Currently making its inglorious way through the rancid pile of poop that is the Oklahoma State Legislature is a little doozy innocuously entitled Senate Bill 1187.
This is being promoted under the banner of freeing Public School Districts of the enormous burden that is Government Regulation. As this state has implemented, and encouraged both Charter and Private Schools thus unfettered, it is clearly only appropriate that our Public School be allowed to compete on a level playing field (We understand this in Oklahoma. Playing fields are pretty much the only thing we are good on).
We have, over the years, been assaulted by many, many proposals and laws that have failed miserably to raise standards in the Sooner State … No Child Left Behind, Race To The Top, Common Core Standards … and we spurn them all.
To counter this, our fearless leaders, wise men and women all, have come up with our own solution. I think I’ll call it Race To The Bottom, and I feel confident that that is one race we can win.
SB 1187 passed out of the Uneducation Committee. It may or may not become law, but just so the rest of the country can laugh at us, and who doesn’t need a good laugh at times, here are some of the things it proposes:
Senators Jolley and Brecheen changed much of the key language in SB 1187, which just passed out of the Senate Education Committee. SB 1187 allows school districts to request an exemption from the State Board of Education from all statutory requirements and State Board of Education rules of which charter schools are currently exempt. The following may result from the passage of this bill:
Elimination of the teacher's minimum salary schedule.
Elimination of the requirement for school districts to participate in the Oklahoma Teacher's Retirement System (OTRS).
Elimination of school district provided health insurance.
Elimination of criminal background checks on school employees.
Elimination of teacher evaluation and due process protections.
Elimination of payroll deduction.
Elimination of due process protections for support staff.
Elimination of all certification requirements for all school district positions.
Elimination of negotiations between a school district and employees.
Elimination of student curriculum requirements.
Elimination of required continuing education for local board of education members.
I don’t know which is more shocking. That they would do this to Public Schools, or that Charter and Private Schools are already allowed to do this.
Maybe now my friends and neighbors will believe me when I again try to tell them that the GOP really does want to end Public Education, and privatize the bits that remain.