POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
Oklahoma's bridges are rated the nation's worst. Teacher salaries are languishing near the 50-state bottom. Smaller class sizes are but a distant memory. The state's correctional facilities are judged in a new performance audit to be the most decrepit in America...
Where to begin tackling Oklahoma's problems?
Republican legislative leaders have an idea: cut taxes even more.
The state will have but $32 million in extra money to spend this legislative session -- out of a $7 billion-plus budget. Corrections alone needs at least $30 million.
Yet House Speaker Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, told a Tulsa audience Tuesday that "it's proper to keep tax cuts on the table."
Senate Republicans joined the chorus Wednesday when unveiling their 2008 legislative agenda.
Isn't it time for some new material?
Many of today's GOP lawmakers are unabashed government haters. They are tickled pink that $700 million in tax cuts in recent years already is shrinking the state's financial bottom line.
They are convinced government is a nest of thieves and profligate spenders. Their belief is so strong they hired an outside firm to conduct an independent "performance audit" of the state's troubled prison system. They just knew millions of dollars were being wasted.
They are still wiping the egg off their faces from the results: MGT of America Inc. found the prison system is mostly lean, well-managed ... and grossly underfunded.
Cargill argues tax cuts remain an appropriate topic because there is $300 million or so in new revenue this year. It's not clear where he came up with that figure, but whatever the amount, much already is committed to spending on roads/bridges and on the state's successful college scholarship program.
Senate Co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee said he hopes eventually to get Oklahoma's income tax rate [currently at 5.5%] down to 3% or 3.5%.
To their credit, Coffee and Senate Republicans at least say they want to take a hard look at Oklahoma's laundry list of special interest tax breaks and tax incentives as a way to offset the lost income tax revenue.
We've long opposed corporate welfare. Example: We don't think it's right the state's media are tax exempt while mothers pay sales tax on milk for their babies.
Oklahoma's needs are great. Talk of more tax cuts -- especially with the nation's economy slowing -- is nothing but political pandering. It's time to invest in the state and its future, not accelerate a slide into Third World status.
A year ago, Republican lawmakers prescribed a new personal finance course for Oklahoma high school students. Too many don't know the first thing about balancing a checkbook or managing credit cards.
Physician, heal thyself.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
The Enemy?
POSTED BY FROSTY TROY
The Center for Global Development recently released data showing the United States is the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitter, releasing 2.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year.
Many governors are recognizing the seriousness of the U.S. emissions problem and are frustrated with the slow progress of legislation in Washington on energy and global warming.
Several governors have created regional agreements to cap greenhouse gases and are engaged in a concerted lobbying effort to prod Congress to act.
Midwestern states have jointly agreed to reduce carbon emissions, following a meeting of 31 states who decided to measure and jointly track greenhouse gas emissions.
The globe is polluted while the politicians in Washington piddle.
The Center for Global Development recently released data showing the United States is the world's biggest carbon dioxide emitter, releasing 2.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year.
Many governors are recognizing the seriousness of the U.S. emissions problem and are frustrated with the slow progress of legislation in Washington on energy and global warming.
Several governors have created regional agreements to cap greenhouse gases and are engaged in a concerted lobbying effort to prod Congress to act.
Midwestern states have jointly agreed to reduce carbon emissions, following a meeting of 31 states who decided to measure and jointly track greenhouse gas emissions.
The globe is polluted while the politicians in Washington piddle.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Much More
POSTED BY FROSTY TROY
The term "teacher union leader" typically evokes a hard-charging labor activist who shares an adversarial relationship with the school district, is focused solely on protecting members' bread-and-butter interests, and flees from phrases like "school reform."
But a new report based largely on interviews with 30 local union presidents who each have spent less than eight years in office paints an evolved picture of leaders who are often involved in collaborative relationships with their school superintendents.
They have to work together constantly to balance the needs of a new generation of teachers with the needs of older members.
They see the importance of framing arguments for improved salaries and working conditions within the context of improved schools and building a better teaching force.
