Articles
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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
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Education
Powerful iron triangle resists parental choice
Oklahomans favor policies which give parents more educational options. However, enacting those policies has proven to be difficult. A simple metaphor can help explain why.Brandon Dutcher | August 11, 2019
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Education
Union declares teaching is political
Just weeks after roughly 60 of its members attended a conference where participants voiced support for abortion, transgender rights, reparations for slavery, and more, the Oklahoma Education Association tweeted that teaching “is a political act.”Ray Carter | August 9, 2019
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Education
The government school monopoly as reverse patronage program
One of the key challenges for education reformers is the huge size of the government school monopoly as a “reverse patronage” employer.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | August 8, 2019
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Education
School-voucher program is helping Oklahoma foster kids
Thanks to an expansion of the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship program, caregivers and adoptive parents of foster children can enroll students in a private school of their choosing that aligns more closely with their child’s specific needs.Staci Elder Hensley | August 3, 2019
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Education, Higher Education
Forming teachers: The education school challenge
Colleges and graduate schools of education are of critical importance—they prepare the teachers who will in turn prepare the rising generation of Americans for adult life and citizenship. Unfortunately, it has been clear for some time that education schools are, on the whole, not delivering the level of formation and training for teachers that parents, schools, and society have a right to expect.Greg Forster, Ph.D. | August 1, 2019
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Education
Could school funding reform increase integration, test scores?
According to one expert, education officials can encourage integration without heavy-handed tactics, such as forced busing, if they embrace open-enrollment policies and a robust charter-school sector—and base school funding on current-year student counts.Ray Carter | July 25, 2019
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Education
Oklahomans paying to educate ‘ghost students’ in numerous districts
Many traditional public schools, all across Oklahoma, are receiving funding to educate students who no longer attend those schools. And, for those schools, the payments are not only legal, but the result of deliberate design.Ray Carter | July 22, 2019
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Education
Even after raises, teacher activist calls for lawmakers’ ouster
One prominent public-education activist has called for the ouster of as many as 35 Republican lawmakers, despite the fact most of those lawmakers supported teacher pay raises and school-funding increases.Ray Carter | July 18, 2019
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Education
With Oklahoma teachers’ input, national union endorses wide range of liberal causes
This month about 60 Oklahoma Education Association members attended the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly. Rather than focus solely on improving educational outcomes or addressing labor issues, delegates often embraced political activism—including support and promotion of abortion, unrestricted immigration, reparations for slavery, transgender issues, and more.Ray Carter | July 16, 2019