Articles
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Law & Principles
The Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Constitution
What is the best way to protect the environment in Oklahoma? Is it through local partnerships, where landowners, local industries, and state or local government work together? Or should we surrender power to Washington, D.C., letting people who may have never set foot in Oklahoma tell us what to do? This is the kind of practical question the Constitution is all about.Trent England | November 1, 2016
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Education
WHY GOVERNMENT GOVERNS ITS SCHOOLS WRONG (AND HOW TO FIX IT)
Oklahoma policymakers should take a hard look at school board elections, building-level autonomy, principal training, transparency measures, and other public-school governance reforms.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | November 1, 2016
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Higher Education
Free Market Friday: Prioritization, not politicking
Black Lives Matter student-activists recently staged a “die-in” at the University of Oklahoma. I think you’ll agree, nothing says “we shall overcome” quite like (significantly taxpayer subsidized) 19-year-olds with hand-held supercomputers lying on the ground posting selfies on Instagram.Jonathan Small | October 28, 2016
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Higher Education
Higher Ed Bloat Wastes Millions
As Perspective readers well know, OCPA is devoted to public policy research and analysis. But what you may not realize is that in OCPA’s 22-year history we also have raised $127,000 and awarded it to Oklahoma students to attend college. That’s a pretty substantial amount, especially when you consider that scholarship-granting is not even our mission as an organization. But it shows just how strongly we believe in higher education.Brandon Dutcher | October 25, 2016
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Education
Free Market Friday: For pre-K choices
Next week in downtown Oklahoma City, several organizations are hosting a statewide conference on early-childhood issues.Jonathan Small | October 21, 2016
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Education
With a Boost from a School Choice Program, Life-Changing School Coming to Oklahoma
One of the nation’s most effective college prep and work experience programs will come to Oklahoma in one year, thanks to existing state policy providing a steady model for financing. Students from economically challenged backgrounds will be able to access the high-quality high school education model and job program beginning in fall 2017.Patrick B. McGuigan | October 14, 2016
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Agriculture
Free Market Friday: A simple truth
Next time you go grocery shopping, take a hard look at that can of green beans. Say the shelf price is $1. Part of the cost represents the beans themselves, part the canning and shipping costs. But there’s a hidden cost as well – the cost of federal regulation. How much is it?Jonathan Small | October 14, 2016
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Education
Survey: Most Oklahomans See Educational Choice as a Moral Right
Should parents be allowed to use the tax dollars intended for the education of their child to subsidize the cost of an education at a privately operated school? Most Oklahoma voters say yes, according to a new SoonerPoll Quarterly Poll, with regular church attenders and evangelicals expressing even stronger support.Jay Chilton | October 11, 2016
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Health Care
Free Market Friday: Saving teachers and taxpayers money
Say you need sinus surgery. Things go fine, but then for several weeks you constantly receive bills for various charges your insurance didn’t cover. There’s a bill from the surgeon, one from the anesthesiologist, an X-ray bill, one for lab tests, and one from the hospital.Jonathan Small | October 7, 2016
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Higher Education
Don’t Blame ‘Underfunding’ for Soaring College Prices
Death, taxes, and rising college prices—these are among life’s few certainties. Tuition and fees increases over the past five years at Oklahoma’s public higher education system are among the country’s highest, according to The College Board. The State Regents for Higher Education blame “underfunding,” but that excuse doesn’t hold water.Vicki Alger | October 1, 2016