Public School Finance: Prospectus Paper
Oklahoma utility companies are currently protesting the amount of taxes that they must pay. The dispute came about because of the difference between what utility companies and other commercial properties and other entities such as railroads and airlines must pay. The utility companies originally protested all of the taxes that they had to pay. They are now protesting the percentage of taxes that they must pay above what the commercial properties pay. The money is currently going into escrow accounts until a decision over the taxes has been made. According to Oklahoma Tax Commission estimates, the protests could affect more than $63 million in funding for schools and counties across the state. The money will not be allocated into the schools until the dispute has been settled.
A large group of Oklahoma superintendents has been meeting with the big four utility companies (Public Service Company of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Natural Gas,
Oklahoma Gas and Electric and Southwestern Bell) to try to reach a compromise.
The most recent meeting occurred on Monday, November 28, 1994. At that meeting
Marvin Stokes, Superintendent of Byng Schools, proposed that the utility companies be assessed at 25 mills and that commercial properties be assessed at
20 mills. This would generate around $100 million in new revenue for Oklahoma schools. Eugene Chitwood, Okemah County Assessor, suggested that public service companies be assessed at 23 mills and that commercial properties be assessed at
15-19 mills. This would generate around $50 million in new revenue for Oklahoma schools. The utility companies are currently paying 22.85 mills and commercial properties are paying 11 mills. Private advalorem property is assessed at 11-14 mills. The utility companies were receptive to the suggestions. They do not care if their taxes are increased as long as commercial properties are assessed at a higher level as well. Another idea proposed to the utility companies for their tax rate to decrease to 21.85 mills. This would free up around 58 million dollars immediately if the utility companies agree.
The group of Oklahoma superintendents will meet with Glen Johnson ,Speaker of the House, on Monday, December 5, 1995. The superintendents feel that it would be to their advantage to have there concerns heard by the House even though the
State Equity board has the final say. The State Equity Board is comprised of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Superintendent of Schools, State
Treasurer, the State Auditor, and the State Secretary of Agricultural. In order to get a measure passed by the State Equity Board, a measure must receive four of the 7 votes.
Hamilton provides an inside look at how congress really works and clears up popular misconception that make members of congress look like wasteful bickering crooks that support gridlock and are only concerned with the needs of interest groups and lobbyists. Hamilton argues that Congress has changed for the better throughout the years and that they are held at higher standards than they were before. Hamilton states that Congress is not only working at keeping the public happy but that have recently become faced with a lot more issues than before, they are not only more issues but more complicated and technical that are very high risk policies that take a long time to produce a decision (Hamilton, 1988, 65). Hamilton states that Congress is a system in which the viewpoints of everyone are taken into account and make sure there is a consensus when it comes to defining decisions. Even though many of us acknowledge that lobbyist and special interest groups play an essential role in the law making party, Congress is making an effort to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. Congress is making sure that the balance of power is distributed properly. In recent years, there has been a decline in mega-lobbies and interest groups so that not only the wealthy powerful get their voice heard, but the everyday american people get an opinion in things that affect them as well. In Gary Lee’s article, The NRA Has Lost some Firepower, we can see that interest groups are beginning to have less of an influence on larger political decisions (Hamilton, 1988, 65). For example, the National Rifle Association’s defeat in the battle over the “Brady bill” and their war towards trying to revamp Medicaid was a great loss for lobbyists and
Thomas Jefferson was a man who believed that all American citizens need to be educated so that they may exercise their rights. He saw public education as essential to a democracy. One proposal he made for public education would guarantee that all children could attend public schools for three years. However, much like other early school reforms, this proposal received much rejection and was never brought into being. Despite this rejection, Jefferson still believed that America needed public education. Eventually, he opened the University of Virginia. Even though his bills and proposals to benefit public education never saw the light of day, he still made many contributions to public education by providing the foundation on how a democracy should handle educating its
...ilities of Congress is that minorities and factions exist: dissent takes place, not disagreements. Verbal brawls take place rather than actual argumentation, and that is what kills democracy. That is why things never get done.