The unprecedented demands for evidence of student success under state and federal accountability laws have changed the mix.
In this new atmosphere, industrial-style bargaining, which pits one side against the other, is of little use in solving different problems or developing new programs.
There are also challenges from within. Today's union leaders deal with two very different groups of members -- veterans who want to preserve traditional approaches to pay and protections, and new teachers who demand strong support from unions in the first years of teaching, and ongoing training, as well as innovations in pay.
The term "teacher union leader" typically evokes a hard-charging labor activist who shares an adversarial relationship with the school district, is focused solely on protecting members' bread-and-butter interests, and flees from phrases like "school reform."
But a new report based largely on interviews with 30 local union presidents who each have spent less than eight years in office paints an evolved picture of leaders who are often involved in collaborative relationships with their school superintendents.
They have to work together constantly to balance the needs of a new generation of teachers with the needs of older members.
They see the importance of framing arguments for improved salaries and working conditions within the context of improved schools and building a better teaching force.
The unprecedented demands for evidence of student success under state and federal accountability laws have changed the mix.
In this new atmosphere, industrial-style bargaining, which pits one side against the other, is of little use in solving different problems or developing new programs.
There are also challenges from within. Today's union leaders deal with two very different groups of members -- veterans who want to preserve traditional approaches to pay and protections, and new teachers who demand strong support from unions in the first years of teaching, and ongoing training, as well as innovations in pay.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Education of Jeff McMahan
POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
Democrat Jeff McMahan won the only two political races he ever ran – both for state auditor and inspector. Both times he defeated Republican Gary Jones, a former Comanche County commissioner who now serves as the state GOP chairman.
The 2002 and 2006 campaigns were hard-hitting, personal and bitter.
In many ways, the feud is as intense now as it was then.
Jones doesn’t parse his words: He is convinced McMahan is crooked and deserves to be prosecuted. He’s worked tirelessly to tie McMahan to a straw donor scheme involving former longtime state Sen. Gene Stipe. And he’s accused McMahan of being bought by abstractors tied to Stipe and his estranged business partner Steve Phipps.
McMahan says Jones has levied 511 allegations against him so far – all with one goal: Drumming McMahan out of office in hopes it will help Jones win it.
“This comes from a guy … twice defeated by me,” McMahan said, “and he’s still bitter.”
Jones says McMahan’s only hope is to claim he’s the victim of a vendetta because he can’t refute the facts.
In a recent interview in his first-floor state Capitol office, McMahan discussed his on-going battle with Jones and the negative headlines that have dogged his first 4½ years in office.
On Jones’ accusations against him: “They [political opponents] can say anything and they’re not liable. That’s the real sad part about it. They can say anything they want to say about you and they don’t have to be accountable.
“But you know, that’s what scares me about him in this position [auditor]. He lobs those allegations and bombs out with no supporting documentation. What would keep him from doing that to a director of a state agency or a school superintendent? He could hurt a lot of innocent people, would be my concern, if he were sitting in this chair, just because he doesn’t check things out very well.”
On media coverage that links him to straw donors, junkets, failed business ventures and federal investigations: “They’re doing their job. I disagree with it, but they’re doing their job.
“I would hope they would put themselves in the role of being the auditor: We get allegations every day on someone violating the public’s trust, and before we throw it out there to you guys [media], we go check it out – we do an audit – and try to gather up supporting documents.
“And until we’re finished gathering those supporting documents, you won’t hear from us about that issue.
“I would just ask the citizens to play our role a little bit – check it out before they believe anything that comes out of his [Jones’] mouth.”
On his relationship with Steve Phipps, the Kiowa abstractor who recently pleaded guilty to a federal mail fraud count in an investigation of a kickback scheme involving state lawmakers: “I met Mr. Phipps in ’02, the year I was running, when Mr. Scott [former state Auditor Clifton Scott] introduced me to him, and he seemed like a very intelligent man. Never thought he would be doing anything that would contrary to state law.
