Stan Geiger

KOTV and Grade-A Bullshit

So TCC's tax hike proposal went down to defeat, and it took political-educational complex damage control less than 24 hours to engage. KOTV ran a story tonight telling us all what a mistake we made, and how poor folks are going to suffer, and how the freakin' world is going to come to an end.

I would expect better from the top-rated newscast in the market.

KOTV reported yesterday's election marked the first time in TCC's history that voters have turned down a request for more money. One time in 38 years, and we're all doomed. Please.

Maybe KOTV needs a little guidance. I'll try to oblige.

KOTV, if you would like a TCC topic to discuss on the evening newscast, tell me how much President McKeon is getting paid. The Tulsa World, of all sources, reported McKeon's predecessor and mentor, Dean VanTrease, was pulling down an annual pay package worth a quarter of a million bucks 5 years ago. Tell me how much taxpayer money VanTrease's bitch is putting in his pocket today.

I'll go just a hair further, for now, though I won't get into detail. I'm just going to throw out a name, and anybody that wants to offer an anonymous comment may feel free to do so. The name is Cindy Hess.

I kind of figured this war, this battle at least, was over. But since KOTV reported TCC is planning to bring the measure up again in a few months, I reckon it ain't. That's cool. I've got a round or two left in my clip.

TCC-TV

I said it would happen, and it did. KOTV ran a story promoting TCC's tax hike last evening. The story ran pretty much in tandem with a TCC paid ad.

The political-educational complex, baby: working hard to talk you out of your money.

The story focused in on TCC's wish to educate air traffic controllers. The story said such a move would be good for the local economy. More tax money for education equals economic prosperity for all. What a tired---and false---promotion.

I figure there are already plenty of places where prospective air traffic controllers can go to be schooled. Otherwise, we wouldn't have any. But we need to pay more in taxes so TCC can get into that business, they say.

How many air traffic controller jobs open up in Tulsa in a given year, do you reckon? None? One? On the high side, two maybe?

But hey, I shouldn't be so cynical. I mean there is some economic benefit to be had in this proposal. Griffin Communications' economy, for example, has already benefited. TCC's ad campaign put your tax money in its coffers. And, if the measure passes, you can bet your butt the personal economic outlooks of TCC big shots will improve.

TCC Launches Media Assault

As I watched the KOTV newscasts this evening, I caught a couple of ads promoting Tulsa Community College's bid for a property tax increase. It has begun. The PEC is kicking into high gear.

Expect to see KOTV reporters doing stories in support of the tax increase. That's the way it works. TCC gives TV stations your money; TV stations feed you full of BS that makes you want to vote for a tax increase for TCC.

The Tulsa World will, no doubt, grab a piece of the action, too. The World will get ad sales in exchange for editorials in favor.

TCC is pushing the tired notion that more tax money for higher education equals a stronger local economy. Man, if only that were true.

The Tulsa area is up to its butt in public-subsidized higher education. TCC has 4 campuses---plus an office building for executives. We have an OU-Tulsa, an OSU-Tulsa and a Langston-Tulsa. We have a Northeastern State campus in Broken Arrow. And what was once a junior college in Claremore is now a 4-year school called Rogers State University under the auspices of the OU Board of Regents.

If pouring tax money into higher education resulted in economic prosperity, Tulsa would be a freakin' boomtown.

There is much to say about this issue. For now, I'll leave it at this: If you vote yes on a property tax increase for TCC, you've got an incurable mental illness.

Tulsa World Endorses $400 Million in New State Debt

I don't subscribe to the Tulsa World. Therefore, I don't spend a lot of time reading what that paper has to offer. Me sainted mum is a subscriber, however. She clips and saves tidbits she thinks might interest me. Today, I happened to be at mom's house. So I took the opportunity to peruse.

