Articles
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Education
Could school funding reform increase integration, test scores?
According to one expert, education officials can encourage integration without heavy-handed tactics, such as forced busing, if they embrace open-enrollment policies and a robust charter-school sector—and base school funding on current-year student counts.Ray Carter | July 25, 2019
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Budget & Tax
For wealth migration, overall tax burden matters
While the income tax rate may be a good indicator of a state’s potential for growth, a state’s overall tax burden is also an important metric to consider when assessing a state’s financial competitiveness.Curtis Shelton | July 24, 2019
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Budget & Tax
Oklahoma sets new record for revenue collections
Oklahoma’s total revenue collections for fiscal year 2019 set a new record at $13.6 billion. Revenue collections grew by $1.4 billion compared to last year’s total.Curtis Shelton | July 24, 2019
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Education
Oklahomans paying to educate ‘ghost students’ in numerous districts
Many traditional public schools, all across Oklahoma, are receiving funding to educate students who no longer attend those schools. And, for those schools, the payments are not only legal, but the result of deliberate design.Ray Carter | July 22, 2019
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Education
Even after raises, teacher activist calls for lawmakers’ ouster
One prominent public-education activist has called for the ouster of as many as 35 Republican lawmakers, despite the fact most of those lawmakers supported teacher pay raises and school-funding increases.Ray Carter | July 18, 2019
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Education
With Oklahoma teachers’ input, national union endorses wide range of liberal causes
This month about 60 Oklahoma Education Association members attended the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly. Rather than focus solely on improving educational outcomes or addressing labor issues, delegates often embraced political activism—including support and promotion of abortion, unrestricted immigration, reparations for slavery, transgender issues, and more.Ray Carter | July 16, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Education
Scholarship tax credit accounts for a tiny fraction of Oklahoma’s total tax credits
Oklahoma offers many tax credits, but none have received the kind of attention over the last few years as the tax credit associated with the Oklahoma Equal Opportunity Education Scholarship program.Curtis Shelton | July 16, 2019
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Education
Top 10 states in education deliver bang for the buck
In their new ranking of the quality of states’ education systems, scholars at the University of Texas at Dallas focus on what really matters: student learning.Brandon Dutcher | July 12, 2019
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Education
A next-generation school agenda for Oklahoma
Oklahoma has the opportunity to lead the nation into a new generation of education reform. Policy research and recent experience suggest a reform agenda focused on three goals, none of which requires significant increases in the education system’s spending levels.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | July 10, 2019
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Education
Two new schools in Norman area signal desire for education choices
Two new schools opening in the Norman area this fall provide the latest examples of Oklahoma parents wanting more educational options for their children.Ray Carter | July 9, 2019