Articles
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Education, Culture & the Family
Child abuse, cover-up alleged at Bowring school
Two employees of the Bowring school district say students have been emotionally and even physically mistreated by staff at the Osage County K-8 school, leaving multiple students suicidal, and that nothing has been done by district leaders in response to protect children.Ray Carter | February 4, 2022
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Law & Principles
Tribes send mixed messages on McGirt
Since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which effectively declared that most of eastern Oklahoma remains tribal reservation land, state tribal governments have touted the decision and proclaimed little or no harm has come from the ruling.Ray Carter | February 3, 2022
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Culture & the Family
Workers, employers win with vax-mandate ruling
Oklahoma’s workers and their employers alike won an important victory when the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the Biden administration’s COVID-vaccine mandate for private businesses. That mandate clearly exceeded the government’s authority, opened the door for further abuses of power, and would have had a significant negative impact on the labor supply.Jonathan Small | February 2, 2022
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Education
School choice makes homeschoolers and private schools more safe from government—not less
Homeschoolers and private schools must be vigilant whether a state has vouchers, empowerment accounts, or tax credits—or no school choice programs at all.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | February 1, 2022
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Education
‘Sick out’ at Putnam City schools?
Amidst increasing COVID cases, some Oklahoma schools have temporarily closed for in-person learning in recent weeks, citing insufficient staffing due to illness.Ray Carter | January 31, 2022
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Education
Tahlequah kids quizzed on CRT, transgender stances
Seventh-grade students in Tahlequah were quizzed during the first semester of school about their views on Critical Race Theory, transgenderism, abortion, and other political issues … in a middle-school geography course.Ray Carter | January 29, 2022
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Health Care
St. Anthony says ‘race and gender criteria are no longer used’ to determine who gets COVID treatment
A major health care network with an Oklahoma affiliate has withdrawn a controversial medical rating system that appeared to give bonus points in receiving crucial COVID-19 care to “non-white or Hispanic” patients based solely on skin color.Mike Brake | January 28, 2022
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Education
Hofmeister seeks dramatic increase in agency budget
While State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister’s budget request includes a modest percentage increase in funding for school districts, it includes a much larger increase of 27 percent for her agency’s budget.Ray Carter | January 28, 2022
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Education
Oklahoma elementary reading scores plunge despite increased spending
State school spending on reading has increased by a triple-digit percentage since 2017, yet far more Oklahoma public-school students are considered at risk today than just five years ago, according to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Education.Ray Carter | January 27, 2022
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Education
$1.4 billion in Oklahoma school COVID funds remain unspent
Since 2020, Congress has approved three rounds of federal COVID-bailout funding, providing more than $2 billion combined to Oklahoma school districts to mitigate viral spread, address challenges created by the pandemic, and reverse learning loss tied to COVID shutdowns.Ray Carter | January 27, 2022