Oklahoma Is Leading

[Poke78]

sorry, I'm on my phone and it's difficult to pluck this quote. The millage and bonds are two different things. I was pointing out another limitation that rural schools and those with a small sales tax base have.

When you get to your regular computer to respond, please note my comment also included info that sales tax is not part of regular school funding. It has been part of special funding in certain circumstances, ref. the MAPS tax in the OKC area. Also, millage and bonds are related in that the millage assessment for a school district directly determines the amount of bonding capacity for construction and capital expenditures.

 

[emapples]

My thoughts exactly. We had an acquaintance bragging recently about leaving her teaching job in Oklahoma for a "50k a year teaching job in the DFW area". I bit my lip, but she's going to get a real wakeup call when the cost of living down there punches her right in the mouth.

Cost of living isn't that bad in Texas ? I have lived here 35 years and Texas for 8 and it's not that much higher at all yes the property taxes were higher but they don't have state income tax either. I war to know where my Oklahoma taxes go frankly .....just money they piss away the best I can tell. Housing and apartments were about the same fuel was bout the same, unless you go to live in the super trendy areas of dallas or the elitist suburbs like Allen or Frisco then yes....your housing can be high but we have that here in the desirable areas of Oklahoma too.

I moved to east Texas here is the cost of living comparison(link below) , 4% more expensive now take out the OK state taxes and it's likely a wash. Texas is better they do at least pursue bringing new factories, busiensses, etc to the State we don't focus on brining anything to Oklahoma not like we should.

http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/tulsa-ok/tyler-tx/65000

 

[Okie1907]

Yeah, that's the way it works. Get paid while you learn more.

Yeah but was the post votech training another course, did they have to have the votech prerequisite? Again not trying to be down on it but from my experiences it was just a little fun thing to do. It had no real value. That is just me though and the courses I took. I know there is some there of great value Im just trying to learn about some more real world applications after learning votechs get our property taxes.

 

[Okie1907]

Cost of living isn't that bad in Texas ? I have lived here 35 years and Texas for 8 and it's not that much higher at all yes the property taxes were higher but they don't have state income tax either. I war to know where my Oklahoma taxes go frankly .....just money they piss away the best I can tell. Housing and apartments were about the same fuel was bout the same, unless you go to live in the super trendy areas of dallas or the elitist suburbs like Allen or Frisco then yes....your housing can be high but we have that here in the desirable areas of Oklahoma too.

I moved to east Texas here is the cost of living comparison(link below) , 4% more expensive now take out the OK state taxes and it's likely a wash. Texas is better they do at least pursue bringing new factories, busiensses, etc to the State we don't focus on brining anything to Oklahoma not like we should.

http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/tulsa-ok/tyler-tx/65000

Its about a 10000 dollar difference I have heard in bigger cities. Still a 5000 to 10,000 dollar raise depending on what level they are at in the OK teaching pay scale.

 

[SlugSlinger]

Which means nothing. There are bad examples in every profession--teachers, welders, preachers, police officers, etc. That, alone, explains nothing. If you mean that the vast majority of teachers are bad examples, then that fault lies directly with the government for not paying enough to attract effective teachers. In short, it's a great example of capitalism--where the surrounding states are attracting the best teachers because they pay enough to compete for *quality* (and Oklahoma doesn't). If this is the case, it's the fault of Oklahoman's that fail to support the system, and not the fault of those teachers themselves.

The problem with the bad teachers in an industry controlled by unions, is again, as I mentioned before, the lack of accountability. A teacher basically has to molest a kid before they will be fired. In a business where there are poor performers, the poor performer can be removed and replaced with a quality replacement, this does not happen in the public schools or universities after tenure.

Do you have examples of this? If professors aren't acting appropriately or professionally, there are ways to deal with them using university-administration; so I'm wondering who you're talking about? Also, college professors aren't chosen based on an advanced degree--that is the last criteria that is considered in hiring professors.

When a professor cannot write or speak with correct grammar, there is a major problem. When assignments are given out with directions to follow, and the information the student is directed to use or follow is consistently not available as listed in the directions, there is a problem. When a professor cancels class because of 'technical issues' there is a problem. These types of issues are common place now.

Another example: My first advance finance exam was a multiple choice finance equation. I worked the problem and my answer didn't match any of the available choices. I approached the professor and asked about it, she replied in her broken English that we were to choose the closest answer. This is completely unacceptable. The answer is either right or wrong, not close.

