Plan for school shelters thwarted by Okla. tax cut
Source: AP-Excite
By SEAN MURPHY
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - After a huge tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City suburbs this spring and demolished two elementary schools, killing seven children, a longtime legislator thought the time was ripe for the state to act on a well-known problem.
Although Oklahoma averages more than 50 tornadoes a year, and sometimes gets more than 100, about 60 percent of public schools have no shelters. Cash-strapped districts can't afford to build them.
Rep. Joe Dorman, who represents the small farming town of Rush Springs, proposed a bond issue, taking advantage of the state's rebounding economy and revenue from a business tax that was already on the books.
But the response to his proposal has made clear that there's something more ominous than tornadoes these days in one of the nation's most conservative states: taxes and borrowing.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20131216/DAAN9GG80.html
Mekele DeNegri, a teacher at Truman Primary School, stands at the steel doors leading to the gymnasium at the school in Norman, Okla., Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. The gymnasium was built to serve as a safe room for the students. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
= new reply since forum marked as read
