151 Band

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Fallin: Does Not Support Consolidation

Ken Miller (not THAT Ken Miller) writes an intriguing piece in the Norman Transcript about our Governor-elect Fallin's position regarding school administrative costs and how they need to be brought under control.  But Fallin makes it clear that proposals to consolidate are not going to be acceptable to her.

The "nut" of the story is found in the following quote:
Fallin declined to offer specific plans for streamlining schools but said she would not support requiring any of the state’s 527 school districts to merge. Instead, she said she will look for ways to encourage financially troubled districts that consolidate on their own.
Combining administrative functions, consolidating the workload of district superintendents is the capstone for education reform in the state of Oklahoma.  Even the Oklahoman has published stories regarding the ridiculously high salaries of district superintendents throughout the great state of Oklahoma.

Fallin's statements about education reform at this press conference call into question her "street cred" as the conservative she campaigned to be.  But that is something Oklahomans have grown used to experiencing.  Three card monty every election cycle is standard fare.

Now, to be fair, she doesn't say that she would oppose combining district superintendent duties and responsibilities or even perhaps merging administrative functions, but the gist of the dialog is quite clear and filled to overflowing with the same rhetoric we heard from Sandy Garret and Governor Henry during their campaigns as well:  More money in the classrooms, raising the bar, shared resources...blah, blah, blah.

As I recall, none of Fallin's children ever attended public school.  Her daughter is now a lobbyist.

Word of the day:  Bamboozled.