FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 1, 2012

Democratic Leader Scott M. Inman
State Capitol Building Rm. 548
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
Contact: Valorie Owens
405-962-7604

Inman Echoes Call to End Hypocrisy

OKLAHOMA CITY (February 1, 2012) In response to the press release issued today by Representative Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City, Nelson Urges Salary Freeze for All School Superintendents: Encourages End to Hypocrisy, Democratic Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, issued the following response:

Rep. Nelson apparently hasn’t learned the lesson that one should compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges. In today’s press release he attacked me and called it hypocritical that I would oppose pay raises for the state superintendent and statewide officers, but not oppose pay raises for local school superintendents. The true hypocrisy here is that Rep. Nelson and others like him run on a platform of smaller government and local control, but yet want to mandate how decisions are made and how dollars are spent at the local school board level. Rep. Nelson and his colleagues annually file a myriad of bills that simply extend the long arm of government into our local communities and our local schools. Whether it’s a mandate concerning what type of food our kids eat or how they play on the playground, this Republican majority is more than willing to insert its opinion into what should be a school board’s purview.

The truth is I oppose the micromanagement of our local schools by a group of politicians in Oklahoma City. I absolutely oppose issuing pay raises for many local superintendents while teachers and others are struggling to make ends meet. However, I believe that decision is fundamentally to be made at the local school board level, not at 23rd and Lincoln. On the contrary, the decision as to whether the governor or statewide officer holders get a pay raise is constitutionally the legislature’s responsibility and that’s the reason I have called for a resolution denying the nearly $350,000.00 in salary increases. I now hope that Nelson and other opponents will join me in standing up to excessive mandates and government interference into our local communities.

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