,” Moore said. “Part of that is going to be money; Part of it’s going to be working conditions.”

STATE QUESTION 779

One solution is on the table and it’s State Question 779, championed by University of Oklahoma president David Boren. It’s a proposal to raise sales taxes one percent in order to fund different aspects of education, and voters will see it on the ballot in November.

The tax is projected to raise about $615 million per year, which would go in to an ‘Oklahoma Education Improvement Fund’ and be distributed by the legislature. If State Question 779 passes it would create a constitutional amendment that stipulates all teachers get a $5,000 raise starting in the 2017-2018 school year.

Furthermore, all school districts would recieve money to improve grade-level reading, college and career readiness, and high school graduation rates. Oklahoma’s public universities would get about 20 percent of the funds to reduce tuition costs. Career Tech would receive about $2 million per year, and the rest would go to early childhood education programs for low-income and at-risk children.

Read the ballot language here

Lori Dickinson is the Executive Director of the Edmond Public Schools Foundation, and she said this is the first step to keep teachers in the profession, and in Oklahoma.

“It does not fix, but it stops the bleeding, and it does give immediate hope, especially to the teacher crisis we have right now," Dickinson said.

Dickinson said state funding hasn’t kept up with student enrollment growth and she worries that if this doesn’t pass, academic achievement will slide.

“We can’t continue to have the cuts we’ve had and see continued excellence during that same time period,” Dickinson said.

State Question 779 is currently the only plan to offer financial relief for school districts, but it is far from a slam dunk, and has generated a lot of opposition.

BAD FOR BUSINESS?

Passing State Question 779 will make Oklahoma’s sales tax among the highest in the nation. In some cities, it would push the rate to over 10 percent. Some opponents worry that a high sales tax hurts those with a low income the most. Others say it will harm the economy.

Stillwater City Councilman Will Joyce fears city governments will suffer. He said municipalities use sales taxes to fix streets and pay for local services.

“We won’t be able to consider saying, let’s add a half-cent to pay for a new fire station which this town desperately needs,” Joyce said

He also worries the high sales tax will drive customers away from local stores and toward the internet, which will ultimately decrease his city’s sales tax collections.

“We can only assume that the higher the sales tax is, the more incentive that is for people to go places where they don’t have to pay the sales tax, which is Amazon, or an online retailer,” Joyce said.

At Merrifield Office Supply in downtown Stillwater, owner Joe Merrifield agreed a higher sales tax would create a challenge for him.

“We were up against a sale on two chairs that were $2,000 each... and when you factor in the sales tax on a $4,000 sale, I am $340 to $350 dollars behind when we start the quoting process," Merrifield said”

But that isn’t Merrifield’s biggest concern with State Question 779. He’s a big believer in public education, and wants to see it fully funded. But he doesn’t think a sales tax is the way to do it. He wishes the state would raise property taxes instead.

“I’m telling you to tax me more than others,” Merrifield said.

IS THERE ANOTHER SOLUTION?

Joyce said state legislators have the power to make something happen, but so far, they haven’t.

“The legislature needs to do its job and fund the school system through the recurring revenue that the state collects, Joyce said.

House Appropriations and Budget Committee Chairman Earl Sears, R-Bartlesville, does not deny that education needs more funding. But he said it’s going to be tough to achieve in this era of low oil and gas prices.

According to Sears, it’s an uphill battle to raise taxes in the legislature, and he doesn’t want to cut funding from other services. So he hopes to find money for teacher raises by reforming tax credits and exemptions.

He asked Oklahomans for patience.

“I personally believe they need to give us more time to try to work through all these position to see if we can make this thing happen,” Sears said. “I’d prefer doing it that way and not raise the sales tax.” 

But those in favor of State Question 779 say the ballot proposal is a way to circumvent legislature, and there’s not enough time to wait.

Oklahoma Engagedis a collaborative series between KGOU and KOSU, with support from the Kirkpatrick Foundation

In graduate school at the University of Montana, Emily Wendler focused on Environmental Science and Natural Resource reporting with an emphasis on agriculture. About halfway through her Master’s program a professor introduced her to radio and she fell in love. She has since reported for KBGA, the University of Montana’s college radio station and Montana’s PBS Newsbrief. She was a finalist in a national in-depth radio reporting competition for an investigatory piece she produced on campus rape. She also produced in-depth reports on wind energy and local food for Montana Public Radio. She is very excited to be working in Oklahoma City, and you can hear her work on all things from education to agriculture right here on KOSU.
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