Measure has mixed reaction

A controversial education bill has passed the state Senate and will be heading to the House for a vote soon.

Senate Bill 834 allows public schools not to comply with mandates currently waived for charter schools. This means there could be no limits on class sizes and administrative spending unless local school boards set them.

Area administrators are unsure of what will happen if the bill becomes law as districts that will qualify for this new program must have a school that has been identified for school improvement by the State Board of Education. School districts with such a school will begin the program in 2010-11.

None of the school districts around Woodward have a school that is on the State Board of Education’s list, so they will not qualify for the program in 2010-11. Instead, as the bill that has passed the state Senate is written, by Sept. 30, 2010, the State Board of Education will have broken school districts into four categories and randomly selected 20 percent of the districts in each category.

The categories are based on the size of each district. Districts with less than 250 students, between 500 and 250 students, between 2,000 and 500 students and more than 2,000 students compose the categories. Selected districts will implement the program for the 2011-12 school year.

The State Board of Education plans for all public schools implement the program by 2014.

Because this program will not affect area districts for two or more years, and the merits of the program have not been demonstrated in practice, the opinions of school administrators have been mixed.

Fargo Superintendent Jeff Thompson said he has been neutral on the bill.

“I think it’s worth exploring,” Thompson said, “but I can’t make a decision until it’s implemented. It’ll be interesting to see how schools enact it.”

Woodward Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Tom Fisher said until administrators understand what mandates charter schools are exempt from, the impact of the program can not be judged. He did say that local control of schools is a good thing.

“I’m all for local school boards having control,” he said. “It obviously won’t affect the quality of education unless something is tacked on to it.”

There has been talk of amendments to the bill that would set salary schedules and health insurance for public school employees. Without the amendments, the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) opposes the bill.

OEA is concerned about salaries potentially being reduced, which could lead to the state losing teachers.

A lack of certified teachers is a concern for some as well. Although the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act and local school boards could ensure that public schools have certified teachers for students.

One of the reasons why the bill was proposed is because it limits red tape that public schools have to go through.

Mutual Superintendent Emma Sidders said this is a good thing.

“The program will save a great deal of man hours,” she said.

She mentioned that there are 122 mandates that public schools have to meet. Charter schools only have to meet 73 of them.

She also said that all the money saved from not having to comply with so many mandates would go back to the classroom in the form of teacher salaries and equipment.

Seiling Superintendent Bob Bush had another opinion about all the mandates that are required of public schools right now.

“There are times I wish I didn’t have to jump through hoops, but those rules are there for a reason,” Bush said. “We put out a really good quality education with the mandates we have now.”