A4 - THE PERKINS JOURNAL, Thursday, March 27, 2014
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It's About The Children
March 31, has been set aside for the Education Rally at
the Oklahoma State Capitol. The purpose of this rally is
to call attention to the decrease in funding for the students
of the state of Oklahoma. The per-student funding from
the state has decreased 7.4% since 2008. Yet, during this
time, Perkins schools have had a 6.3% increase in its
student population.
The Perkins-Tryon District has made necessary cuts in
all areas of its operations.
One of the most dire needs at this time is the replace-
ment of textbooks, as the district has foregone textbook
adoptions for the past four years. Many of the textbooks
are now unserviceable, having been repaired and rebound
numerous times. Some students are given photocopied
materials because there are no useable textbooks avail-
able for them. Most of the textbook contents are not up-
to-date for the state testing material. It will now cost the
district more than $400,000 to update our textbooks for
core courses only.
Classroom supplies for students and teachers are mini-
mal. Most supplies are donated from outside organizations
or are supplied from the teachers' own salaries. Several
teachers and staff do individual fundraising to cover costs.
Libraries and music must rely on only fundraisers for
financial support. Athletics must also be self-supported.
The district spent $8000 for software licensing in 2008.
The licensing costs for 2013-14 are $21,000. There is no
state funding for these costs. Also, state testing requires
Windows 7. This will cost an additional $30,000 to
upgrade high school laptop computers to meet testing
requirements.
.... The decrease in state funding per student over the last
several years has made the district unable to allocate
monies for several important functions in our schools:
• No funding for our school libraries
• No funding for our school music program
• No funding for our science labs
• No funding for our athletics
; No middle school in-school detention
• Minimal classroom supplies
• Reduced custodial services yet expanded building
square footage Minimal repairs to buildings and heating/
air units
0 No teacher salary increases in seven years
Utilities and transportation costs for the district continue
to increase. The district has increased its square footage
b'y 60,000 since 2008 but has reduced custodial staff.
The March 31 rally is not limited to educators, it is for
aii Oklahomans who are interested in the education of our
children. Please join us in asking our state government to
adequately fund our students' education, either by your
presence on March 31 or by contacting our legislators.
Cara Brun, President
P- T Education Association
Make Your Concerns Known
You are more than likely aware by now that there will
be no school for P-T students on Monday, March 31. The
staff of our school district will be traveling to Oklahoma
City where we will be participating with thousands of
other Oklahoma education professionals in the Oklahoma
Rally for Education, which is being sponsored by the
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Oklahoma Education Coalition.
The Perkins-Tryon School District along with all of the
other state's public schools are facing a financial crisis
which has been building for several years and began after
2009. In fiscal year 2009, the peak year in public education
funding, the state Board of Education received about $2.53
billion for state public school operation. In the current
fiscal year 2014, that number is closer to $2.3 billion, a
decrease of more than $200 million. As the state legisla-
ture has systematically reduced the appropriations over
the past several years, the number of students attending
public schools has increased by over 30,000.
How has this affected the Perkins-Tryon District? In FY
2009, our state allocation was almost $4.4 million, and we
had a student population of 1,364. This year in FY 2014,
our allocation is slightly under $4.0 million and we cur-
rently serve 1,465 students. You can see that your local
school district is now serving right at 100 more students
while receiving almost $400,000 less to educate them.
Our district superintendent has done an amazing job of
protecting the classroom as he has figured out how to pay
ever increasing utility, insurance, fuel and other opera-
tional costs with less money. He has eliminated support
staff positions by combining positions. Departments such
as the school libraries, the band program, athletics, and
technology, just to name a few, have had their budgets
zeroed out. School sites which in good years were given
a budget for office and teacher supplies have had their
budgets reduced by up to 90%. We have reached the
point where there is nothing expendable left to cut and
now have to begin eliminating teacher positions. For your
information, our elementary school will be;ducing two
positions for the 14-15 school year.
Our message to the legislators on March 31 is:
• Education has been cut beyond the bone, and it is
time to make up the deficit and move on beyond. From
FY 2008 to current, Oklahoma s spen per student
has reduced over 22%; we ¢ad the list o?all 50 states in
this category.
• Continuing to reduce taxes is a fiscally irresponsible
act; a budget deficit has already been forecast for FY 2015.
What is the rationale behind continuing to reduce taxes?
We have been told for years that cutting taxes was going
to stimulate our economy. Why is it that we continue to
experience budget deficits?
• We need them to support legislation that restores
education funding and find revenue streams to make it
possible. It is past time to improve salaries for the people
who work in our schools.
• Our teachers are spending hundreds of dollars each
month out of their own pockets to support the instruction
in their classroom because the schools do not have funds
to do it. This is not right.
• Let the gross production tax incentives expire. We are
losing and have been losing for years millions of dollars of
revenue to the oil companies that could help to adequately
fund school budgets and teacher salaries.
