You may have heard about the so-called School District Em-powerment Act (SB 834), authored by Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville, that recently passed the Oklahoma State Senate. Those who are pushing for its passage claim the bill will allow local school districts to ignore mandates that get in the way of quality education. However, proponent legislators have a difficult time pinpointing just how our students will benefit from this drastic overhaul of the public school system.

As written, SB 834 would give every school district in the state the right to deregulate. The bill would allow school districts to fall under the Charter School Act and pick and choose the mandates they want to meet. That’s right – no accountability and no transparency for patrons. Remember how deregulation got us into trouble on Wall Street? Why would we want that in our schools?

Ironically, while this bill sailed through the Senate and appears headed for the House floor, legislators continue to pass mandates they think schools should be following. If these new mandates are so important, why are they also trying to eliminate requirements to meet school law?

If enacted, schools would not be required to hire certified teachers, counselors, or librarians. Class sizes conducive to an effective learning environment, as mandated by HB 1017 (passed in 1990), could be easily ignored. How does removing these requirements improve the quality of a child’s education?

School boards already have the ability to opt out of mandates through the Development of Educational Improvement Plan, a provision that allows schools to be as innovative as they’d like. The Tahlequah Board of Education and the Tahlequah Education Association maintain a very positive working relationship that benefits our students and teachers. However, the Oklahoma State School Boards Association has come out in favor of the SB 834 with the belief that school boards should have “local control” and be able to fire a teacher at will.

Let’s take a look at history for a moment. Prior to the enactment of due process in public schools, a school board member who had a personal complaint against a teacher or a coach could use the power of the board to fire that individual for personal reasons, even if that person was considered a good teacher. Since then, Oklahoma courts have expressly recognized the public function served by the statutory tenure/due process scheme, which “promotes good order and the welfare of the state and school system by preventing the removal of capable and experienced teachers for reasons arising solely from political or personal whim” (Babb v. Independent School District No. I-5.829 P.2d 973 n.14 [Okla. 1992]).

Obviously, SB 834 is more about eliminating due process than improving the quality of our children’s education.

Our children deserve certified teachers and school counselors who have working conditions conducive to a positive learning environment. And Oklahoma teachers deserve the respect due process provides them. Remember, a teacher’s working environment is the student’s learning environment. These types of deregulations would do little to improve schools and in the end would cause our school boards to deal with more and more personnel issues.

I call on the Oklahoma Legislature and Gov. Brad Henry to join with Sen. Jim Wilson and Rep. Mike Brown to stop passage of this bad piece of legislation.

Those interested should contact Rep. Tad Jones, R-Claremore, who is the principal House author, to let him know their thoughts. He is the Majority Floor Leader and therefore determines what bills are heard each legislative day. He can be reached at (800) 522-8502, extension 380.

Do we want to lose good teachers to a political or personal whim? Do we want to completely dismantle a system that is the cornerstone of our democracy? Does SB 834 help Oklahoma’s children? I don’t think so.

Chuck Pack is a National Board Certified Teacher and serves on the OEA Board of Directors. He teaches math at Tahlequah High School.