Articles

In 1999, the legislation allowing charter schools to open in Oklahoma was signed into law. The repercussions are still being felt today and were hailed by hundreds of parents and children at an anniversary celebration in Oklahoma City.

Mission Academy is a private school serving students in grades nine through 12 and does not receive state appropriations. Its tuition is need-based, and the school has never turned away anyone because of an inability to pay. While private funders cover much of the school’s cost, Oklahoma’s school-choice programs have played a crucial role.

To improve Oklahoma's K-12 school system, lawmakers were encouraged to adopt the ideas in a 1990s education law that combined increase in education funding, while simultaneously implementing large reforms.

In Oklahoma, the state government efforts to connect employers and workers is fragmented and disjointed. Employers and workers alike struggle to navigate the maze of Oklahoma government workforce entities--it's time to streamline the process.

Oklahoma City is considering spending $50 million to build or rehabilitate hundreds of “affordable housing” units for the poor and homeless. Which raises the question: Can government housing and liberal policies fix the mess that liberal policies largely created?

While many criminal justice reforms have been sold as a way to lower crime rates and taxpayer costs, lawmakers were told the reform process currently requires additional spending on treatment programs even as its unintended consequences are reducing the incentive for offenders to seek drug treatment and fueling a rise in homelessness.

The recent attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry puts into light Oklahoma’s precarious economic position.

A child survivor of trauma (who also has autism) struggled to obtain needed services until he was able to attend a private school for children with special needs. But this year, due in part to Oklahoma lawmakers’ failure to increase the cap on the tax-credit scholarship program, the boy can no longer attend that school—and the local traditional school refuses to provide many services he needs. The case was one of many reasons parents and caretakers urged lawmakers to expand Oklahoma’s tax-credit scholarship program during a recent forum.

Despite the fact that approximately 800,000 adults were mistakenly added to Medicaid rolls in expansion states, some Oklahoma lawmakers still seek to expand this welfare program.

If Oklahoma expands its Medicaid program to cover able-bodied adults, as allowed by the federal Affordable Care Act, Oklahoma government will have to either raise taxes or divert money from other programs, U.S. Sen. James Lankford warns.