Articles
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Criminal Justice
Licensing reform key to corrections reform
In November of 2014, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs released its 2015 Freedom Agenda. This document details the most significant public policy prescriptions we believe are vital to make lives better for Oklahomans.Jonathan Small & Lauren Aragon | March 11, 2015
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Judicial Reform
Judicial discretion key to corrections reform
In November of 2014, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs released its 2015 Freedom Agenda. This document details the most significant public policy prescriptions we believe are vital to make lives better for Oklahomans.Jonathan Small & Lauren Aragon | March 10, 2015
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Education
OKC Schools listening tour no threat to status quo
On Thursday, I attended one of the Oklahoma City Public School District’s “Great Conversation” public meetings.Trent England | March 9, 2015
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Education
OKLAHOMA ESA PROPOSAL ENSURES COST SAVINGS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS
The design of the Education Savings Account (ESA) proposal in Oklahoma ensures that local school districts will have substantially more resources for the students they serve when some students access ESAs.Benjamin Scafidi | March 6, 2015
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Education
OKC Schools: How great a conversation?
This week, the Oklahoma City Public Schools is embarking on a listening tour. They have titled it, “The Great Conversation,” a phrase usually applied to the significant literary works of Western civilization.Trent England | March 3, 2015
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Education
YOU GUEST IT: Three choices on school choice: Pay, move, or lie
In our state, opportunities to exercise school choice are pretty limited, unless you have money or fall into certain hard-to-educate (but not impossible-to-educate) categories, such as students with special needs. For most families, the options for parents and students are: pay for school choice, move into a public school district where schools are decent, or lie.Patrick B. McGuigan | March 3, 2015
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Law & Principles
Limits on 'Local Control'
The radical environmental movement favors centralized, top-down control ... except when it doesn’t.Jonathan Small & Trent England | March 2, 2015
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Law & Principles
National Popular Vote stopped in Oklahoma House
Yesterday, an attempt to advance the National Popular Vote (NPV) Interstate Compact in the Oklahoma House of Representatives was withdrawn. The issue is unlikely to return in the current legislative session. So far, 10 states and the District of Columbia have enacted NPV legislation.Trent England | February 26, 2015
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Budget & Tax
YOU GUEST IT: Time for unions to collect their own dues
Fifty years ago the state of Oklahoma began collecting money for union dues from the paychecks of public school teachers. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been collected free of charge, to benefit the union activity and political agenda of both the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) and the Washington, D.C.-based National Education Association. As a matter of principle, politics do not belong in the paychecks of teachers.Mark Costello | February 24, 2015
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Budget & Tax
Marching to Freedom
The state of Kansas is on a “march to zero.” The state’s political leaders have decided to eliminate the state individual income tax for all income earned in Kansas.Steve Anderson | February 23, 2015