EDITORIALS

Oklahoma ScissorTales: Teacher pay raises have helped, sort of

The Oklahoman Editorial Board
Beto O'Rourke speaks to the media Monday at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum [Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman]

According to a new survey of school districts, the answer is “yes, but …”

The survey by the Oklahoma State School Boards Association found that the number of teachers statewide will increase this year by about 600, and that superintendents are more optimistic about their ability to hire teachers than in previous years.

However, schools also had nearly 600 vacancies on Aug. 1, which the OSSBA said was a higher total than in each of the past four years. The OSSBA survey was completed by 305 districts that serve 81% of Oklahoma’s public school students.

“The overall hiring of more teachers is an especially encouraging sign, but it’s also obvious the teacher pipeline is weak,” said Shawn Hime, OSSBA executive director. “The teacher shortage crisis is not over.”

Hime said he’s grateful to lawmakers for their recent efforts, but that they need to continue to increase education funding to get Oklahoma to the regional per-pupil spending average. Doing so, he said, would allow for even more competitive pay and encourage young people to consider going into teaching.

We’ll see next year how impactful that pitch will be.

Good news in fight over school name

The Oklahoma City School District got good news this week. School board member Charles Henry dropped the lawsuit that he and alumni from Northeast Academy had filed over the renaming of the school. As part of an overhaul of the district, Northeast Academy was closed this summer and Classen School of Advanced Studies moved in. The new school took the Classen name. Henry and the alumni group sued the board, its chairwoman, its general counsel and the superintendent, citing violations of board policies and due process under the U.S. Constitution. But Henry filed a motion in federal court Wednesday to dismiss the lawsuit. Dismissal of the case, which had been a major distraction, should only help the district focus on the work of educating students.

Protester’s sign said plenty about Beto’s visit

Bravo to the lone protester who showed up at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum on Monday for an appearance by Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke. To try to lift his flagging campaign, O’Rourke used this city’s hallowed ground as a prop to call out domestic terrorism and salute Oklahoma City’s response to it. Having visited the area of the 1921 Tulsa race riot earlier in the day, he also expounded on the need to stamp out racism in the United States, which O’Rourke said “has been foundational to this country.” It’s is a theme that has become popular with many in the Democratic field. The man who protested O’Rourke’s visit didn’t provide his name to reporters, but he held a sign that read: “Grandad’s grave is not a podium.” That sentiment, no doubt, is shared by many who were impacted by the 1995 attack on that site.

Trade war takes a toll on consumers

In announcing recently that some planned tariffs on Chinese goods would be delayed until mid-December, President Trump acknowledged these moves can impact consumers. Research by JP Morgan bears this out. The researchers found that the planned 10 percent tariffs on such things as laptops and footwear would cost U.S. households about $1,000 per year. The total goes to as much as $1,500 per year if the tariffs are increased to 25 percent, as Trump has warned. “The impact from reduced spending could be immediate for discretionary goods and services since tariffs are regressive,” JP Morgan researchers said. “Unlike the agriculture sector, which is receiving subsidies/aid to offset the impact of China’s retaliatory actions, there is no simple way to compensate consumers.” Trump has said trade wars are “good” and “easy to win.” They can be painful, too.