Oklahoma Settles Lawsuit Against Legal Advice; Let’s Charters Raid Public Ed Money
Reporting for Oklahoma Watch, Jennifer Palmer and Whitney Bryan explain the problems inherent in the settlement reached by the state Board of Education last week:
The state Board of Education came to an unexpected resolution in a four-year-old charter school funding lawsuit Thursday in a move the state superintendent and their attorney say sidesteps the Legislature and violates the state constitution.
The resolution, approved by a 4-to-3 vote, allows charter schools to tap into several state and local revenue streams previously off limits to charters, including general fund, building fund and county levies. Currently charter schools only receive state appropriated funds.
Not everyone is on board.
Joy Hofmeister, superintendent of public instruction, delivered a strong rebuke before voting no on the measure.
“Based on legal advice, this violates Oklahoma statute, Oklahoma constitution, and the oath that I swore to uphold when I took office and I do not support this nor do I think the board should vote to approve this settlement, which came in yesterday,” she said.
Even the head of the charter school association was surprised, having assumed that the issue would have to be resolved in court.
You can read the full account of the board’s decision, including a link to the board’s full resolution providing more bad news for Oklahoma schools.