No to tax cuts.
Recent headlines indicate that Governor Stitt will call for a tax cut. Is cutting taxes a great thing when inflation is high? Or will it lead to a period of hyperinflation down the road?
Ball State University (Indiana) Economist Michael Hicks states, “When policymakers cut taxes, they do so with the expressed desire to boost investment and economic growth. That's what education does, only the rate of return to the state (on any measure) is orders of magnitude higher for education.”?
Oklahoma has a repeated failure rate when it comes to education policy and classroom spending. The teacher walkout boosted educator pay in 2017. It did little to better statewide education and economic policies. Ten years of research shows school consolidation can shift a minimum of $30,000,000 from non-classroom expenditures to teacher pay, school safety, and student instruction. Tax policies to create specific funding are needed for class-size reduction, instructional support, and guidance counseling can boost college, career, and lifetime success.?An actual financial investment in K-12 education will assist students in pursuing higher education. Currently, eight in ten new jobs are going to those with a college degree. Half of all Sooner counties fail to matriculate 10% or more of a graduation class to a college.?Statewide, less than half of high school seniors pursue higher education. Simply, Oklahoma does not produce enough college graduates to support primary services – health care, education, and government – or long-standing businesses – finance, energy, and aerospace.??
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The state's tax policies must support babies born under the “abortion ban.”?More babies will need public assistance. Following Robert Lupton’s advice “Never do for the poor what they have the capacity to do for themselves,” we must note infants must be 6 weeks old for childcare.?Moms must obtain the skills and training to be able to earn an hourly rate of $30.00 allowing them to obtain financial freedom.??
More people mean more infrastructure – roads, bridges, safety – is needed.?For example, a new bridge on Highway 44 between Oklahoma City and Tulsa needs to be maintained. From regular wear and tear to storm damage, the state legislature needs to think about the road ahead. Oklahoma's rainy day fund is less than $400 million, which could be wiped out with one strong tornado. While the federal government has been generous in the past, in the future, national leadership may decide not to provide support when the next natural disaster occurs. Raising the rainy day cap and placing a portion of the $2 billion in there would be a wise move for the state legislature.
Oklahoma does not need to embark upon massive spending, nor can the legislature engage in cutting funds for necessary programs. The economist Hans F. Sennsholz stated that “When social and economic conditions grow even worse, the disappointments breed more radicalism, cynicism, nihilism, and above all, bitter social and economic conflict. And all along, the enormous increase in government spending causes an enormous increase of taxes, chronic budget deficits, and rampant inflation.” By cutting taxes now, Oklahoma will have to increase them later thus creating an unwinnable position for the future.
A first-generation university graduate with unprecedented commitment to diversity.
2 年Many states declare “proficiency” has been achieved for scores that are far below the level set in national standards. Parents are often informed their children are proficient in reading according to state tests when national measurements show the same students are performing below grade level. The new?report?by NAEP, also known as The Nation’s Report Card, shows Oklahoma has set higher expectations for student academic proficiency than most states, ranking second in the nation in expectations for fourth-grade reading and seventh for eighth-grade reading in 2019. The report showed that Oklahoma as one state that set the proficiency scores on their state tests at levels comparable to the score required to achieve proficiency on the NAEP test. “Proficiency” is typically used to designate that a child is performing at grade level. While Oklahoma is receiving credit from NAEP for higher expectations, the state is not being singled out for achieving higher results. According to the results of NAEP’s 2019?Reading State Snapshot Report?for Oklahoma, just 29 percent of Oklahoma fourth-grade students read at grade-level or better that year. The remainder were below grade level, with 37 percent more than a year below grade level.
A first-generation university graduate with unprecedented commitment to diversity.
2 年Good effort. The question will tax cuts, less revenue, equate to less spending on public K-12 education? You can make the case, Yes, over time tax cuts will lead to less spending not only on educatioon but also other social services. Or dive into the reasons why Oklahoma's spending on K-12 education produces so little. It is complicated and made more complicated with a political and election season. I suspect Oklahoma like many states believes spending more money is the answer to every problem including education. I do not subscribe to this theory. The more serious problem in Oklahoma is educaton policy that allows students to advance to the next grade with limited reading, writing, math & English ability. No amount of money can fix bad policy. Another Op-Ed would select one education policy and provide langugage to make it better and reference the state legislators that contriuted to the bad policy and have responsibility.