{"id":30850,"date":"2018-10-11T17:40:37","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T22:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=30850"},"modified":"2018-10-12T17:02:15","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T22:02:15","slug":"educators-wary-of-political-hopefuls-promising-school-funding-without-tax-increases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/10\/11\/educators-wary-of-political-hopefuls-promising-school-funding-without-tax-increases\/","title":{"rendered":"Educators wary of political hopefuls promising school funding without tax increases"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_30856\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30856\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/AlbertoMorejon_WEB-1920x1280.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/AlbertoMorejon_WEB-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/AlbertoMorejon_WEB-672x448.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/AlbertoMorejon_WEB-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/AlbertoMorejon_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/AlbertoMorejon_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/AlbertoMorejon_WEB-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/AlbertoMorejon_WEB-1620x1080.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Emily Wendler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alberto Morejon is an 8th-grade teacher in Stillwater Public Schools.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Public school teachers are watching closely as Oklahoma gubernatorial candidates promote and debate their plans for improving health care, tax policy and education.<\/p><p>Alberto Morejon is one of them.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/512998422&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p>Morejon is an 8th-grade teacher at Stillwater Public Schools largely credited with organizing the teacher walkout in April. He now runs a Facebook page with nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/257970398074287\/members\/\">80,000\u00a0<\/a>followers, many of them Oklahoma educators.<\/p><p>More than anything, teachers want to hear candidates detail how they\u2019re going to increase funding for schools, Morejon said<\/p><p>\u201cThe No. 1 action they can take in this next session is finding ways to give us back the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars they took away over the past 10 to 15 years,\u201d he said.<\/p><p>Morejon said Oklahoma teachers are tired of lip-service from politicians they feel have failed to keep promises to increase funding. Throughout the 2018 election cycle, educators have sent strong signals they\u2019re ready for change: Teachers are running for office, and a coalition of educators have worked to vote out 12 incumbents.<\/p><p>But one rising political outsider who opposes a key issue among many teachers is having trouble getting their support.<\/p>\n<h3>Skeptical teachers<\/h3><p>Oklahoma\u2019s two leading gubernatorial candidates, Republican Kevin Stitt and Democrat Drew Edmondson, have both pledged to increase funding for schools.<\/p><p>But Morejon said many educators aren\u2019t clear how Stitt will deliver on that promise.<\/p><p>Stitt, a self-styled political outsider who owns a mortgage company, supported the teacher pay raise lawmakers approved in the 2018 legislative session, but said he would not have signed the $450 million tax package lawmakers passed to fund those raises.<\/p><p>\u201cThat to me just shows he has no idea of the situation that we\u2019re in,\u201d Morejon said.<\/p><p>Over the past decade, Oklahoma schools have experienced some of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbpp.org\/research\/state-budget-and-tax\/after-nearly-a-decade-school-investments-still-way-down-in-some-states\">deepest funding cuts\u00a0<\/a>in the nation, and teachers saw the tax package as the only practical fix. Educators <em>c<\/em>ontinued to fight for even more tax increases and school funding during the nine-day teacher walkout but were ultimately unsuccessful.<\/p><p>Stitt said he wants to increase teacher pay further and is campaigning with a plan that gives new teachers a $5,000 signing bonus starting next year. But the Tulsa Republican is adamant such new education costs could be funded without a tax increase.<\/p><p>Lawmakers will have more revenue to appropriate to state agencies in 2019 than they did last year, and Stitt proposes using some of that money to fund another teacher pay raise.<\/p><p>\u201cI don\u2019t even know why we would be talking about new taxes when we\u2019ve got a billion dollars more in revenue,\u201d he said in an interview with StateImpact.<\/p><p>Stitt said he\u2019ll find additional money for education by consolidating state agencies and eliminating government waste.<\/p><p>He also wants to change the way schools are funded.<\/p><p>\u201cWe have got to change our funding formula,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to revise it. I\u2019m not gonna put a Band-Aid on this. I want to fix this so the teachers have funding for 2025 and 2030, and they know there\u2019s consistency with where [money] is gonna come from.\u201d<\/p><p>Stitt said public school officials are too restricted in how they can spend property taxes and wants to give them more flexibility with those dollars.<\/p><p>He also thinks local leaders should be allowed to increase funding for teacher pay and other local district operations by voting to raise their property taxes \u2014 something they can\u2019t currently do.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30851\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-30851\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/KevinStitt_WEB-e1539297248494-1920x1119.