Stan Geiger

Shocking News: Educators Want More Money

News reports say Tulsa Public Schools is set to go for a record-breaking bond issue. Not a district record-breaking bond issue, mind you, but a state record-breaking bond issue of $354 million. Even in the worst of economic times, the hogs at the education feeding trough cry out for more slop.

Have you lost your job? The educators don’t care; they want more from you. Are you on the brink of losing your home? The educators don’t care; they want more from you. Have you drained your savings account buying lottery tickets? The educators don’t care; they want more from you.

One of the specific items slated for an influx of cash is athletics. Yeah, athletics. Jenks and Tulsa Washington have recently been busted for cheating. I’m sure that story goes beyond those two schools; it just hasn’t been documented as yet. And the educators think people should pay more in taxes to reward such behavior?

The argument of the bond issue not being a tax increase is, of course, being promoted by the educators. That’s a bullshit argument.

I suppose the contention has to do with $350 million in past debt headed for retirement. So if you vote $350 million in new debt to replace the $350 million in old debt you’re not voting for a tax increase.

Voting $350 million in new debt damn sure puts a cock-block on a tax decrease, and that is tantamount to voting a tax increase.

But even putting that point aside, the educators speak with forked tongues. In the absence of a vote to increase your property tax bill, does it not go up? Yep, it do. It do because some gubment assessor says your property is worth more this year than it was last year. Whether or not that be the case in the real world is irrelevant.

Things are much the same relative to “temporary” sales taxes. Officials claim, when they seek extensions, they aren’t seeking a tax increase. Yes, they are seeking a tax increase.

For example, Tulsa’s “temporary” added-penny sales tax for “capital improvements” has been in force since 1981. Given inflation, do you think you are paying the same amount for the added-penny tax that you paid in 1981? With a sales tax in place, the more you pay for goods the more you pay in taxes.

And while we’re on the subject, what have we gotten from our “investment?” I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure those copper choppers were purchased with “capital improvements” money. They are grounded because the city says it can’t afford to fly them. In spite of the “capital improvements” tax being in place for nearly 30 years, our streets went to hell in a handbag. That brought on a half-a-billion-dollar property tax increase. Some still argue that tax increase should have exceeded a billion dollars.

In the midst of the district’s plea for 354 million new dollars comes the plea of poverty. District officials speak of furloughs. They speak of one-day furloughs for the people at the bottom of the heap, and the greater sacrifice of three-day furloughs for the overpaid gasbags we call administrators. The district says this is necessary to cut $325,000 from the budget.

Let’s take a closer look.

Just days ago---while TPS was complaining of financial crisis---KTUL reported on pay raises of $400-$500 for 3,100 TPS teachers.

That’s bad enough, don’t you think? I mean here we have this great conglomeration of “heroes,” struggling to keep a district afloat in the midst of an economic crisis, and a bunch of part-time employees get pay raises. But that’s not where the story ends.

KTUL reported the raises would cost the district $2.2 million annually. Now, if you do the math, $400-$500 raises for 3,100 people puts the cost at $1.24 million to $1.55 million. Unless you figure the increase in payroll-related costs (Social Security, pension contributions and such) equals 50 percent of base pay, you can logically assume administrators gave themselves pay raises at the same time they gave teachers pay raises. And remember, this all goes down while school officials are screaming crisis.

Imagine yourself as a TPS administrator. Let’s say you have the job title of assistant to the assistant to the assistant to the vice president of chalk requisitions. One day the boss, after tracking you to the break room where you are stuffing your face with taxpayer-provided Twinkies and coffee, tells you the bad news. Dude, you’re going to have to take 3 days off, scheduled around holidays, of course, so as not to “disrupt the school year.” But you’re getting a $1,000-per-year raise, so don’t sweat it. Take your days off and have a good time. The dumbass taxpayers will cover the tab, all the while believing they are coughing up money for “education.”

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