Secretary of Finance Preston Doerflinger says he is “blown away” and “embarrassed” to be a Republican, that many in the Republican Legislature “should put Ds after their names” and that Schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister “is a D in Republican clothes.”
Doerflinger’s broadside came on Chad Alexander’s talk show on KOKC-1520am as Doerflinger reacted to the Legislature’s refusal to act on education savings account legislation and after Hofmeister presented a fiscal impact statement that Doerflinger said is less than accurate.
http://www.kokcradio.com/the-alexander-show-podcast/2016/03/11/preston-doerflinger-pt1-3-10-16
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If this goober is our Secretary of Finance, then it is fairly easy to see how our state could wind up with a $1.3+ Billion shortfall and is carving away at this year’s budget. You can’t spend money you do not have. When the state auditor and the state treasurer of the same party do not agree with state finance actions, it says something. Didn’t this guy get a five figure raise in spite of the so-called “freeze’ and this after being picked up for DUI? Sounds like we could make a budget cut by getting rid of him.
I am sick and tired of being told what I must support to be a Republican. I oppose establishing a new bureaucracy to deal with giving tax money away in a system that has shown to be wasteful and corrupt in other states.
There is nothing Republican or conservative about a new government give away program, and especially one that has been shown to be ineffective in other states. This is a failed theory that needs to go away. Many of us are still about quality government and not about giving money away to buy votes.
AMEN Rob!! I’m as sick of Politicians giving away my money to just to buy a few more votes. Seems everyone is worried about Education Dollars and throwing more tax dollars at Education,what was the Lottery supposed to do? If I remember right the Lottery was a ” Fix All ” for our Education System. Guess That Didn’t Work Out To Well After All……
William. the lottery money went to the rainy day fund except for about 35% of it. We are running without paper at our school. The budget cuts are killing us because Mary Fallin kept cutting taxes for the rich/oil companies. When a governor bans any laws calling for common sense regulation of fracking, its easy to see who owns her.
He’s making himself look stupid. If he was stupid enough to think Joy Hofmeister was more conservative than Janet Barresi, than he shouldn’t be in government. This wouldn’t be the first case in which he’s shown bad judgement. The state legislature is just following the governors example of having no spine. It’s almost hilarious how ineffective the republicans are in this state they can’t even pass ESA’s when we’re the most conservative state in the union.
I agree with Secretary Doerflinger completely. It is appalling that “Republicans” would oppose school choice. We’re talking about giving low income people the right to choose their schools just like well off people do. We’re talking about freedom and the right to rise. But it appears that the pathetic “Republicans” who opposed school choice prefer the system whereby only the rich have the right to choose their schools, and the poor are relegated to the school chosen by their street address. Really sad. They should be drummed out of the party.
Hey Castor – what makes you think that all Oklahoma citizens have access to “school choice”? Do you think the entire state lives in a metropolitan area? Do you think all rural residents live anywhere near a private school or even near someplace that they can drive their kids to? How about Oklahomans who can’t buy clothes for their kids? Can the state pay for their school supplies? Or school uniforms? All you advocates for private schools or “school choice” are advocating for the destruction of public education!
everyone should oppose “vouchers” school choice means pulling money away from public schools where the teachers have DEGREES and are highly qualified to teach to private schools with no accountability.
Shauna, my children have attended private schools from preK through graduation…the teachers at their schools were all highly educated professionals who left he public school system because they could make more money in the private system, had better support from the parents and administration, and didn’t have to deal with the state government handing down ridiculous mandates. My children received full ride scholarships to Oklahoma State University, The University of Alabama, and Penn State…..because they received excellent educations from the private school system. The state of Oklahoma does a horrible job at supporting public education. We have to do better or you are going to see more and more families who can afford it start sending their children to private schools.
I am beginning to believe Oklahomans went Republican for culture war issues, Second Amendment scare tactics, and little else. When they are actually faced with the opportunity to enact meaningful conservative policy to give families the opportunity to better the lives of children who are suffering in failing, violent and abusive environments, they fold like cheap tents. If we are going to have legislators who will cave to the teacher’s union on everything and use funny money to fill budget gaps until reality finally forces their hand, then what’s the point of voting Republican? Hell, I can get all of that from the Democrats. All of the “big” victories of recent legislatures were just big victories for big business. I mean did workers’ comp reform really make a difference in your life? Think about the percentage of people who really care about stuff like that compared to the percentage of people who are about to be affected by reductions in state services, the potential closure of schools, etc…
I quite agree with the point about school choice not being available in many rural areas. However, there are an increasing number of private schools in rural areas: a slightly out of date website says that there are 230 private schools in around 40 counties in Oklahoma. Those figures have increased. Moreover, ESAs will create a demand for more private schools in lesser populated areas, though in some places there will probably never be much choice. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have school choice where we can, however.
ESAs don’t address the issues of clothes and supplies, nor are they intended to. Those problems exist whether the child is in a public or a private school. In my town, a church organizes hundreds of backpacks of supplies every year for lower income kids in public and private schools [yes, there are a few lower income kids in private schools – some on tax credit scholarships].
Far from advocating for the destruction of public education, I believe that public education will remain the dominant feature on the landscape of elementary and secondary education for decades to come. I do say that competition with private schools will improve public education, so not only can we benefit a kid who doesn’t fit in the school assigned him by his street address, we also help the public schools by reducing class size and demonstrating different models of instruction.
School choice clearly works better in urban areas where there are good alternative private options and where kids are struggling in F-rated schools like Edgemere and Rockwood in OKC and in McClure and Skelly in Tulsa. I don’t think we should penalize poor children just because they don’t have the tuition money to flee such inadequate public schools.
The question we should be asking is why those public schools are inadequate. Unfunded mandates? overly burdened by regulation? They don’t turn away children who don’t help their ratings? They have been systematically starved of resources? Perhaps when those issues are addressed, public schools can compete with private schools.
[…] elected, she promptly started advocating for ACT and ACT Aspire. Currently, a notable Oklahoma leader is saying Superintendent Hofmeister is not what she campaigned to be. If that accusation is true, then it’s logical to see Common Core was not genuine either, […]
[…] between Chad Alexander and State Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger. As reported on the McCarville Report, Doerflinger’s angst was flung far and […]
[…] standards. After being elected, she promptly started advocating for ACT and ACT Aspire. Currently, a notable Oklahoma leader is saying Superintendent Hofmeister is not what she campaigned to be. If that accusation is true, then it’s logical to see that Hofmeister’s opposition to Common […]