Articles
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Higher Education
Oklahoma colleges given low rating in free-speech report
A new report by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) finds that three major Oklahoma colleges maintain highly restrictive speech codes, and two others maintain policies that are less restrictive but still impose some barriers to free speech.Ray Carter | December 4, 2019
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Education
Teacher numbers climb, but trend may not last
New figures suggest pay increases have attracted more teachers to Oklahoma schools, but much of the increase remains attributable to reliance on emergency-certified teachersRay Carter | December 2, 2019
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Education, Culture & the Family
Teachers’ union encourages members to politicize Thanksgiving, Christmas gatherings
The parent organization of the Oklahoma Education Association is encouraging its members to “incorporate your commitment to social justice at your celebrations this year.”Ray Carter | November 27, 2019
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Education
State testing outcomes prompt question: When will results improve?
Despite a dramatic increase in school funding and the adoption of what state officials say are higher academic standards, Oklahoma students’ academic performance on state tests mostly remained stagnant in 2019 or lower than in 2017.Ray Carter | November 27, 2019
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Education
Notable decline seen in state school grades
For every Oklahoma school that achieved a higher grade on this year’s Oklahoma School Report Card, more than two schools saw their state letter grade fall.Ray Carter | November 26, 2019
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Economy
Economists use beer to highlight socialism’s failings
Socialism may be gaining in popularity among certain groups, but it remains a thoroughly discredited economic system, as two experts highlight in their book Socialism Sucks: Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World (Regnery, 2019).Ray Carter | November 22, 2019
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Health Care
Lawmakers learn shady management companies could benefit from Medicaid expansion
Medicaid expansion has been touted as a way to shore up financially troubled rural hospitals, but at a recent legislative study, lawmakers learned the beneficiaries of Medicaid expansion may include management companies that have run several rural Oklahoma hospitals into the ground.Ray Carter | November 22, 2019
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Budget & Tax
Expert warns against legal games with pension protections
During a recent legislative study that included a review of a pension-protection law, the head of one state pension system offered lawmakers a recommendation for improving such laws: Stop allowing bills to self-exempt from pension protections.Ray Carter | November 20, 2019
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Budget & Tax
Officials urge caution in passing unfunded pension benefits
Under legislation passed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives this year, retired state workers’ benefits would have been increased by 4 percent. But that bill, which did not advance in the Senate, included no funding to cover the additional cost, making the measure an unfunded mandate.Ray Carter | November 19, 2019
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Budget & Tax
Officials say state’s ‘merit protection’ system harms workforce quality
Under the “merit protection” system used in Oklahoma government, it’s too hard to fire bad employees or give promotions to good employees, according to several officials. That has some officials calling for a major overhaul, or even repeal, of the system.Ray Carter | November 18, 2019