Abandon HOPE
Even though it's not much on people's radar screens yet, it's not too early to be thinking about State Question 744, the so-called HOPE initiative. Promoted by the state's most powerful labor union, the Oklahoma Education Association, SQ 744 is a proposed constitutional amendment which would require Oklahoma to meet or exceed the regional average in per-pupil expenditures.
The measure is so irresponsible that even the president of the Oklahoma City affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, took to the pages of the state's largest newspaper to warn of the damage HOPE would cause. The Oklahoman itself said HOPE would be "devastating," and an esteemed Oklahoma economist and public-school booster has warned that HOPE's baleful consequences would be "profound and lasting."
I'm a policy guy, not a political guy, but here's my early contribution to the campaign:
First the teacher unions backed a radical, irresponsible spender.
Now they're backing a radical, irresponsible spending scheme.
The measure is so irresponsible that even the president of the Oklahoma City affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, took to the pages of the state's largest newspaper to warn of the damage HOPE would cause. The Oklahoman itself said HOPE would be "devastating," and an esteemed Oklahoma economist and public-school booster has warned that HOPE's baleful consequences would be "profound and lasting."
I'm a policy guy, not a political guy, but here's my early contribution to the campaign:
First the teacher unions backed a radical, irresponsible spender.
Now they're backing a radical, irresponsible spending scheme.
