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Mangum Star-News
10 NEWS
Legislators file bills curtailing virtual charter schools
BY JENNIFER PALMER
Oklahoma Watch
State lawmakers are
looking to rein in virtual
charter schools.
A number of bills pro-
posed for the 2020 legislative
session, which begins Feb.
3, would limit the flexibility
or funding for virtual char-
ter schools in the state. Sev-
eral proposals seem to tar-
get Epic Charter Schools,
the state’s largest virtual
school, which has drawn
scrutiny for its spending
and enrollment practices
and is under investigation
for alleged fraud. Epic has
denied wrongdoing.
House Bill 3065, by Rep.
Lundy Kiger, R-Poteau,
would limit funding per
virtual charter student to
$3,500 “from all public and
private sources.” Current-
ly, virtual schools receive
the same weighted amount
per student as traditional
schools, but because they
do not receive local reve-
nue, nearly all of it comes
from the state.
House Bill 3066, also by
Kiger, a former educator,
would prohibit charter
schools, including virtual
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charters, from using any
state funding to purchase
advertising. It also would
prohibit virtual school
students from receiving
compensation or financial
incentives for recruiting
other students. Epic spent
more than $2 million on
television and newspaper
advertisements last year;
the school also rewards stu-
dents for referrals through
its “student learning fund,”
an allocation of credit than
can be used on technology,
curriculum and extra-cur-
ricular activities. Epic is
the only school with such a
fund.
Similarly, Senate Bill 1153
by Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee,
a former teacher, would
prohibit all public schools
from spending state fund-
ing on marketing or adver-
tising except under certain
circumstances, such as for
employment opportunities
or school bond elections.
House Bill 3492, by Rep.
Chris Sneed, R-Muskogee,
would prohibit any public
school, including char-
ter and virtual schools,
from using state funds on
private extracurricular
activities for students, in-
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020 MANGUM STAR
cluding gymnastics, music
lessons and athletic per-
formance lessons. It would
also prohibit virtual char-
ter schools from giving bo-
nuses to teachers or other
school staff for recruiting
teachers or students from
another school.
Senate Bill 1097, by J.J.
Dossett, D-Sperry, would
require students seeking
a full-time virtual educa-
tion to enroll in a program
through their local school
district, if offered and if
“equal in scope and con-
tent” to a statewide virtu-
al charter school. Virtual
charter school students en-
rolled by 2022-23 would be
exempt.
Senate Bill 1100 by Sharp
would add responsibilities
to the Statewide Virtual
Charter School Board, the
state agency tasked with
sponsoring all statewide
virtual schools.
The proposal would re-
quire the board to complete
an annual review of each
school’s state aid alloca-
tions and student count, in
compliance with the terms
of their contract and atten-
dance policy, student per-
formance and other items.
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Enid News & Eagle
Sanders reveals teacher
union goals for Okla.
By Jonathan Small
In a recent column pub-
lished by The Oklahoman,
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders,
a self-described socialist,
declared himself connected
at the hip with Oklahoma
teacher unions.
There’s good reason to
take that claim seriously —
the Oklahoma Education
Association’s national par-
ent, the National Education
Association, has given
Sanders an “A” rating for
years — so one should take
seriously Sanders’ agenda
as one shared by his teacher
union comrades.
It’s an agenda that means
more money for the gov-
ernment and less money for
working Oklahoma families
— even though Sanders tries
to pretend otherwise. And
it’s an agenda that would
limit educational opportuni-
ty for Oklahoma children.
Over two years,
Oklahoma lawmakers have
increased K-12 school
Property of OPS News Tracker and members of the Oklahoma Press Association.
appropriations by 20%, fun-
neling $638 million more
into the system for teacher
pay raises and classroom
funding. Much of that fund-
ing came from more than
$1 billion in tax increases
and other revenue measures
passed since 2015.
Sanders says those tax
increases have “not been
nearly enough” and calls
for even more taxes. But
Sanders decries Oklahoma’s
recent tax increases —
explicitly demanded by
Oklahoma teacher unions
— as falling “heavily on
working families.” And he
argues Oklahoma school
problems were caused by
state “tax cuts favoring the
wealthy and large profitable
corporations.” Since 2005,
Oklahoma’s income tax was
cut from 6.65% to 5%. That
tax cut kicks in at $8,700
of taxable income for sin-
gle filers. Who knew that
earning $8,700 made one
“wealthy”?
So Sanders is in the odd
position of praising unions
for forcing Oklahoma tax
increases on working fam-
ilies, even as he decries
those tax increases, and then
argues that tax cuts that ben-
efitted those working fami-
lies were a mistake. Make of
that what you will.
And Sanders says he now
wants additional tax increas-
es — on the “wealthy,” of
course.
Sanders also took aim
at Epic charter schools, an
online provider, saying that
school is “draining” $112
million from public schools,
and declared as president he
would put “a moratorium
on the expansion of charter
schools.”
Never mind that every
dollar spent on a student
at Epic — which is a public
school — would have been
spent on those same students
in other public brick-and-
mortar schools, so there’s no
diversion of funding from
education at all. And never
mind that charter schools
disproportionately serve
low-income and minority
students who would other-
wise not get a quality educa-
tion. Sanders and his teacher
union allies are willing to
sacrifice those children sim-
ply out of ideological pique.
In 2019, Gov. Kevin
Stitt and legislative leaders
chose a different path than
the 2018 teacher-walkout
model that Sanders praises.
Instead of raising taxes,
they increased state sav-
ings — something the OEA
opposed, even though those
savings will protect schools
from budget cuts in future
downturns.
Let’s hope saner heads
continue to prevail in 2020,
because if Sanders and his
teacher-union allies prevail,
the tax-increase drubbing
Oklahomans took in 2018
will become the rule, not the
exception.
Jonathan Small serves as president of
the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
(www.ocpathink.org).