NOW Our Hard Work Begins...

Monday we will, once again, descend on the Capitol Building at 23^rd and Lincoln to express our frustrations about school funding…and state funding. And, yes, we can thank legislators for finally, finally, finding 75% of the House and Senate to vote for revenue-raising, tax-raising measures.

I’ve said it before, but when I marched in support of HB1017 in 1990, my daughter was in 5^th grade. NOW, tomorrow, I’ll be marching WITH her daughter, a senior in high school. All the gains from HB1017 have been lost, and the state has the dubious distinction of cutting education funding more deeply than any other state in the union in the last ten years. So, I’m going back to the Capitol with my Grand. Who will be voting in the June primaries.
I’ll be trying to develop genuine lines of communication…with my own legislators (actually, I’ve already been working on that).
I’ll be working to develop lines of combination with the Education Committee in the Senate and the Common Education Committee in the House
I’m going to be an informed voter…I’m going to help inform others about candidates’ position on MY issues (see above).
Our work STARTS on Monday and continues every day.

  

To remind others of what we were fighting for in 1990, here is Dan Nolan’s post, and my own.

Yes, we watched an historic vote last week…both houses passing a budget that required raising taxes at the nearly-impossible threshold of 75%. Yes, it’s the first time this state has raised taxes since the 1990’s, after the revolt against HB1017. Lots to celebrate.

And almost no time to celebrate before we watched a chunk of that funding disappear in a totally bizarre bit of theater in the House on Thursday. I sat there. I watched, and I couldn’t accurately describe what happened, except that $50m of our new revenue was gone.  Along with our hope and budding confidence.

Right now, the tax bill, HB1010XX (second extraordinary session) has been signed.  So was HB1011XX, which will cap itemized deductions on income tax. This link to a KGOU article shows the chaos that was last week…Read to the end. That new revenue will fund teacher raises, and some funding for per pupil investment, which has fallen as drastically as teacher salaries.  The teacher pay-schedule bill is on her desk, as are the bills for support raises and state raises. 

The need is still great…support personnel raises should not be subject to the legislature, I understand…those raises should be part of the per-pupil investment…which right now does not cover. State workers, who also have not seen a raise in 10 years…and lost their defined-benefit pensions for the promise (broken) for a raise. These folks also support our students. We are a team with a common goal: help families raise healthy children who come to school ready and able to learn.

When I describe myself as an education voter, I am quick to explain that, in my mind, includes prenatal care, adequate nutrition, a living wage for parents, housing, health insurance and health care, social services, public libraries…you get the picture. To me, these are all education issues.

So that means I’m going Monday with some specific ‘asks’ that will raise revenue to help cover more per-pupil, and state workers’ raises.  I want to focus on the WHOLE system that is crumbling. I want adequate, recurring, dedicated funding to our schools and state agencies. I want these funds, these salary raises to create a vibrant economy where working people actually have money to spend…to buy appliances, to spend the evening out for dinner and a movie…I want the real job-creators (middle and working class) to stimulate the economy of our state. I’m ready.

So, on Monday when I go to the Capitol here’s my message: Where else can we find new funding to add to our budget? I only know of ONE source right now, but there may be others…some bills are ‘dead’ but could be revived via shell bills. After watching the legislature last week, I know there are rules I know nothing about that might be able to expedite more revenue.

So for now…

SB1086 – this is a bill to reform capital gains tax credits. Currently it benefits 1% (That’s right ONE PER CENT) of our citizens, and could bring in upwards of $100m a year. It’s passed in the Senate and has been sent to the House. Floor Leader Echols and Speaker McCall control what bills are heard, so I’ve emailed, and will have cards to deliver to their offices asking that it be put on the Floor Calendar as soon as possible.

I’ve heard others talk about the Ball-and-Dice bill, but all I can see is a bill that died in the Senate and isn’t being considered.  I hear others also talk about Wind taxes…and I will plead complete and utter ignorance on this issue…I know some districts are actually getting nice money from wind, so messing with those sources might end up hurting schools.  Folks, this is the reason you DO NOT want me in the legislature…my level of ignorance is stunning. Deep and wide.

Tomorrow…and Tuesday and Wednesday… I will thank legislators for reaching that 75% threshold for the first time in 28 years. We take our victories where we find them. And as teachers we know the importance of acknowledging steps in the right direction.

BUT, I’ll also be asking for the cap gains bill to be heard in the House and passed.  

I’ll be asking if there IS any creative way to generate more revenue for all the needs our state has.

I’ll be asking.

I’ll be reaching out to House leadership to be creative (and Constitutional) about finding funding.

I’ll be asking for a long-term commitment to MORE funding for schools and state agencies.

And, yes, I’ll be thanking many for voting for HB1010XX.

But here’s the deal, and here’s where I think we made our big mistake 28 years ago: I’m not going away.

I’m going to stay engaged. I’m going to watch. I’m going to search committee and floor agendas for education and budget bills. I'm going to share any information I can find on social media.

I’m going to share observations and concerns. I’ll watch the legislature so my teacher friends can work with their students.

I’m going to encourage my teacher friends, some of whom sometimes don't vote, to vote.  One of the reasons policy makers don’t take teachers as a whole seriously is our voting record shows too few of us vote. And many of us don’t vote for education issues (see above).

Here’s what I know about my blog posts about voting: they are the lowest-read pieces I write. People don’t seem to want to read about voting. Here and here  and here  and here. And this is my first voting post  Sorry/not sorry for linking all the old posts. I write about voting a lot. To a tiny audience, it appears.

I’m working with Joe Dorman on a project to encourage and support educators to get out the vote…nonpartisan support. Chalk the Vote’s goal is to have a teacher block captain in every school to talk up registering to vote, learning who your legislators are, contacting them, and getting out the vote with mail-in voting, with early voting, or in-person voting on Election Day. If you’re a teacher, please join us!

We thought after our fight for HB1017, and against the State Question that would have defunded it, that our work in education policy was finished. We were wrong, and it’s gotten us to this point.

I’ll see you all on Monday. I have a great sign. 

But if you think our work is finished, you are wrong.

This has been the easy part. NOW our hard work begins.