Republicans Running For Governor in Oklahoma Would Make the Education Crisis Worse

3 Candidates Would Not Have Signed Small Teacher Pay Raise, Cornett Ducks Question

On the seventh day of Oklahoma’s statewide education crisis, Republican candidates used a policy forum to tout that they’d be even worse than Mary Fallin on education. Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, businessman Kevin Stitt and attorney Gary Richardson all said they would not have signed a recently passed package that reversed some of the cuts.
Three Republican gubernatorial candidates said they would not have signed the revenue and teacher pay raise package that promises a $6,100 annual increase for the average teacher. In a candidate forum on KOKC radio aired Monday, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt and Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson said they would not have signed the package. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett did not say what he would have done.
Cornett, in a profile in courage, refused to even answer the question.
No state has cut a larger percentage of its education funding than Oklahoma has over the last decade. The disastrous results speak for themselves. Teachers have been forced to take second jobs, schools have adoptedfour day school weeks, and many educators have even left the state.
Despite all the damage, the Republican candidates still would not agree to reinstate funding for schools.
“Republicans running for governor in Oklahoma proved they are even worse on education funding than Mary Fallin,” said DGA Communications Director Jared Leopold. “Todd Lamb, Kevin Stitt, and Gary Richardson would continue to let Oklahoma’s schools deteriorate. Oklahoma’s students and teachers deserve a governor who will support them, not someone who will be even worse on education than Mary Fallin.”