Education

An Unintended Consequence Worth Praying For

February 1, 2010

Brandon Dutcher

"Oklahoma may or may not finish this fiscal year in the black," I wrote last summer in Urban Tulsa Weekly, "and the consensus seems to be that next year's budget situation will be worse. ... And there's one proposal-an item on next year's crowded ballot-that is certain to cause headaches. Leaders of the state's most powerful labor union, the Oklahoma Education Association, are asking taxpayers for an additional $850 million annual bailout. It's called the HOPE initiative

[SQ 744], a proposed constitutional amendment that would require the Legislature to increase per-pupil spending to the regional average.

"‘Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,' the proverb says, ‘and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.' Wouldn't it be ironic if the teacher union's irresponsible ploy forced legislators to save money via school choice?