Articles
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Education
Experts: Many trade-offs with class-size limits
While some school lobbying groups continue to call for reducing class sizes, experts told members of the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday that class-size reduction is very expensive, the educational benefits are limited, and there may be more beneficial ways to spend taxpayer resources in schools.Ray Carter | September 11, 2019
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Education
HB 1017 reforms included school-choice funding
The passage of House Bill 1017 in 1990 has long been hailed as a major step forward for Oklahoma education. One often overlooked component of that reform measure is that the law allowed the use of taxpayer funding to cover private-school costs for certain students, lawmakers were reminded Tuesday.Ray Carter | September 10, 2019
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Education
Critic of virtual schools has degree from online university
A state senator who has been a prominent critic of Oklahoma’s virtual charter schools for K-12 students holds a doctorate from a for-profit online university that was subsequently closed amid claims it was a diploma mill.Ray Carter | September 6, 2019
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Education
Other states struggle with school lobbyist issue
The hiring of contract lobbyists by four public school districts during the 2018-2019 school year was unusual for Oklahoma, but the practice has occurred in other states where officials have struggled with all the associated problems caused by the practice.Ray Carter | August 23, 2019
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Education
Schools’ lobbying raises open-records concerns
In addition to raising concerns about government accountability and indirect funneling of taxpayer dollars to political campaigns, schools’ use of contract lobbyists may also reduce government transparency and sidestep open-records laws.Ray Carter | August 22, 2019
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Education
School officials defend use of contract lobbyists
In the last school year four Oklahoma districts paid nearly $200,000 combined to contract lobbyists despite already spending thousands more for membership in other organizations that formally lobby on their behalf. Officials at two of those districts defend the use of contract lobbyists, saying statewide organizations are not always well positioned to advocate for specific schools.Ray Carter | August 21, 2019
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Education, Higher Education
Researcher offers proposals to improve Oklahoma teacher quality
A new report we recently released calls for changes that will make “a reinvention of teacher education plausible, attractive, and sustainable for the schools” and lead to better outcomes.Staff | August 21, 2019
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Education
Four schools spend six-figure sum on contract lobbyists
Four school districts—Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Bixby, and Jenks—spent nearly $200,000 combined in taxpayer funding on contract lobbyists during the 2018-2019 school year, records show.Ray Carter | August 21, 2019
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Education
Approaching her third sobriety birthday, Mission Academy graduate looks to the future
Mission Academy, operated by the nonprofit Teen Recovery Solutions, is one of some 44 similar schools nationwide, bent on reclaiming young people long lost to drug and alcohol addiction.Mike Brake | August 15, 2019
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Education
School funding surges, but to what end?
Over the last two legislative sessions, lawmakers have increased K-12 school appropriations by 20 percent, funneling $638 million more into the system, boosting teacher pay by a combined total average of more than $7,000 apiece, and devoting millions more to classroom funding. But so far, lawmakers have little to show for it.Ray Carter | August 12, 2019