Articles
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Education, Health Care
Medicaid diverting money from education
A top state official told lawmakers one reason Oklahoma spends less on education today is because the state’s Medicaid program is consuming more and more taxpayer resources.Ray Carter | January 14, 2021
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Budget & Tax, Good Government
OKC Mayor Holt ducks reparations questions from citizens
More than six months after touting his leadership role in the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt remains silent on whether he agrees with that group’s support for potential reparation payments for slavery and racial discrimination, a proposal that could cost up to $6.2 quadrillion.Ray Carter | January 14, 2021
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Education
GOP lawmakers back Stitt on quarantines
Fifty House Republican lawmakers have announced their support for resumed in-person instruction in all Oklahoma schools and Gov. Kevin Stitt’s plan to ease quarantine restrictions at schools.Ray Carter | January 13, 2021
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Education
Hofmeister supports mass quarantine of healthy students
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister is maintaining her support for mass quarantining of Oklahoma students for COVID-19 exposure, even though schools across the state have reported such quarantines have largely proven unwarranted and create significant strain on schools.Ray Carter | January 13, 2021
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Education
Governor eases school quarantine measures
Citing the growing body of research that demonstrates schools are not a source of COVID-19 spread, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Tuesday he will ease quarantine mandates that have severely restricted learning in schools.Ray Carter | January 12, 2021
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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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Criminal Justice
What is the purpose of the Pardon and Parole Board?
Nowhere is the purpose of the Board spelled out. Occasionally a statutory scheme will begin with the title of the act, then define the terms of the act, and it will occasionally spell out a purpose. Such a purpose is nonexistent in Oklahoma law, at least with respect to the Board.Ryan Haynie | January 8, 2021