I picked up one section and found a full-page ad, purchased by the University of Oklahoma. Then I went to the editorial section and found an editorial endorsing the notion of the state borrowing another $400 million in bond money. The editorial also said $125 million of the money should go to higher education for endowed professorships. OU, the writer acknowledged, would be the greatest beneficiary of such a move.

Hmmmm. OU takes a chunk of allegedly hard-to-get education funding and hands it over to the owner of the Tulsa World. The World editors then write on behalf of giving more tax money to OU. What an excellent example of the political-educational complex at work. Quid pro quo, baby, quid pro quo.

That point aside, if there is a great pressing need for $400 million in new debt money, it has nothing to do with higher education. Roads and bridges, I would say, top the priority list right now. But even if the entire $400 million was slated for roads and bridges---which clearly it would not be because other powerful interests are already lining up to grab their pieces of the pie---I would not favor the plan.

The tab for necessary bridge work alone, according to the engineers, is sitting at $9 billion. A $400 million one-time infusion wouldn't even scratch the surface. We need to commit to spending hundreds of millions more per year for many years if we are to bring Oklahoma's infrastructure up to par.

The legislative session is drawing to a close. From a fiscal standpoint, the work is done for the year. We have a stand-still budget. The politicians need to take a chillax pill and try very, very hard not to do anything stupid as they head out the door on their way to spending their taxpayer-provided paychecks during their collective 8-month vacation.

Congratulations and Kudos, Mr. Beacon

I recently read the Tulsa Beacon has marked its 7th year in business. Congratulations are in order. And given a recent Beacon editorial, in support of dedicating fuel tax money to roads and bridges instead of the general fund, I'd say kudos are in order as well.

According to the article, a politician had this to say:

“Nearly half of all revenue produced by motor vehicle excise taxes goes into the General Revenue Fund each year, and diverting that revenue to transportation compromises our ability to adequately fund education, health care and municipal government,” said Sen. Jeff Rabon, a Democrat.

There's the standard line offered by members of the political-educational complex. We can't do something that makes really good sense because it would take money away from the educators' feeding trough.

The Beacon countered:

Motor vehicle excise taxes contributed $259.2 million to the general fund in 2007. This year’s budget is more than $7 billion, with 57 percent dedicated to public education. (Emphasis added).

The public schools are sufficiently funded. Taking care of roads is a basic government function. The money is there, we are just spending it on the wrong things.

Agreed.

Editor's Wife New Tulsa Tech Super

The Tulsa World has reported that World Senior Editor Ken Neal's wife has been hired as the new superintendent of Tulsa Technology Center.

Neal has spent years editorializing on behalf of more money for education. Now he's getting the payoff. His wife---that has dined at the public education trough her entire life---just got one of the prime jobs in the business.

Details of the contract haven't been disclosed. Ballpark figure, I'd say her base pay will be in the neighborhood of 200 grand a year. (Nice neighborhood). She will, of course, get a plethora of benefits stacked on top of that. And by the time she retires, her taxpayer-subsidized pension will be fatter than her husbands head.

What an excellent example of the political-educational complex at work.

Yet Another Gift for School Teachers in the Works

Mike McCarville reports a bill to give school teachers a $500 tax credit has passed a House committee and is advancing.

According to McCarville:

The tax credit would cover the cost of materials, equipment,or supplies used in a classroom of a public school if the cost was "not refunded or reimbursed from any other source."

KOTV reported the other night that the governor says teacher pay raises are off the table for this year. Obviously he's not being totally honest. A tax credit is a pay raise, though one that enters through the back door.

Legislators are saying tax cuts are off the table for this year. They aren't being honest, either. They are working to provide a significant income tax cut---for school teachers and school teachers only.

Understand, we're not talking about a tax deduction; we're talking tax credit. A credit is deducted from the tax one owes after all the calculating is done. This bill proposes to virtually eliminate the state income tax for school teachers.

The state is facing a $114 million funding shortfall. That according to the most recent figures. Things could easily worsen in coming months. Yet politicians still feel compelled to put a package under the tree for school teachers.