“He’s never asked me for anything, any favors or anything of that nature.
“I went fishing with him, of course … I went with him and Clif and literally thought that Clif had paid for that trip and found out the day after checking into it, Clif had gotten his checkbook out to pay for it, and Steve had already paid for it. Bonehead decision.”
On his primary job – to ensure tax dollars are spent properly: “That’s what we’ve tried to do. Unfortunately, we’ve stepped on some toes. We’ve stepped on some toes on both sides of the political aisle. But I grew up as a Democrat that tries to choose to do the right thing, regardless, especially in this position.”
On the state motor vehicle audit that identified more than $20 million in potential savings: “When we’re putting our mentally ill out of the streets or they’re ending up in our county jails, and we’re not taking care of our elderly in the nursing homes, but yet we can drive nice suburbans or nice four-door diesel trucks to the state Capitol and back home every day, something’s wrong with that picture. It was a common sense issue.”
On state Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City, introducing a resolution demanding McMahan step aside because of the allegations: “I actually went to see him. He wouldn’t come off the House floor. I sat up there for quite a while and he wouldn’t come out.”
[He said Dank only agreed to meet him later in the office of – and presence of – state state Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa. Dank’s resolution went nowhere in the GOP dominated state House.]
On whether he thinks Jones ever will leave him alone: “It’s an obsession. It’s something I don’t have. It’s something I don’t understand. I don’t think Gary Jones is going away. I think there are a lot of things in the future that may pop up and bite him.
“I think if you give someone like that enough rope, they’ll hang themselves. He can only hurt so many people before somebody calls his hand.
“I could get caught up in a cat fight with him everyday. Who’s that helping? We’re going to continue to do our job. We’re going to keep uncovering fraud, waste and abuse and we’re going to keep receiving national recognition. I think it’s good for Oklahoma. It’s good for our staff.
“Bottom line, I’ll have a record to run on, and it’s going to be good.”
For the full story on Jeff McMahan’s fight for political survival, see “McMahan Besieged: Auditor’s Political Education” on the cover of the July 10/25 issue of The Oklahoma Observer.
Democrat Jeff McMahan won the only two political races he ever ran – both for state auditor and inspector. Both times he defeated Republican Gary Jones, a former Comanche County commissioner who now serves as the state GOP chairman.
The 2002 and 2006 campaigns were hard-hitting, personal and bitter.
In many ways, the feud is as intense now as it was then.
Jones doesn’t parse his words: He is convinced McMahan is crooked and deserves to be prosecuted. He’s worked tirelessly to tie McMahan to a straw donor scheme involving former longtime state Sen. Gene Stipe. And he’s accused McMahan of being bought by abstractors tied to Stipe and his estranged business partner Steve Phipps.
McMahan says Jones has levied 511 allegations against him so far – all with one goal: Drumming McMahan out of office in hopes it will help Jones win it.
“This comes from a guy … twice defeated by me,” McMahan said, “and he’s still bitter.”
Jones says McMahan’s only hope is to claim he’s the victim of a vendetta because he can’t refute the facts.
In a recent interview in his first-floor state Capitol office, McMahan discussed his on-going battle with Jones and the negative headlines that have dogged his first 4½ years in office.
On Jones’ accusations against him: “They [political opponents] can say anything and they’re not liable. That’s the real sad part about it. They can say anything they want to say about you and they don’t have to be accountable.
“But you know, that’s what scares me about him in this position [auditor]. He lobs those allegations and bombs out with no supporting documentation. What would keep him from doing that to a director of a state agency or a school superintendent? He could hurt a lot of innocent people, would be my concern, if he were sitting in this chair, just because he doesn’t check things out very well.”
On media coverage that links him to straw donors, junkets, failed business ventures and federal investigations: “They’re doing their job. I disagree with it, but they’re doing their job.
