Articles
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Budget & Tax, Education
Nearly $100 million unspent from school COVID funds
Although some school officials have claimed COVID-19 has created new spending needs that exceed available funding, creating financial strain in state schools, districts have been slow to spend federal bailout money provided specifically for those needs, state senators were told Monday.Ray Carter | January 11, 2021
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Budget & Tax, Education
Pay hikes may do little for teacher shortage, student reading
In the 2018 legislative session, lawmakers passed some of the biggest tax increases in Oklahoma history, saying the additional taxes were needed to boost teacher pay and increase the number of educators in public schools.Ray Carter | January 11, 2021
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Education
Nearly $200 million allotted for ‘ghost’ students in Oklahoma
Newly released enrollment figures for Oklahoma schools show districts may receive around $195 million combined for 55,236 “ghost” students who do not attend classes in the district but are nonetheless included in enrollment counts used to determine state funding for each district.Ray Carter | January 11, 2021
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Economy, Culture & the Family
Covid-19 report ranks Oklahoma among most ‘open’ states
A new report ranks Oklahoma as one of the most “open” states for business based on COVID-19 restrictions.Ray Carter | January 8, 2021
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Education
Thousands of ‘ghost students’ in Oklahoma schools
Newly released enrollment figures show districts across Oklahoma are likely receiving state funding for students who no longer attend classes there, informally referred to as “ghost students.” In some cases, districts are being funded for hundreds or even thousands of such nonexistent students.Ray Carter | January 8, 2021
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma Democrats seek removal of gender language
Democratic members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives called for elimination of gender-specific language in the House’s operating rules during that chamber’s organizational meeting on Tuesday.Ray Carter | January 5, 2021
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma House leaders promise ‘big things’
The top two leaders of the Oklahoma House of Representatives promise lawmakers will work on “big” policy measures in the pending legislative session, although they provided few specifics.Ray Carter | January 5, 2021
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Culture & the Family
McGirt may limit law enforcement protection for citizens
Those potentially left without protection may include many tribal citizens who were supposed to be among the biggest beneficiaries of the ruling.Ray Carter | January 5, 2021
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Energy
Agency reports predict wide range of McGirt problems
The Seminole Nation has indicated it plans to impose a tribal tax on oil production within its territory, representing the latest repercussion of the U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt v. Oklahoma decision that declared a tribal reservation was never disestablished in Oklahoma.Ray Carter | January 5, 2021
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Education
OEA members oppose measurement of students’ learning loss
The Oklahoma Education Association continues to oppose school reopening as well as public measurement of student learning that would let parents know how severe a child’s learning loss has been as the result of school shutdowns.Ray Carter | December 22, 2020