Articles
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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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Culture & the Family
Proud to be an American?
The Oklahoman recently printed the obituary of a remarkable man whose life story should put protestors to shame.Mike Brake | November 26, 2019
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Budget & Tax
Never enough: Here come the state agency wish lists
So far, Oklahoma state agencies have requested $454 in additional funding for the next fiscal year—and the wish list keeps getting longer.Curtis Shelton | November 25, 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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Education
Funding structures, not union politics, driving teacher pay
During 2018, many Oklahoma school districts shut down for up to two weeks as part of a union-led walkout campaign targeting the state legislature. Just days before the shutdown, the legislature had passed a package of tax increases in order to raise teacher pay by an average of $6,100. One of the most salient arguments leading up to the pay raise and walkout was that Oklahoma was losing teachers to Texas due to higher pay south of the Red River.Curtis Shelton | November 21, 2019
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Health Care
Stitt calls Medicaid expansion ‘Plan F’
In a recent interview, Gov. Kevin Stitt expressed his disapproval of State Question 802, calling it “problematic” and “Plan F” for the state.Kaitlyn Finley | November 21, 2019
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Budget & Tax
How do Oklahoma’s casino fees compare to other states?
One fact stands out above all others: Oklahoma has more slot machines than all but a handful of states—yet collects less revenue than most.Jonathan Small & Curtis Shelton | November 20, 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