Senate Democrats’ Education Plan Falls Short on Results

State Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee said an education proposal by Senate Democrats calls for additional spending without an expectation for results or improved accountability.

“Senate Republicans believe that education is and should be the top budget priority for the Oklahoma Legislature – and education should be funded first as state law requires. The Legislature should also ensure that new education spending is directed toward the classroom and results in improvements in the quality of our children’s education, as Senate Republicans have proposed,” stated Coffee, R-Oklahoma City.

“Senate Democrats have proposed some expensive new ideas today, but they once again have failed to explain how their new programs will improve student learning or better prepare students for college or the workforce. Improving the quality of education for our children should be the goal of every new education program enacted by the state Legislature,” said Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson, R-Moore, a former public school teacher.

Coffee said Senate Republicans are interested in knowing how Senate Democrats will pay for their new $200 million plan – an amount that would use up nearly two-thirds of the $314 million in new revenue the State Board of Equalization estimated the Legislature will have to spend during the upcoming legislative session.

“Just a few weeks ago Senate Democrats bragged about how they are now fiscally responsible and how they would be cautious with the state’s new budget surplus. But today we can see that the Senate Democrats’ ‘spend-it-all’ attitude is back – and fiscal responsibility is out the window,” Coffee said.

Senate Republicans have identified education, public safety, and the repair of roads and bridges as their top priorities for the Oklahoma Legislature in 2006.

In 2003, the Legislature adopted a law proposed by Republicans that requires the education budget to be passed earlier in the legislative session – the Fund Education First law.