Articles
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Budget & Tax
Beware the bailout
The Oklahoma state government is expected to receive $2.1 billion in bailout funding, but that money comes with a catch.Jonathan Small | April 5, 2021
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Budget & Tax, Education
Price tag for ‘fully funded’ schools: another $2.1 billion?
Democrats, teacher union officials and allied groups have staunchly opposed even minor education reforms this year, arguing that lawmakers should instead “fully fund” traditional public schools.Ray Carter | April 1, 2021
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Budget & Tax, Education
‘Ghost student’ bill clears final hurdle, signed by governor
Legislation that would reduce payments to schools for students they do not teach won Senate approval and was quickly signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt.Ray Carter | March 31, 2021
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Budget & Tax, Education
Many rural schools gain when ‘ghost students’ eliminated
A new Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) analysis shows that more than half of schools, the majority of which are rural districts, would have received increased funding this year if their share of state appropriations was based on current-year student enrollment.Ray Carter & Curtis Shelton | March 30, 2021
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Budget & Tax, Economy
Stitt considering expansion of ‘Skills to Rebuild’ program
An Oklahoma career tech superintendent who created a 2020 program to help retrain mid-career adults displaced by the pandemic wants to take that successful program statewide.Mike Brake | March 26, 2021
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Budget & Tax, Education, Law & Principles
Agreement means equitable funding for Oklahoma students
The State Board of Education has voted to settle a longstanding lawsuit by requiring that public charter schools be funded on an equitable basis with their traditional public-school counterparts.Ray Carter | March 26, 2021
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Budget & Tax
McGirt fallout could hit public schools
A tax protest brought by theOneta Power company in Broken Arrow is once again bringing the Supreme Court ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma to the forefront.Curtis Shelton | March 24, 2021
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Budget & Tax
No new tax cuts?
States with a stable economy have created a great opportunity for tax relief as the national economy begins to recover from the pandemic.Curtis Shelton | March 16, 2021
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Budget & Tax, Education
OK House: Yes on half-billion in tax credits; no school choice
House lawmakers voted to issue more than a half-billion in new tax credits and deductions with 66 percent going to the state’s largest corporations--but they sidelined a far smaller tax credit that would have benefitted low-income children by increasing school-choice opportunitiesRay Carter | March 11, 2021
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Budget & Tax, Education
Educators voice support for school-choice bill
Legislation expanding an existing tax-credit program to encourage more donations to public schools and scholarship-granting organizations is drawing opposition from establishment “education” groups. But the bill is quietly receiving support from many Oklahomans who work on the front lines in schools who have seen the real-world challenges facing children and those who serve them.Ray Carter | March 9, 2021