Bixby, Union Schools Vote To Reject HB3393

The Union and Bixby Public School Districts became the third and fourth area districts to reject a new state law that grants scholarships for special education students to go to private schools. Both districts' school boards voted unanimously in the decision.

School boards for Jenks and Broken Arrow Public School Districts voted the week before not to comply with the same law. Other Tulsa-area districts are expected to follow suit in rejecting the law they say is unconstitutional.

"This law puts us in direct opposition to the state constitution by allowing public money to go to private and parochial schools for their support, which is not acceptable under the state constitution," Union Public School District superintendent Dr. Cathy Burden said.

It's one of several reasons Burden says the district decided not to comply with House Bill 3393.

But the bill's sponsor, state representative Jason Nelson of Oklahoma City says that's just a political game.

"Every other school district in the state, except for these Tulsa-area districts are complying with the law," Nelson said. "There's no excuse for what they're doing. They had other options other than this. They picked the most irresponsible, obnoxious option to express their displeasure with the law."

Nelson says Union and other districts had plenty of options to avoid the bill before it became law.

"It was reviewed before it passed by the State Department of Education, by attorneys nationally and locally. Their concerns, if they have legitimate legal concerns, should have been addressed before the law ever went into effect by going to the court and asking for an injunction."

Dr. Burden says they tried to fight the bill before it passed.

"We tried all of those things. I tried to, of course, talk with the author of the bill, we tried to work through our legislators to make sure they understand that there were concerns about the constitutionality of the way the bill was written."

Burden says some of the options Nelson proposes were never real options.

"We do not have any status to be able to bring a lawsuit ourselves. We would if we could have done that. We would have challenged the law in some other way. But we do not have standing...it's against the law to sue the legislature, so we can't sue the State of Oklahoma. We have to therefore find a way to take this into the court system"

Nelson says the districts have opened themselves up for expensive lawsuits.

"Well, they're gonna be sued. Parents have the standing... the ones being denied the right granted to them by the statute, by the actions of these school boards, these parents have the grounds to sue. I know several parents that are considering that, I'm certain will do it."

Burden says other bills passed by the legislature have been successfully challenged in the legal system up to the highest court and is hoping for a similar path.

"We anticipate that if we can work this issue through the state supreme court we will have the same kind of results. So we anticipate that that may happen. If not, we hope that the legislature may reconsider the tenants of this law and correct those before it would go any further."

The attorney representing all of the districts rejecting the law, Doug Mann, explained to the Union School Board before their vote that he is expecting--almost hoping--that Special Education advocacy groups will file suits against the districts to get the issue into the legal system so parents of students won't have to spend any money fighting the districts.

Burden says the districts are all using the same lawyer and banding together so they can share the financial burden of fighting House Bill 3393 and any subsequent lawsuits.