“I would hope they would put themselves in the role of being the auditor: We get allegations every day on someone violating the public’s trust, and before we throw it out there to you guys [media], we go check it out – we do an audit – and try to gather up supporting documents.
“And until we’re finished gathering those supporting documents, you won’t hear from us about that issue.
“I would just ask the citizens to play our role a little bit – check it out before they believe anything that comes out of his [Jones’] mouth.”
On his relationship with Steve Phipps, the Kiowa abstractor who recently pleaded guilty to a federal mail fraud count in an investigation of a kickback scheme involving state lawmakers: “I met Mr. Phipps in ’02, the year I was running, when Mr. Scott [former state Auditor Clifton Scott] introduced me to him, and he seemed like a very intelligent man. Never thought he would be doing anything that would contrary to state law.
“He’s never asked me for anything, any favors or anything of that nature.
“I went fishing with him, of course … I went with him and Clif and literally thought that Clif had paid for that trip and found out the day after checking into it, Clif had gotten his checkbook out to pay for it, and Steve had already paid for it. Bonehead decision.”
On his primary job – to ensure tax dollars are spent properly: “That’s what we’ve tried to do. Unfortunately, we’ve stepped on some toes. We’ve stepped on some toes on both sides of the political aisle. But I grew up as a Democrat that tries to choose to do the right thing, regardless, especially in this position.”
On the state motor vehicle audit that identified more than $20 million in potential savings: “When we’re putting our mentally ill out of the streets or they’re ending up in our county jails, and we’re not taking care of our elderly in the nursing homes, but yet we can drive nice suburbans or nice four-door diesel trucks to the state Capitol and back home every day, something’s wrong with that picture. It was a common sense issue.”
On state Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City, introducing a resolution demanding McMahan step aside because of the allegations: “I actually went to see him. He wouldn’t come off the House floor. I sat up there for quite a while and he wouldn’t come out.”
[He said Dank only agreed to meet him later in the office of – and presence of – state state Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa. Dank’s resolution went nowhere in the GOP dominated state House.]
On whether he thinks Jones ever will leave him alone: “It’s an obsession. It’s something I don’t have. It’s something I don’t understand. I don’t think Gary Jones is going away. I think there are a lot of things in the future that may pop up and bite him.
“I think if you give someone like that enough rope, they’ll hang themselves. He can only hurt so many people before somebody calls his hand.
“I could get caught up in a cat fight with him everyday. Who’s that helping? We’re going to continue to do our job. We’re going to keep uncovering fraud, waste and abuse and we’re going to keep receiving national recognition. I think it’s good for Oklahoma. It’s good for our staff.
“Bottom line, I’ll have a record to run on, and it’s going to be good.”
For the full story on Jeff McMahan’s fight for political survival, see “McMahan Besieged: Auditor’s Political Education” on the cover of the July 10/25 issue of The Oklahoma Observer.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Nothing New
POSTED BY FROSTY TROY
Here's a news flash: Women get paid less than men. OK, so that's not anything new. Even just a year out of college, women earn 20% less than male counterparts.
Ten years after graduation, the pay gap gets worse with women earning 69% of what men earn, according to a new study by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation.
The group analyzed two surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. The studies provide nationally representative information on the lives of two groups of college students.
One study followed about 9,000 bachelor's degree graduates from 1992 to 1993 for 10 years after college. The second examined the 10,000 four-year degree recipients of the 1999-2000 class for one year.
These pay differences that appear early in female careers are so important because pay wages and job offers are based on previous earnings. Over time, they become cemented and the differences continue to grow.
The study found many women major in subjects that traditionally pay less, such as education, but the pay gap exists among men and women who concentrate in the same area, though the size of the gap varies.
In education, for instance, women earn 5% less than their male colleagues in the first year after graduation.
Accounting for hours, occupation, parenthood and other factors, it was found that one-quarter of the wage disparity is unexplainable and may be due to discrimination.
The study suggests several ways to close the pay disparity, including encouraging women to enter careers in traditionally male-dominated and higher-paying occupations such as mathematics and science; creating awareness among women to negotiate for better pay; and promoting family-friendly policies in the workplace.
