Articles
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Education
Teacher shortage persists despite massive pay raises
In 2018, Oklahoma lawmakers approved hundreds of millions of dollars in tax increases, which officials said were necessary to significantly increase teacher pay and reduce the state’s teacher shortage. New figures from the Oklahoma State Department of Education show that approach did not achieve the promised results.Ray Carter | October 29, 2021
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Education
COVID learning deficits to last for years, experts warn
Learning loss from the COVID shutdown of public schools will take years to overcome and many students may leave Oklahoma’s K-12 system without ever catching up, experts told lawmakers during a study that examined how federal bailout funds may be used to address the problem.Ray Carter | October 29, 2021
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Health Care
Hospital officials don’t want to pay for Medicaid expansion
Oklahoma hospitals were among the most prominent supporters of State Question 802, which expanded the state’s Medicaid program to include many able-bodied adults starting July 2021.Ray Carter | October 28, 2021
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Law & Principles
Experts say cross-deputization no solution for McGirt
When the U.S. Supreme Court held in McGirt v. Oklahoma that a major reservation was never disestablished in Oklahoma and that state law enforcement could not prosecute crimes involving American Indians on those lands, it created jurisdictional chaos that critics warn has fueled increased crime.Ray Carter | October 27, 2021
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Budget & Tax
Cherokee chief says no Oklahoma income tax for Indians
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma significantly increases the number of American Indian citizens who may now be exempt from paying Oklahoma state income tax.Ray Carter | October 27, 2021
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Education, Good Government
Oklahoma lawmakers call on OSSBA to act
Fifteen members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives have called on the Oklahoma State School Boards Association to publicly denounce the National School Boards Association’s recent request for federal law enforcement officials to investigate parent protesters under anti-terrorism and hate-crimes laws.Ray Carter | October 26, 2021
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Criminal Justice, Good Government
McGirt helping Aryan Brotherhood, harming Indians?
Oklahomans have been assured tribal police help provide a “blanket of protection” for all citizens despite the McGirt ruling. But state law enforcement officials tell a different story and say McGirt has created a blanket of protection mostly for criminals, including a member of the Universal Aryan Brotherhood.Ray Carter | October 25, 2021
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Health Care
‘Nonbinary’ settlement draws strong pushback from Stitt
A reported court settlement agreed to by officials at the Oklahoma State Department of Health, which created a process for designating an individual’s sex as “nonbinary” on Oklahoma birth certificates, has drawn swift condemnation from Gov. Kevin Stitt and other officials.Ray Carter | October 21, 2021
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Law & Principles
McGirt leads to another reservation ruling
The fallout of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma has led to yet another court ruling that formally re-established another reservation in Oklahoma—the land of the Quapaw Nation in northeast Oklahoma—compounding the jurisdictional chaos that critics say has severely reduced public safety in those areas.Ray Carter | October 21, 2021
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Education
Quality, not seniority, stressed for teacher pay
Among the reasons Oklahoma struggles to retain quality teachers is that existing financial incentives encourage teachers to leave the classroom and that basing teacher salaries on seniority, rather than performance, discourages good teachers and leads them to quickly abandon the profession, officials told lawmakers during a recent study.Ray Carter | October 21, 2021