Ironically, lawmakers are looking to get rid of a lot of tax credits, claiming they have outlived their usefulness. Their stated purpose is to increase tax revenue in order to make way for reductions in the income tax rate. Yet here they are looking to install a new credit for school teachers. There are over 40,000 school teachers in Oklahoma. If they all take the credit---which one assumes is a given---it's a $20 million income tax cut.

So what are the politicians really up to? Well, it appears they want to get rid of tax credits for some people so teachers can have the money.

The political-educational complex at work.

The rationale behind the bill has to do with teachers digging into their own pockets---to the tune of hundreds of dollars a year---to supply classrooms. In order to buy into such a notion, one first has to believe teachers would actually be willing to do that. And second, one has to believe that with billions and billions in state and property tax money flowing through public schools every year, there isn't funding enough for supplying classrooms.

Ergo, I don't buy into the claim that teachers supply classrooms with their own money. And I won't buy into it until I see some proof.

But even if one accepts that teachers spend their own money on supplying classrooms and shouldn't have to, this bill, if passed, would be wide, wide open to fraud.

In a plain reading, McCarville says any "materials, equipment, or supplies used in a classroom of a public school" qualify for the credit. (Emphasis added). That covers a lot of ground.

Let's say I'm a school teacher and I buy myself a digital camera. I take the camera on my vacation to Washington, D.C. and take pictures of the monuments. I bring the pictures to school with me to show my students. Ba-da-bing, my digital camera just became a piece of equipment used in a classroom. And the state buys it for me.

I could go out and buy a copy of Barack Obama's book, run 20 copies of a page and hand the copies out to my class. The book comes under the heading of material used in a classroom. And the state buys it for me.

I could buy myself a nice gold pen and pencil set. Hey, I grade papers with those instruments. They are supplies used in a classroom. And the state buys the set for me.

For that matter, I wouldn't have to buy anything at all and I could still take the credit. I mean it's a simple matter of filling out a line on my return. Who's going to know? Does the state plan to audit the tax returns of over 40,000 school teachers every year? I don't think so.

If I claimed the credit, couldn't prove I was entitled to it and got caught, no biggie. I turn to the old students' excuse. The dog ate my receipts. I reimburse the state and go on with my business. But I would consider taking the credit worth the risk every year. Dude, we're talking 500 bucks. Over 10 years, we're talking 5 large.

One would think a bill like this would be authored by one of those "liberal Democrats." It's not. It's a Republican bill. And it's a bad bill that should not be passed into law.

Boren's Propaganda

While doing some channel surfing yesterday, I came across an edition of Oklahoma City Metro on OETA. OU President David Boren was a guest on the show. He was hawking his new book promoting bipartisan cooperation.

I find Boren's promotion of bipartisan, everybody-get-along, politics of late interesting. For many years, Democrats owned the state government. And the Democratic Party is attached at the hip to the education lobby. Now that Republicans have control of the House and threaten to gain control of the Senate, Boren seems all too interested in making nice-nice with conservatives.

Are educators worried their gravy train might be making its last stop, do you reckon?

Anyway, the topic of a shrinking middle class was brought up by the interviewer, Gerry Bonds. According to Boren, the top 10 percent of the top 1 percent saw an average income increase of $4 million last year. He said the top 1 percent saw an average income increase of $1 million last year. That while, he said, 90 percent of the country experienced a decline in their real disposable income, or, if you will, standard of living.

So far so good. The above gives exposure to the ever-growing lack of wealth distribution in this country. And one of the big reasons the gap between the rich and the rest has to do with tax policy. The nobility is under-taxed; the working and middle classes are overtaxed.

But Boren lost me when he said 90 percent of "us" have seen a decline in our ability to make a living. Us? Boren knows damn well he's in the top 1 percent. He gets paid with tax money---and has since he's been old enough to shave---yet he is one of the richest people in the land. For him to paint himself as an average working stiff, part of the lower 90, just trying to scratch out a living is absurd.

