Articles
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Education
State testing outcomes prompt question: When will results improve?
Despite a dramatic increase in school funding and the adoption of what state officials say are higher academic standards, Oklahoma students’ academic performance on state tests mostly remained stagnant in 2019 or lower than in 2017.Ray Carter | November 27, 2019
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Education
Notable decline seen in state school grades
For every Oklahoma school that achieved a higher grade on this year’s Oklahoma School Report Card, more than two schools saw their state letter grade fall.Ray Carter | November 26, 2019
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Education
Funding structures, not union politics, driving teacher pay
During 2018, many Oklahoma school districts shut down for up to two weeks as part of a union-led walkout campaign targeting the state legislature. Just days before the shutdown, the legislature had passed a package of tax increases in order to raise teacher pay by an average of $6,100. One of the most salient arguments leading up to the pay raise and walkout was that Oklahoma was losing teachers to Texas due to higher pay south of the Red River.Curtis Shelton | November 21, 2019
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Education
OKC district’s effort to penalize charter schools for attracting students prompts lawsuit
The Oklahoma City school district has announced plans to impose a fee on area charter schools that would financially penalize charter schools for attracting students from the traditional district. Two area charter schools have filed a lawsuit in response.Ray Carter | November 13, 2019
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Education
Ethics questions arise as law firm hosts school administrators’ golf event
Ask the average teacher what his or her Wednesday looks like, and the answer will usually involve working in the classroom. In contrast, on a recent Wednesday, as many as 100 school administrators and board members spent their day in a very different fashion—playing golf.Ray Carter | November 11, 2019
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Education
Father of Parkland shooting victim says Enid Public Schools’ actions dangerous
The recent action of Enid Public School administrators who fired a school resource police officer for seeking prosecution of at least two students who had threatened classmates sent precisely the wrong signal, nationally known school safety crusader Andrew Pollack has told OCPA.Mike Brake | November 8, 2019
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Education
Oklahoma academic decline prompts concern, calls for change
Results from two national measures of academic performance— the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the ACT college-readiness exam—show continued decline in Oklahoma schools’ academic outcomes.Ray Carter | November 7, 2019
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Education
Other states show school choice, funding increases can coexist
Polling conducted by Cor Strategies for OCPA shows that Oklahomans are strongly supportive of school choice even as they also support making the state’s education system the government’s chief spending priority.Ray Carter | November 5, 2019
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Education
More progress needed for Teachers’ Retirement System
Oklahoma has made progress toward a healthier pension system, but events in Chicago show the dangers of being complacent. Oklahoma can further establish a stable retirement system by adopting reforms to TRS similar to those adopted for OPERS.Curtis Shelton | November 4, 2019
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Education
A century of Oklahoma's never-ending teacher shortage
A review of Oklahoma news databases in the last century helps put all the recent “teacher shortage” headlines in perspective. Decade after decade, the great teacher shortage that will destroy our schools is always predicted, threatening, looming, descending, about to strike.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | October 30, 2019