I wish to thank McAlester Library for hosting a town hall meeting last week. It was very well attended with an estimated 75 people plus. It was a spirited crowd with many questions, but I really appreciate that whether you agreed or disagreed with everything being said, the crowd was very respectful. Everyone had their opinion of what we are doing right and what we are not.
As expected, many questions pertained to our superintendent of education and accusations of not properly funding education. I still maintain this is a position elected by the people of Oklahoma. If the voters are not happy with this, then it will change. As far as not properly funding education, I wish to remind readers that 45.8% of our state appropriated budget goes to education, and this is just state dollars, not federal, tribal, Commissioners of the Land Office, local ad valorem, etc. According to the National Education Association, Oklahoma’s average teacher pay was $61,330 in the 2023-24 school year. This is higher than the average in three of six border states. We beat out Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri, and we trail Texas by less than $2,100 in average pay. While we’re further behind Colorado, when we factor in cost of living, we actually come out ahead. And this is in addition to added dollars to the overall school funding formula. I believe we as a state are funding education.
Mental Health is another area that people believe we as a state are ignoring and underfunding. Our Department of Mental Health Services experienced some major problems at the top over the past year, but we’ve made some necessary changes. Hopefully, with new leadership, this is a problem that can be corrected. We cannot overlook the fact that $30 million dollars were unaccounted for under former leadership.
Something on a local level I am hearing about is trash pickup service in Latimer County. I understand there are some equipment issues, but before we criticize this service very much, we need not look very far in either direction to see counties that offer “no” trash service except through private providers. I assure you, this can be very expensive. I wish to commend our commissioners on the job they do.
As always, thank You for allowing me to serve you. I can be reached at (405) 557-7381 or by email at jim.grego@okhouse.gov.
Jim Grego serves District 17 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Latimer County and part and Pittsburg County.
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