The Price of Paper and the Cost of War
Earlier this month, a teacher at a public school in Norman texted asking if our church could help provide printing paper. Through no fault of their own, the school’s annual allotment of paper had run out by early March. 10 sheets per student, per month simply isn't feasible.
Sadly, that kind of request isn’t unusual in Oklahoma. Teachers regularly spend their own money or turn to parents and churches to provide basic classroom supplies.
At the same time, the United States spent an estimated $779 million on the first day alone of bombing operations in Iran. During that day, a missile hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab. Reports say more than a hundred children were killed. The incident is still under investigation, but the images of the destroyed school have already circulated around the world.
Sadly, that kind of request isn’t unusual in Oklahoma. Teachers regularly spend their own money or turn to parents and churches to provide basic classroom supplies.
At the same time, the United States spent an estimated $779 million on the first day alone of bombing operations in Iran. During that day, a missile hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab. Reports say more than a hundred children were killed. The incident is still under investigation, but the images of the destroyed school have already circulated around the world.
An aerial view of a graveyard as funerals are held for students and staff from a girls' school, who authorities said were killed in a US-Israeli strike on February 28, on March 3, 2026 in Minab, Iran.Handout–Getty Images
According to the Pentagon’s early estimate given to Congress, the United States spent about $11.3 billion in the first six days of the war. More than $5.6 billion of that was spent on munitions in just the first two days, with analysts estimating the war is currently costing close to $1 billion per day
The money spent in the first week of the war could pay the salary for every teacher in Oklahoma for more than six years.
And yet, even those numbers do not include long-term costs like troop deployments, equipment replacement, veterans’ care, or reconstruction. Pentagon officials are reportedly preparing a possible request to Congress for up to $50 billion in additional funding if the conflict continues. That's enough to fund the entire Oklahoma State budget for four years spent on a war that still lacks clearly defined goals. As of March 4, there was still an article on the White House Website declaring Iran's nuclear capabilities have been obliterated since June 2025.
The money spent in the first week of the war could pay the salary for every teacher in Oklahoma for more than six years.
And yet, even those numbers do not include long-term costs like troop deployments, equipment replacement, veterans’ care, or reconstruction. Pentagon officials are reportedly preparing a possible request to Congress for up to $50 billion in additional funding if the conflict continues. That's enough to fund the entire Oklahoma State budget for four years spent on a war that still lacks clearly defined goals. As of March 4, there was still an article on the White House Website declaring Iran's nuclear capabilities have been obliterated since June 2025.
Meanwhile, financial disclosure filings show that Oklahoma’s U.S. senator, Markwayne Mullin, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee that oversees military spending, purchased tens of thousands of dollars in stock in RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon, a major defense contractor. RTX manufactures the Tomahawk cruise missiles that investigators say likely struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, along with Patriot missile defense systems and radar technology used to track incoming missiles and aircraft.
None of this proves corruption. But it raises a question worth asking.
How is it that we can spend billions of dollars in a single week of a war, while teachers in Norman are forced to ask churches for copy paper?
A society’s priorities are revealed by what it funds and what it leaves to charity. Budgets are moral documents. In Oklahoma, our teachers and students deserve better than scraps.
None of this proves corruption. But it raises a question worth asking.
How is it that we can spend billions of dollars in a single week of a war, while teachers in Norman are forced to ask churches for copy paper?
A society’s priorities are revealed by what it funds and what it leaves to charity. Budgets are moral documents. In Oklahoma, our teachers and students deserve better than scraps.
Posted in Advocacy
Posted in advocacy, education, public education, public schools, war, military industrial complex
Posted in advocacy, education, public education, public schools, war, military industrial complex