If this is important to you, and we hope it is, welixwite
you t ° join Us a t the Oklalioma Rally for Educ/ton
which kicks off on. the S0uth side !of the capit0t/huild-
ing on Monday, March 3I, at !0:30 AM, Free parking
and shuttles will be available at Remington Park and the
Tinseltown Theater. We will be visiting our legislators
and sharing our concerns with them following the rally.
If you cannot attend, we ask that you make a contact
with our legislative representatives by phone or email.
Rep. Lee Denney can be reached at 405-557-7304 or
Jeedenney@okhouse.go v. Rep. Jason Smalley can be
reached at 405-557-7368 or jason.smalley@okhouse.gov.
Sen. James Halligan can be reached at 405-521-5572 or
halligan@oksenate.gov.
Yours for the best possible public education for our
students.
Bobby Simma
P- T Elementary Principal
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By Cecil Acu.
Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850. Taylor was the only
life-long professional soldier to be elected President
of the United States. Other presidents were professional
military men, but not for their entire careers. Taylor, with
the exception of a few months, was an active front-line
officer for forty years. Yet, he was never a typical officer.
He seldom wore his uniform, preferring the home-spun
clothes commonly worn by farmers and frontier people.
Taylor's appearance was not considered to be "mili-
tary." He had a squat body, long arms, and short bowed
legs. One observer said Taylor looked like a frog on a
horse. Zachary hated the military's penchant for pomp
and ceremony, and was as unpretentious as he was unas-
suming.
Many times young soldiers mistook the high-ranking
officer for a farmer. Once when Taylor was Commander
of Fort Smith, he met two young second Lieutenants just
out of West Point, basking in their importance. Taylor
looked like an old farmer; "Good Morning, old fellow["
Taylor returned their greeting, "How's crops?"
The two West Pointers invited Taylor to have a drink.
Though Taylor didn't drink, he joined them for a chat.
Later, as he left the young dandies, one said, "Give our
love to the old woman and the gals." Next, the fully-
dressed Lieutenants went to pay their respects to their
new Commandant.
Much to their amazement, they found him to be the
old farmer they had teased earlier. Taylor returned their
salutes, and introduced his wife and daughter, "Here are
are the old woman and gal."
Taylor was born November 24, 1784, in Orange County,
Virginia, the third son of Richard Taylor, a prosperous
farmer and Revolutionary War Veteran. He was a second
cousin to James Madison, America's Fourth president.
Richard Taylor was granted land for his Revolutionary
War service in 1785, moving his family to West Virginia.
Eventually, the elderTaylor built an estate of over i0,000
acres, becoming a local political leader.
The Taylor plantation was near a crek close to Indian
territory. Thus Taylor grew up with the constant threat of
Indian attacks trying to stop the steady advance of white
settlement.
The family lived in a small one-room cabin at first.This
was later replaced by a spacious brick two-story home
painted white, one of the finest homes in the area. much
of the work was done by slaves. So, Taylor lived on the
frontier suffering the dangers and hardships inherent in
that life. He also led one of the most privileged lives in
the area.
Zachary's formal education was meagre, consisting of
tutoring by his parents and two itinerate teachers. This
wasn't unusual for that era, but it caused Taylor to be a
poor writer and speller the rest of his life. Most of his life
was not spent in the pursuit of knowledge, it was working
on the farm, fishing and hunting.
In 1808, President Thomas Jefferson decided to expand
the small U.S. Army in response to British attacks on
American shipping and the impressment of American
citizens. So, it's not surprising that, knowing the military
experiences of his father and brothers, the twenty-three
year-old Zachary sought an Army commission. With
the help of his cousin, James Madison, Taylor received
an appointment as a Second Lieutenant in The Seventh
Infantry Regiment.
West Point Military opened in 1802, but Taylor didn't
seek admission. He would surely have been denied with
his lack of education and poor eyesight.
Zachary Taylor, 26 years old, married Margaret
Smith, 23 years old, on June 1, 1810. "Peggy" came
from a wealthy Maryland family; their marriage was a
happy one, producing three daughters and a son. Peggy
accompanied her husband on his assignments to various
military posts, enduring the same severe hardships and
dangers as the soldiers.
The next several years of Zachary Taylor's life was
spent at various Army posts: Indiana, Fort Knox, Fort
Harrison, New Orleans, Kentucky, Washington D.C.,
Minnesota, Florida, Louisiana, and Arkansas. At some
of these places, Taylor suffered from Yellow Fever,
Malaria, and, of course, mosquitos.
Taylor was promoted to Major because of his work
at Fort Harrison, staying in Indiana Territory through
1815, combatting Indians. He became gruntled by what
he perceived to be political favoritism in promotions, he
resigned his position, and became a farmer!
His father had given Peggy arid Zachary land near
Louisville as a wedding gift; the couple turned to raising
corn, tobacco, grain, and livestock. Taylor enjoyed this,
but in the spring of 1816, he traded his plow for a rifle.
He became a Major in the Third ,Infantry, "back in the
saddle again." ',,,.
Taylor, Peggy and their four daughters stayed near Baton
Rouge in the spring of 1820, near the)home of Peggy's
See AUFF, Page A6