This is one of the ways the political-educational complex works. Take an educator, put that educator on TV, then let that educator spread a bunch of crap about how public educators are dedicated "public servants," practically donating their time and grand expertise for the good of society.

Aside from a very select few, people employed in public education are better compensated than anybody in the state. That's the real truth.

Teachers and the Moving Threat

I've heard it more times than I can count: Oklahoma teachers can make more money somewhere else, so if we don't give them raises every year they will all move and there will be no one to teach the kidlets. Another load of poop---courtesy of the political-educational complex.

I'll begin with this point: Public education is one of the most statistic-happy industries in the country, yet I've never seen a shred of documentation that backs up the above claim. Politicians make the statement. Teachers make the statement. And the media dutifully publishes those statements as gospel with no further investigation.

The regional average teacher pay figure versus Oklahoma's average teacher pay figure is typically used as rationale to justify the threat of a mass teacher exodus. According to the governor, the regional average is currently $1,200 above Oklahoma's average. Hence his push for $1,200 raises this year.

A point to make here is our region includes Colorado, Missouri and Texas. It, therefore, includes Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. These are all large metro areas where there are a lot of teachers employed, and where the cost of living is no doubt higher than it is anywhere in Oklahoma. Naturally, teachers working in these metro areas make more money and push the regional average up. So comparing Oklahoma's average to the regional average is a bit of a bogus endeavor from the start.

In a fair head-to-head comparison---an Oklahoma teacher versus a teacher working in a comparable venue in a surrounding state---I doubt even the $1,200 spread exists.

But assuming it does, just on the face of it, considering nothing else, would you quit your job and move to another state for another grand a year?

I doubt many people would answer that question in the affirmative. And when other considerations get factored in, nobody would.

Teachers are like everybody else. They have kids, homes and spouses. Is a teacher going to uproot the family and sell the house for the extra grand a year? What if the spouse works? Is hubby supposed to give up his job and move so wifey can make another grand a year?

Suppose a Tulsa teacher could move to Kansas City and make another grand a year. The increased cost of living would quickly eat the grand. There would be no point to making the move.

Suppose an Oklahoma teacher could make a grand more working in Arkansas. But maybe Arkansas isn't quite so generous with its pension system. Maybe said teacher would have to contribute more to his or her own retirement. There goes the grand.

Suppose an Oklahoma teacher could move to Kansas and make another grand. But maybe Kansas doesn't give free health insurance to teachers like we do in Oklahoma. There goes the grand.

In addition, Kansas' school year is 10 days longer than Oklahoma's. There is a proposal on the table to increase Oklahoma's school year by 5 days, and teachers are kicking up a fuss over that. I can't imagine any Oklahoma teacher wanting to move to Kansas.

Suppose an Oklahoma teacher could make another grand in Texas. But maybe the state and local tax burden is higher in that location. There goes the grand.

There are many, many things to consider when one contemplates moving from one state to another. One would have to be an idiot to do a simple comparison of paychecks and call it a done deal. And, most certainly, another grand a year would not be enough to prompt anybody to make the move.

But just for the sake of argument, let's assume 5,000 Oklahoma teachers decide there are greener pastures elsewhere so off they are going. Going where? Here's a newsflash for you: Other states already have teachers. And their local universities are cranking out thousands more every year. It is ridiculous to assume thousands of Oklahoma teachers could quit their jobs and bop off to another state with the snap of a finger.

But even assuming the mass exodus is possible, so what? Our local universities are cranking out thousands of new teachers every year as well. There are plenty of people willing to take a part-time job that offers full-time pay and benefits.

You know, about 10 years ago my elementary school was closed and demolished. An open house was held to allow folks one last walk through the old place. My first grade homeroom teacher was there. I was in the first grade in the early '60s. This woman had not only stayed in the state, she was still teaching at the same school over 30 years later.

