Articles
-
Education
OCPA applauds Oklahoma Empowerment Account legislation
Larry Parman, chairman of the board of trustees for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, issued the following statement today in response to Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat filing Senate Bill 1647, which creates Oklahoma Empowerment Accounts.Sheridan Betts | January 21, 2022
-
Education
Democrat governor’s teacher plan mirrors Stitt’s, draws praise from education groups
The Democratic governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, unveiled an almost-identical plan a day after Stitt. While the provisions of the two plans were mostly the same, the response they received varied widely with little to explain the difference other than partisanship.Ray Carter | January 20, 2022
-
Education
OEA official decries parent involvement in schools
To counter the growing influence of what she calls “angry parents” who are frustrated, a teacher-union official says the OEA has obtained funding to bus people to Oklahoma City, pay for a hotel, and take them to the state Capitol to lobby.Ray Carter | January 19, 2022
-
Education
Stitt announces effort to increase substitute teachers
An executive order issued by Gov. Kevin Stitt will allow 32,000 Oklahoma state government employees to serve as substitute teachers without forgoing their normal salary, which will help school districts continue offering in-person instruction amidst the national surge in omicron-variant COVID cases.Ray Carter | January 18, 2022
-
Education
Lankford pressures Biden administration on parents-as-terrorists letter
U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, is among 24 senators calling on U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to explain what role he or any staff at the U.S. Department of Education played in the production of a letter that labeled parents the equivalent of terrorists.Ray Carter | January 14, 2022
-
Education
Oklahoma parents left in lurch by school closings
More than $2 billion in federal COVID-bailout funds have been provided to Oklahoma school districts since 2020 to cover the costs to safely open amidst the pandemic. But despite that lavish infusion of cash, numerous schools are now closing again amidst the rise of the Omicron variant.Ray Carter | January 13, 2022
-
Budget & Tax, Education
Public schools carry over more than $1 billion
Oklahoma public schools carried over more than $1 billion at the end of the 2021 state budget year, marking an increase of more than 50 percent in school savings over the past five years.Ray Carter | January 10, 2022
-
Education
Edmond Public Schools to appeal judge’s ruling
Edmond Public Schools plans to appeal a judge’s order that prevents the district from quarantining healthy children as part of its response to COVID-19, even though the judge found that quarantine policy was “irrational,” provided “no benefit” in reducing COVID spread, and imposed “tremendous harm” on students.Ray Carter | January 6, 2022
-
Education
OSSBA offers schools lesson that bashes racial equality
A digital resources library offered to Oklahoma schools by the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA) includes a “Racial Equity and Justice Initiative Challenge to Change Series” for students as young as pre-K that denounces the concept of racial equality and suggests only white individuals can be racist.Ray Carter | January 5, 2022
-
Education
Seven reasons to let parents choose
Access to a good education is something that every Oklahoma student should enjoy, not just a select few.Brandon Dutcher | January 5, 2022