Denney: Oklahoma Conservatives Support Education Funding
State Rep. Lee Denney: Oklahoma conservatives support education funding
BY STATE REP. LEE DENNEY
Education can be a difficult topic in conservative circles. School funding is the largest part of the Oklahoma state budget and conservatives would like to contain the growth of that budget as we cut state taxes. “Both parties now appear reluctant to push tax cut” (Our Views, March 16) noted that a measure I authored to increase education funding could lead to the delay of the implementation of an income tax reduction from 5 percent to 4.85 percent.
While I agree that my legislation could lead to the delay of the tax cut, that delay is by no means certain. Tax credits, off-the-top funding for roads and bridges, off-the-top funding for higher education and our economy will all affect the implementation of the tax cut. I would be willing to discuss a variety of reforms to ensure that our tax cut occurs.
I don’t believe conservatives should pit education funding against tax cuts. My conservative colleagues and I ran on the promise that we would protect core services while eliminating government waste. Adequately funding core services is a conservative promise, as equally as important as cutting the state income tax.
There are conservatives who question even current levels of education funding and who believe that funding isn’t the solution to problems throughout the state. I readily welcome their contributions to the discussion of education policy at the Capitol. However, their perspective isn’t the exclusive conservative perspective on education policy.