Okla. Ed Board Wants Use of Rainy Day Fund Now

Cuts in state funding for education mean teachers at one northeastern Oklahoma school now must clean their own classrooms while their superintendent scrubs the toilets. A superintendent in a neighboring county is considering laying off five teachers. Yet another is asking veteran teachers to consider early retirement.

State Board of Education members consider the situation dire enough that they voted Tuesday to call for the immediate use of money from Oklahoma's Rainy Day Fund, essentially asking Gov. Brad Henry to convene a special session of the Legislature, which would be required to tap those funds.

The board also approved what state Superintendent Sandy Garrett termed a "bare-bones" budget request for the next fiscal year of about $2.798 billion. That's about $225.8 million more than was appropriated to common education during the current fiscal year.

But what was appropriated and the amount schools are receiving are far apart because of declining state revenues, which have come in below expectations for 10 straight months. State financial officials have already ordered 5 percent cuts in budget allocations to state agencies through the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

The situation is even worse for schools, Garrett said, because of declines in a revolving state fund set aside for education. Revenues from what's known as the House Bill 1017 Fund are down 15.9 percent, or $33.8 million, from estimates for the fiscal year to date.

"We haven't seen that decline, ever," Garrett said. "That's why we're extremely concerned."

All told, state schools have seen a 7.1 percent funding cut, she said.

Henry already has said it's likely the state will need to tap its Rainy Day Fund, which has about $600 million, to make it through the rest of the fiscal year. The Legislature's next regular session will be in February, but board member Tim Gilpin of Tulsa said schools can't wait until then for financial relief.