Female students must have such knowledge in order to deal with the issue. They have to be more educated in what they can do, and professions that they are not going into as females.
Here's a news flash: Women get paid less than men. OK, so that's not anything new. Even just a year out of college, women earn 20% less than male counterparts.
Ten years after graduation, the pay gap gets worse with women earning 69% of what men earn, according to a new study by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation.
The group analyzed two surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. The studies provide nationally representative information on the lives of two groups of college students.
One study followed about 9,000 bachelor's degree graduates from 1992 to 1993 for 10 years after college. The second examined the 10,000 four-year degree recipients of the 1999-2000 class for one year.
These pay differences that appear early in female careers are so important because pay wages and job offers are based on previous earnings. Over time, they become cemented and the differences continue to grow.
The study found many women major in subjects that traditionally pay less, such as education, but the pay gap exists among men and women who concentrate in the same area, though the size of the gap varies.
In education, for instance, women earn 5% less than their male colleagues in the first year after graduation.
Accounting for hours, occupation, parenthood and other factors, it was found that one-quarter of the wage disparity is unexplainable and may be due to discrimination.
The study suggests several ways to close the pay disparity, including encouraging women to enter careers in traditionally male-dominated and higher-paying occupations such as mathematics and science; creating awareness among women to negotiate for better pay; and promoting family-friendly policies in the workplace.
Female students must have such knowledge in order to deal with the issue. They have to be more educated in what they can do, and professions that they are not going into as females.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Abortion Politics
POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
Three things you need to know about SB 139, the Legislature-approved, mean-spirited anti-abortion bill that is ostensibly aimed at ensuring state tax dollars do not pay for the procedure:
1. Anti-abortion zealots – mostly Republicans, backed by religious fundamentalists – could not present a single shred of evidence that elective abortions are being performed at taxpayers’ expense at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center.
A crisis in need of a solution? Hardly. This is pure politics. This is about the 2008 elections – and beyond.
It’s much easier in Bible-belt Oklahoma to demagogue the abortion issue in a 30-second TV spot, a pamphlet or a church voters guide than it is to explain that this bill doesn’t really end abortion, why it damages one of our state’s crown jewels – the OU Health Sciences Center – and why it’s unfair to poor women who don’t have options in the event of a troubled pregnancy.
Besides, aren’t Republicans supposed to be against government intrusion? What could be worse for a true conservative than government meddling in one of the most sacred relationships – between patient and doctor.
2. This version won converts because it includes exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
But what nobody seems to be discussing is that the bill requires rape and incest victims to report the crime to law enforcement before they can be eligible for this treatment. Rape and incest are two of the most under-reported crimes for a reason: Many still fear being stigmatized.
Haven’t these the women been through enough? Can you imagine a young girl being forced to turn her father or brother into police in order to be helped medically?
3. Rep. Rebecca Hamilton, D-OKC, is persona non grata in the House Democratic Caucus because of her role in refashioning SB 139 into an anti-abortion bill.
It put some colleagues in the terrible position of having to vote on this issue for a second time this session [SB 714, which included even more restrictive language, passed both houses earlier, only to be vetoed by Gov. Brad Henry].
As mentioned earlier, it is too easy to demagogue this issue. Hamilton’s anti-abortion zealotry played into the Republicans’ hands, giving them a cheap – but oft-times effective – campaign issue to browbeat some of her colleagues.
House Democrats won’t soon forget the betrayal.
Finally: What will Gov. Henry do with SB 139?
Best guess: He will sign it. The measure passed both houses by what would appear to be veto-proof margins.
Three things you need to know about SB 139, the Legislature-approved, mean-spirited anti-abortion bill that is ostensibly aimed at ensuring state tax dollars do not pay for the procedure:
1. Anti-abortion zealots – mostly Republicans, backed by religious fundamentalists – could not present a single shred of evidence that elective abortions are being performed at taxpayers’ expense at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center.
