Senator Wilcoxson Urges Immediate Vote On Common Ed; Cites Moore Teacher Layoffs

State Senator Kathleen Wilcoxson is urging Democrat leaders to allow an immediate vote on public school funding. The Oklahoma City Republican said that without it, one of the state’s largest school districts will be forced to slash teaching jobs. According to media reports, the Moore School Board could vote tonight to cut nearly 80 teaching and counseling positions. School Boards have only until April 10th to notify teachers whether they will still have a job in the fall.

“I don’t buy the argument that you can’t pass an education funding bill until agreements have been made on every other area of state government. We know we need to restore their cuts and we need to do it now before it is too late to save those teachers’ jobs,” said Senator Wilcoxson.

Senator Wilcoxson and fellow Republicans had attempted earlier in the session to pass an education funding measure that included a level Governor Brad Henry called for but were blocked by Democrats.

“These are schools I represent here at the Senate. It’s frustrating to know there are teachers who could soon be out of jobs and children who won’t have access to the same level of education as before because the Democrats haven’t gotten on board with our call to fund education first. Now schools across the state are being forced take these very drastic actions,” said Wilcoxson.