Special rules and new floor procedures have been institutionalized. Although the external political environment of the House is as electrifying as that of the Senate, it is based on a very different body of basic rules. The individualist Senate, a body in which senators aggressively exploited the great Congressional privileges these rules gave them, as she argues, to further their own individual ends. In fact, nowadays, the process of lawmaking in a chamber with non-majoritarian rules and with members so accustomed to exploiting those rules fully is reasonably expected to drag on for months, if not
help maintain the balance of power by expressing the sentiments of the minority. Critics claim
falling behind. A minimum wage increase would help to stimulate the economy, and stop the
Passel, Jeffrey S., and D’Vera Cohn. “Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).” The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). N.p., July 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
influence the agenda that is agreed upon. The way the House is run leaves a
The funding of public education has long been an issue for the state government of Texas. Starting before Texas was even a state, public education funding was at the forefront of politicians’ minds. In 1836, one of the reasons Anglo-Texans wanted to become independent from Mexico was Mexico’s lack of a public school system (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). This drove the desire of President Mirabeau B. Lamar of the Republic of Texas to create legislation that would grant public schools land (A Brief History of Public Education, n.d.). This act set aside four leagues of land per county for the use of free education centers and thus began the funding of public education by the state government (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). In the last 177 years, the Texas Legislature and the Texas Education Agency have created numerous acts and laws regarding the funding of education, but it has been in the last 50 years that this topic has become highly contested, resulting in several lawsuits and endless efforts (by the school districts) to equalize the distribution of funds to Texas school districts (Texas School Finance History, n.d.). In sum, the complex issues and policies that surround the funding of public education are derived from a combination of the legislature, bureaucratic agencies, and local governments in the form of school districts.
...organization that they once had. Because payroll- and income-tax revenues would rise, the federal deficit would come down. Social Security worries would fade.
These pluralistic interest groups are free to operate and lobby in the political arena, fighting against the majority and other competing factions for voice in Congress. With the influence of multiple factions operating throughout the political system, a balance of power is created (Kernell 2000, 429). This is much like the international theory of sovereign states balancing each other’s power to create a political system that focuses on stability, yet is always in a constant flux of power. With this in mind, special interest groups are constantly contending for power by raising money, campaigning, and lobbying in Congress. When a special interest group is threatened by a competing policy, the group will organize efforts to balance, or transcend the power of the competing group.
Taxation has always been a major controversy. Just like any major corporation, the government is constantly looking to raise revenue. The easiest and fairest way to do this is by taxing the people. However, how the people will be taxed is always an issue.
Many South Carolina voters agree that increase immigration has a profound impact on taxpayers. For example, immigrants impose costs on state government by using more in government services than they pay in taxes (Huddle, 1997). This causes taxes in taxpayers households to soar tremendously. Due to the increase in immigrants, Huddle (1997) found that low-skill American workers were moved from their jobs. Due to the displacement, taxpayers paid an abundance amount of money in public assistance. The public assistance consisted of Medicaid, unemployment compensation, and food stamps. Evidence suggests that South Carolina voters are likely to resist increased immigration due to the tremendous increase in taxes.
I think our contracts would be absolutely fine if we passed them onto another school, but I think that I have some changes I could do, hahahahahaha. No seriously I think there are some wrong things in our contracts. Sure you should try to be happy and have good attitude, but what if you are going through a rough time. What if you got asked a eagle buck or a hcv. Are you supposed to be happy and jolly and not be mad or sad. I think that is something that I would change, and make it a bit more lenient. i think that upholding the standards always, also needs to be more lenient to. We can’t always do everything right sometimes we miss it. They can’t expect the acton eagles with all our flaws to hold everybody accountable every time the mess up.
Secondary education in Latin America originated from a French-inspired model grounded on two fundamental principles. On the one hand, education should be provided by the central state as a way to sustain the nation-building process. On the other hand, secondary education should train the elite responsible for the nation (Bruter et al., 2004; Tenti, 2003). Yet, the expansion of the capitalist economy shifted secondary education away from an elite-oriented model towards its massification in order to train the manpower required for national progress and modernization (Ramírez and Boli, 1987). Consistent with this organizational institutionalist explanation, different IOs such as UNESCO, the