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1119\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/KevinStitt_WEB-e1539297248494-1920x1119.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/KevinStitt_WEB-e1539297248494-672x392.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/KevinStitt_WEB-e1539297248494-768x447.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/KevinStitt_WEB-e1539297248494-150x87.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/KevinStitt_WEB-e1539297248494-300x175.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/KevinStitt_WEB-e1539297248494-620x361.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2018\/10\/KevinStitt_WEB-e1539297248494-1854x1080.jpg 1854w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Emily Wendler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Stitt promotes his plan for education at the Oklahoma State School Boards Conference in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Holding the football<\/h3><p>Rob Reck, a retired music teacher of more than 30 years, is among the educators with doubts about the Republican candidate\u2019s plan for funding schools.<\/p><p>\u201cWhen I see our failures over the past 10 years in state government, that is pretty much what I hear from Kevin Stitt,\u201d he said.<\/p><p>Reck, a conservative who\u2019s only voted for a Democratic governor once before, plans to vote for Drew Edmondson in November. Reck thinks the Muskogee Democrat has a more clear-cut plan for how the state should increase revenue and send more money to schools.<\/p><p>Edmondson\u2019s plan satisfies many demands laid out by educators after the walkout. He promotes raising taxes on oil and gas production, cigarettes and eliminating the capital gains tax deduction.<\/p><p>Reck compares Stitt\u2019s education plan to the running gag in the \u201cPeanuts\u201d animated television series where Lucy repeatedly entices Charlie Brown to kick a football, but then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=055wFyO6gag\">pulls it away\u00a0<\/a>at the last moment, causing Charlie to fall.<\/p><p>Reck says Lucy holding the football represents politicians\u2019 promises to increase school funding by auditing state agencies and finding waste in government, and Charlie is a stand-in for teachers who have believed for years that this method will turn up more funding.<\/p><p>\u201cTeachers have been down this road,\u201d he said, \u201cI think if we get somebody else to hold that football we\u2019ll be a little better off.\u201d<\/p><p>Reck says he trusts Edmondson\u2019s plan to increase school funding because it mirrors the only thing that has led to additional school funding in recent years: tax increases.<\/p><p>\u201cI do think we need some tax increases,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I think there\u2019s a limit.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Stitt support<\/h3><p>While school funding is a top concern on many Oklahomans\u2019 minds this election season, it isn\u2019t the only issue worrying the public \u2014 and Stitt\u2019s message is resonating with many voters.<\/p><p>Justin Wood, a mediator from Wellston and a Democrat, plans to vote for Stitt on Nov. 6.<\/p><p>\u201cI believe Stitt is the better choice for Oklahoma,\u201d he said.<\/p><p>Wood sees corruption as the biggest problem plaguing Oklahoma government, and he says establishment politicians like Edmonson \u2014 a former district attorney and state attorney general \u2014 haven\u2019t done enough to stop misuse of public funds and root out waste and fraud.<\/p><p>Wood likes Stitt\u2019s proposal that would require lawmakers to publish a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stittforgovernor.com\/issues\/\">line-item budge<\/a>t, which he thinks could reduce corruption and turn up more cash for state agencies.<\/p><p>\u201cAll the public entities that are using public funds, he wants to put them online for the people to see. And he wants it detailed. If you spent $50 million, what did you spend it on?\u201d Wood said.<\/p><p>Wood also likes Stitt\u2019s proposals to help schools incorporate more technology into their classrooms, such as video conferencing to give students in rural districts access to advanced classes \u2014 an idea he said is innovative and efficient with public tax dollars.<\/p>\n<h3>Vote approaching<\/h3><p>Recent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.news9.com\/story\/39072182\/exclusive-news-9-poll-examines-race-for-governor\">polls\u00a0<\/a>show Stitt with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tulsaworld.com\/news\/elections\/mixed-polling-in-oklahoma-governor-s-race-republican-kevin-stitt\/article_2d6f71ab-2263-5418-b876-f620f3375d18.html\">a small lead\u00a0<\/a>over Edmondson, and Libertarian candidate Chris Powell trailing a distant third.<\/p><p>Alberto Morejon, the teacher from Stillwater Public Schools, is encouraging the people that follow his Facebook page to do their research and avoid voting based on party alone.<\/p><p>\u201cWe can\u2019t sit on the couch and just watch those crazy commercials. We have to do research,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to vote in the best person for the job.\u201d<\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Educators have proven to be a powerful force throughout the primaries and a rising political outsider who opposes a key issue among many teachers is having trouble getting their support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":30856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"page-noFeature.php","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[974,976,975,758],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30850"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30865,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30850\/revisions\/30865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}