'Behind smoky doors'

Last-minute bills breed public distrust

Each year, the Legislature appropriates a sum of money to the Department of Education for “programs and activities.” This line-item covers contributions to teachers’ retirement, early childhood education, alternative education, reading sufficiency, remedial programming, and more. This year, in a budget that was heralded for “holding education harmless,” the programs and activities budget was slashed by 30 percent.

There was no press release announcing this cut. No explanation of the change in funding was made public. By the time the Department of Education uncovered the cut, the budget had already passed the Senate and was set for final passage in the House.

David Blatt is the Executive Director of Oklahoma Policy Institute. Find the rest of this story and more at okpolicy.org.