And an advance degree will get you a job teaching at a university. These universities (as well as public schools; Hell, in Oklahoma and other states, you can teach a class even without a degree or teaching certifications.) are looking for warm bodies to stick in front of a class. I have been asked multiple times for help with advanced accounting and finance courses at a local university since I received my advanced degree.

And, that makes Oklahoma's poor education system ok? What does it matter what they are doing?

Connect the dots YG, public education problems are not an anomaly for Oklahoma. Funding is not the primary issue. Its just easy for liberals to blame funding instead of the underlying mechanics of the school. Let's throw more money at it, that will fix it; that is pure ignorance.

This mindset reminds me of an old saying when I was an analyst in the telecommunications world:
Who cares if we are losing a penny for every minute of service we sell, we will make it up on volume.

 

[donner]

Cost of living isn't that bad in Texas ? I have lived here 35 years and Texas for 8 and it's not that much higher at all yes the property taxes were higher but they don't have state income tax either. I war to know where my Oklahoma taxes go frankly .....just money they piss away the best I can tell. Housing and apartments were about the same fuel was bout the same, unless you go to live in the super trendy areas of dallas or the elitist suburbs like Allen or Frisco then yes....your housing can be high but we have that here in the desirable areas of Oklahoma too.

I moved to east Texas here is the cost of living comparison(link below) , 4% more expensive now take out the OK state taxes and it's likely a wash. Texas is better they do at least pursue bringing new factories, busiensses, etc to the State we don't focus on brining anything to Oklahoma not like we should.

http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/tulsa-ok/tyler-tx/65000

we lived in lubbock texas for three years and the cost of living there was very inexpensive. Admittedly, we rented, so we didn't have the property tax per se (i'm sure it was built into our rent) but it wasn't an issue since what we made we kept. They also didn't tax groceries, IIRC.

And for those pointing to higher taxes as an issue, at least you got something to enjoy for them in texas. the quality of the roads was far superior in most places to the ones in OK (or MS, for that matter).

 

[lasher]

Taking a cut in pay isn't insane if you don't like what you do and hope to enjoy your life more than your salary.

Personally, I wish I could do something else and still make the bills.

i agree with your statement. but taking a cut in pay to talk sports crap with other jock types instead of teaching, is insane. the son in law is a sports junkie, watches and talks it constantly. blah, blah, blah ... here's a novel idea, go play some sport instead of living it thru other peoples lives

 

[Pokinfun]

Oklahoma teachers are not controlled by a Union, that is true for other states, but not in Oklahoma. You cannot teach without a degree. I know you have an agenda, which maybe explained by your statement of "she replied in her broken English."

The problem with the bad teachers in an industry controlled by unions, is again, as I mentioned before, the lack of accountability. A teacher basically has to molest a kid before they will be fired. In a business where there are poor performers, the poor performer can be removed and replaced with a quality replacement, this does not happen in the public schools or universities after tenure.



When a professor cannot write or speak with correct grammar, there is a major problem. When assignments are given out with directions to follow, and the information the student is directed to use or follow is consistently not available as listed in the directions, there is a problem. When a professor cancels class because of 'technical issues' there is a problem. These types of issues are common place now.

Another example: My first advance finance exam was a multiple choice finance equation. I worked the problem and my answer didn't match any of the available choices. I approached the professor and asked about it, she replied in her broken English that we were to choose the closest answer. This is completely unacceptable. The answer is either right or wrong, not close.

And an advance degree will get you a job teaching at a university. These universities (as well as public schools; Hell, in Oklahoma and other states, you can teach a class even without a degree or teaching certifications.) are looking for warm bodies to stick in front of a class. I have been asked multiple times for help with advanced accounting and finance courses at a local university since I received my advanced degree.



Connect the dots YG, public education problems are not an anomaly for Oklahoma. Funding is not the primary issue. Its just easy for liberals to blame funding instead of the underlying mechanics of the school. Let's throw more money at it, that will fix it; that is pure ignorance.

This mindset reminds me of an old saying when I was an analyst in the telecommunications world:
Who cares if we are losing a penny for every minute of service we sell, we will make it up on volume.

 

[SMS]

Common cost of living calculators:

Overall 16% higher in DFW area.

Housing: 23%

Transportation: 23%

Entertainment: 16%

Healthcare: 16%

Food: 9%

Then add the commute, traffic, congestion etc....it would take more than 50k to make me move

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

The problem is not the Democrats or Republicans in charge. The problem is the politicians in charge.

Woody