I'm sure there are teachers that leave the state from time to time. There are teachers that leave the occupation from time to time. But neither of those things has much to do with a lack of compensation. Teachers have the deal of the century---and they know it.

The leaving-the-state threat is just another lie propagated by educators, politicians and the media so teachers can pocket more of your money.

The Annual Circus has Begun

It has become as predictable as Christmas. Every year about this time the Legislature prepares to enter session to decide who is going to get your money. And the political-educational complex kicks into high gear.

Below is a quote taken directly from the blog of House Speaker Lance Cargill.

Investment and reform in education
We’ll support continued investments in education, coupled with more accountability, increased standards and better results. A good first step is a performance pay plan for our school teachers, so that good teachers are rewarded for success. Teachers are professionals, and they deserve to be paid like professionals. For too long, they have been held back by a “one-size-fits-all” model of pay.

School teachers are professionals? School teachers deserve to be paid like professionals? A more absurd premise I could not contemplate.

Do teachers have to go through professional school, like lawyers or doctors? Do teachers have to pass any board examines to prove they know what they're doing? Nope, on both counts. A bachelor's degree from any out-of-the-way university that will hand one out will do.

Does it take professional skill to babysit kindergarten kids, or stand in front of a blackboard telling a bunch of booger-pickers that two plus two equals four? I think not.

Does it take professional skill to teach Oklahoma history to a class of middle-schoolers? No. Anyone that can read a book and regurgitate can teach such a class.

At the bottom line, most of what is taught in public schools could be taught by any housewife with a high school diploma. If you need a witness, take a look a home-schooled kids that can probably out-test the kids taught by the alleged professionals.

Does putting in 1050 hours a year on the job equate to a professional workload? Not by a damn sight.

School teachers are in no way professionals.

Understand, the comment from the politician does not come from one of those free-wheeling, tax-and-spend liberal Democrats. Oh no. The comment came from a Republican, as he laid out the conservative agenda for the coming session.

Author Gore Vidal once said, "The two parties are really one party representing four percent of the people."

When it comes to education funding, at least, I'm inclined to agree.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats Brad Henry and Sandy Garrett staged a dog-and-pony show yesterday to announce Henry's support for $1,200 raises for teachers this year. The cameras of Oklahoma News Report were on hand---which wasn't surprising at all. The OETA is governed by a board comprised solely of educators. Educators have their own statewide TV network to use in spreading their nonsense.

And yes, your taxpayer dollars subsidize that operation as well. Keep that in mind the next time OETA does one of its little telethons asking for your contributions. You are already contributing---whether you want to or not.

Meanwhile, the private-sector TV media is doing its part. I saw a standard piece of fluff a couple of nights ago. I believe it was aired by KJRH, though I wouldn't swear to it.

The piece put a teacher on the air to claim teachers have to dig into their own pockets to supply classrooms. She mentioned numbers of $600, $700 and $1,000 a year. I've heard that tale before; it's one of the stories used to drum up sympathy for the poor, downtrodden hero of the classroom.

I'm going to call that story bullshit. I'm going to continue to call it bullshit until I see documentation. I want to see the physical items teachers claim they purchase. I want to see receipts. Then I want proof that any purchase physically made by a teacher wasn't later reimbursed by the school. Only then will I believe teachers are supplying classrooms out of their own pockets.

But, for the sake of argument, let's assume teachers are, in fact, having to supply classrooms out of their own pockets. Why? If I were a parent with a kid in a public school, seeing a story that said schools aren't supplying classrooms wouldn't generate sympathy in my mind, it would piss me off. Schools are up to their butts in tax money. If that money isn't going to something as fundamental as classroom supplies, where is it going?

KOTV is on the bandwagon. Last night, that station did its perfunctory put-a-teacher-on-the-air-to-say-whatever story. This teacher actually claims to be going beyond supplying the classroom; she claims she digs into her own pockets to supply the households of her students. She cited an instance in which she claimed to have purchased a mattress for one of her students because the poor thing didn't have a place to sleep.

