Education Funding

I went to my very first protest today in Oklahoma City. We met outside the Cox Center to try to draw attention to the bleak future of public education in Oklahoma.
Let me just state some of the thoughts that have been going through my mind and reveal some of the arguments I heard today against the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Oklahoma.
Dr. Baressi is a dentist who thinks she has the answers that will fix the problem in public education in Oklahoma. At this point all we have heard from her office since she began her term is how much reform is needed to fix education. I talked to two friends who are administrators in a different school district. Both of them said that they can't get information from the State Department. Everything seems to be shrouded in secrecy. Is it secrecy, or is it possible that nobody really knows what needs to be done? Is it possible that now that her people have found out the parameters that they must work under, they realize that they don't really have a plan?
We all know that there are some changes that need to be made, but our current state administration seems to believe that we should be able to do more with less, so they release mandates and cut programs that help schools meet the mandates.
One of the decisions Dr. Baressi has made is to cut out the National Board bonus that the state promised to pay. I know that she (like all politicians) will say that cuts have to be made, but why NBCT? The state agreed to pay $5000 per year to any teacher who successfully went through the National Certification process. This certification is over and above the required Oklahoma certification requirements. I spent one year examining my teaching practices and evaluating everything I do in my classroom to see if it measures up to the best practices in education. I videotaped my lessons, prepared a portfolio, and took subject matter examinations to prove that I was worthy to wear the NBCT label. I did my part. A couple of weeks ago we learned that the remaining bonuses will not be paid. I'm at the end of my ten year certification, so it will not impact me as much as some of the people who have been recently certified. My heart breaks for them. Some of them will not find out until November if they achieved certification, but instead of getting a $5000 bonus in January, they will get a certificate to hang on the wall. Not the same, is it?
I listened to various stories today that I will now share.
Some teachers decided to pursue National Board instead of getting a master's because it would be more financially profitable. Now, time has passed, and they do not have a master's, and they get nothing for being NBCT.
One teacher said that it has taken eleven years for her to get to the regular teacher salary that she made in Georgia eleven years ago. That was her reason for going after National Board. She wanted to get closer to her previous salary.
The state of Oklahoma spends almost four times each year to incarcerate a prisoner than it does to educate a child.
Dr. Baressi stated that she hoped the local district would honor the $5000 bonus. I did not make an agreement with my local district. They only way the local district can do that is to cut other areas. In our district the number of NBCTs are about the equivalent of two beginning teacher salaries. If we use that money, every teacher and student in our district will suffer with larger class sizes. I do not know one teacher who is willing to do that to our district.
According to one teacher today, the schools have been told that they can use money earmarked for textbooks to pay the bonuses. Really? We're going to continue to use old textbooks...that's not too big a problem in my area. Literature doesn't change, but let a science or history teacher use a textbook for fourteen years instead of the usual seven years, and students will be shortchanged.
Next to my faith, my conviction in free public education is a cornerstone of my belief system. I believe that every American student should be provided with opportunity. Opportunity is provided through education. Quality education costs money.
I left Oklahoma City today feeling very frustrated, but I've decided that I will continue to be vocal. This was just step one.