A crisis in need of a solution? Hardly. This is pure politics. This is about the 2008 elections – and beyond.
It’s much easier in Bible-belt Oklahoma to demagogue the abortion issue in a 30-second TV spot, a pamphlet or a church voters guide than it is to explain that this bill doesn’t really end abortion, why it damages one of our state’s crown jewels – the OU Health Sciences Center – and why it’s unfair to poor women who don’t have options in the event of a troubled pregnancy.
Besides, aren’t Republicans supposed to be against government intrusion? What could be worse for a true conservative than government meddling in one of the most sacred relationships – between patient and doctor.
2. This version won converts because it includes exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
But what nobody seems to be discussing is that the bill requires rape and incest victims to report the crime to law enforcement before they can be eligible for this treatment. Rape and incest are two of the most under-reported crimes for a reason: Many still fear being stigmatized.
Haven’t these the women been through enough? Can you imagine a young girl being forced to turn her father or brother into police in order to be helped medically?
3. Rep. Rebecca Hamilton, D-OKC, is persona non grata in the House Democratic Caucus because of her role in refashioning SB 139 into an anti-abortion bill.
It put some colleagues in the terrible position of having to vote on this issue for a second time this session [SB 714, which included even more restrictive language, passed both houses earlier, only to be vetoed by Gov. Brad Henry].
As mentioned earlier, it is too easy to demagogue this issue. Hamilton’s anti-abortion zealotry played into the Republicans’ hands, giving them a cheap – but oft-times effective – campaign issue to browbeat some of her colleagues.
House Democrats won’t soon forget the betrayal.
Finally: What will Gov. Henry do with SB 139?
Best guess: He will sign it. The measure passed both houses by what would appear to be veto-proof margins.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
New Survey
POSTED BY FROSTY TROY
The National School Boards Association's Council of Urban Boards of Education has released findings of a major research study, Where We Teach, which surveyed how teachers and administrators feel about their urban school environments.
A majority of urban teachers and building administrators hold high expectations for students and care whether students are successful.
The survey found that nearly one-third of teachers and nearly 16% of administrators agree that students at their schools are not motivated to learn.
Nearly one-quarter of teachers also agree that most students at their school would not be successful at a community college or university.
Among the major findings is that while most teachers and administrators in the survey believe they can deter bullying in their schools, the majority believe that bullying still goes on at least once a month.
Three-quarters of teachers disagree that racial barriers to educational and economic opportunity no longer exist in the U.S.
While parent involvement is known to be one of the indicators of success for students, teachers and administrators differ in their perceptions of parent involvement.
While 81% of administrators agree that parents support their school and activities, only 57% of teachers agree with that perception.
Teachers know – but most remain mum – that the biggest obstacle, especially for minority children, is sorry parenting. All the "reforms" in the world won't improve the situation until parenting improves.
The National School Boards Association's Council of Urban Boards of Education has released findings of a major research study, Where We Teach, which surveyed how teachers and administrators feel about their urban school environments.
A majority of urban teachers and building administrators hold high expectations for students and care whether students are successful.
The survey found that nearly one-third of teachers and nearly 16% of administrators agree that students at their schools are not motivated to learn.
Nearly one-quarter of teachers also agree that most students at their school would not be successful at a community college or university.
Among the major findings is that while most teachers and administrators in the survey believe they can deter bullying in their schools, the majority believe that bullying still goes on at least once a month.
Three-quarters of teachers disagree that racial barriers to educational and economic opportunity no longer exist in the U.S.
While parent involvement is known to be one of the indicators of success for students, teachers and administrators differ in their perceptions of parent involvement.
While 81% of administrators agree that parents support their school and activities, only 57% of teachers agree with that perception.
Teachers know – but most remain mum – that the biggest obstacle, especially for minority children, is sorry parenting. All the "reforms" in the world won't improve the situation until parenting improves.
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