Senate Republicans Try to Force Agreement on Public Schools Budget

Senate Republicans announced Tuesday they would try to force an agreement on funding for public schools by blocking efforts by Senate Democrats to move other budget bills through the Senate until an agreement is reached on education funding.

“Senate Republicans are opposed to moving other budget bills through the Senate until there is a bipartisan agreement on a budget for public schools,” stated Senate GOP Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City.

Two years ago Senate Republicans won approval of their plan for a “Fund Education First Law” as part of the FY 2004 budget agreement. This year’s deadline was March 16.

“The Legislature made a promise to fund education first. While Gov. Henry may not take this law seriously, Senate Republicans do. We believe there is a moral imperative to follow the Fund Education First law,” Coffee said.

Coffee noted that Gov. Henry and Senate Democrats are currently holding up the common education budget in an effort to obtain funding for full-day kindergarten, about which many leaders in the education community have expressed some well-articulated concerns.

“Outside of the money for all-day kindergarten, House Republicans and Senate Democrats were very close on their budget numbers for public schools. There is no good reason why we can’t reach an agreement on the rest of the public education budget and save the discussion on all-day kindergarten for later in the legislative session,” Coffee said.

On April 10, public school boards were required to notify teachers in their school districts whether their contracts would be renewed for the upcoming school year.

“By missing the April 10 deadline for school boards, the Legislature has forced schools to make obligations without knowing what their state funding will be next year. That’s why Senate Republicans are stepping up today and saying ‘enough is enough.’ Let’s get education funded now,” Coffee said.