I didn't exactly grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth. I spent 13 years in Tulsa Public Schools. No teacher ever bought me anything. Not a mattress, not a bicycle, not a pair of sneakers, not so much as a pencil. More bullshit, I'd say.

This teacher also laid claim to working "overtime." In addition to her public school job, she teaches as an adjunct at TCC. The time she puts in on her so-called full-time job in public schools plus the time she spends at TCC doesn't equal the time put in by a person with one real job. But she calls her TCC job "overtime."

The KOTV story also reported bad numbers. The station undercut the average teacher pay figure in the state, reporting it as a little over $38k a year. Henry, in his press conference, citing what he called the most recent numbers available, said the average pay for an Oklahoma teacher is $42,379 a year.

The regional average pay figure, according to Henry, is $43,519 a year. Hence his justification for promoting the $1,200 raise. He wants to bring the Oklahoma average pay figure to the regional average. That's a story in itself.

This regional average educators and their lackeys keep talking about is a moving target. There are seven states in our region: New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas, in addition to our own. If they all hand out teacher raises this year, what happens to the regional average? It goes up, yes?

For that matter, since Oklahoma is a part of the region, giving Oklahoma teachers raises will boost the regional average---even if all the other states sit still.

Pointing at the regional average gives educators an annual excuse to scream for pay raises---all other considerations aside.

A smiling Sandy Garrett, meanwhile, took the podium and proudly stated her target is the national average. The same logic that applies to chasing a regional average applies here.

Oklahoma is one of the cheapest states in the country---if not the cheapest---in which to live. Should Oklahoma teachers, in light of that fact, get paid the national average?

Oklahoma's school day is shorter than that of other states. Oklahoma's school year is one of the shortest in the nation. Again, should Oklahoma teachers get paid the national average?

If we paid Oklahoma teachers the national average wage, they would likely, when workload and cost of living is considered, be the best paid in the nation.

Using Henry's average pay figure, the average teacher in this state is making over 42 grand a year. The state's average wage as a whole is maybe 35 grand. And even that figure is deceivingly high. The state's aggregate average wage figure includes everybody. It includes doctors and lawyers, school superintendents and university presidents, CEOs and football coaches. In other words, it includes a lot of people that make way beyond average wages. The average for school teachers includes only school teachers.

It is clear to see that the average school teacher in Oklahoma already makes 10 to 15 grand a year more than the average average Oklahoman with a real job. Still, teachers bitch.

Three or four years ago, the average teacher pay figure being reported in the media was about 34 grand a year. So the average pay figure is up 8 grand, or 23.5 percent, in just the past few years. Still, teachers bitch.

Three or four years ago, the state relieved teachers of any responsibility for their health insurance. They were paying a mere 25 percent of the premiums; now they pay nothing. People that can't afford insurance for themselves pay taxes so teachers can have it for free. Still, teachers bitch.

The Oklahoma Teachers' Retirement System is a reported $7 billion in the hole. That's a credit card bill, folks. We owe teachers $7 billion in retirement benefits for which there is no funding. That comes to $2,000 for every man, woman and child in the state. That's what every Oklahoma citizen currently owes teachers above and beyond what they already contribute. The pension system allows teachers to retire in their early 50s and get paid for life. Still, teachers bitch.

The school day is 6 hours long. The typical school year is 175 days. That's 1050 hours a year that teachers are actually required to teach. Figuring against the average wage, the average teacher in Oklahoma is getting paid over $40 an hour---plus benefits. That's just the average, mind you. Some make more. Still, teachers bitch.

How much does it take to satisfy school teachers? The answer is, we can't get there from here. Nothing satisfies teachers.

Pay close attention in the days and weeks ahead. Pay close attention to the comments and actions of politicians; pay close attention to what you see in the media. You will get an excellent lesson in how the political-educational complex works to hide truth, spew forth propaganda and steal your money.