Articles
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Budget & Tax
Oklahoma Senate panel advances plan to redirect tobacco-settlement funds
Oklahoma lawmakers are moving to give voters a say in redirecting a portion of the state’s $2.2 billion Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, citing decades of poor health outcomes despite heavy TSET spending.Ray Carter | April 23, 2026
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Education
Democrat lawmakers express frustration over public school failures for vulnerable students
Democratic lawmakers Aletia Timmons and Ellyn Hefner recently expressed frustration that some Oklahoma public schools fail to follow federal special-education law.Ray Carter | April 23, 2026
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Education
OCPA Praises New Reading Law
Oklahoma’s new reading law puts the state on a path to much-improved literacy rates and therefore greater future prosperity.Staff | April 22, 2026
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Economy
The social and economic downsides of SQ 832
The minimum wage has historically produced unintended economic and social consequences, particularly for low-skilled teenagers.Byron Schlomach, Ph.D. | April 22, 2026
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Economy
California’s wage experiment offers warning as Oklahoma weighs SQ 832
A recent study from the University of California, Santa Cruz, finds that California’s $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers has led to reduced hours, slower hiring, and higher menu prices.Curtis Shelton | April 21, 2026
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Education, Good Government
Bill forcing OSSAA meetings into public view clears Senate panel
A Senate committee advanced House Bill 2153, which would force the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association to hold open, public meetings whenever it rules on student eligibility, rule violations, or hardship waivers.Ray Carter | April 21, 2026
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Education
Stitt signs sweeping literacy law
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 1778 into law, ushering in one of the nation’s most aggressive literacy reforms amid dismal reading scores that place Oklahoma near the bottom nationally.Ray Carter | April 21, 2026
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Higher Education
OU ‘social justice mathematics’ professor links memorizing math facts to authoritarianism
In a new academic paper, an OU education professor who studies “social justice mathematics” situates the “science of math” approach—which emphasizes memorization, practice, and procedural fluency—within a broader trend of “increasingly authoritarian rule.”Ray Carter | April 21, 2026
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Education
Oklahoma reading overhaul heads to governor after overwhelming bipartisan approval
A sweeping overhaul of reading instruction in Oklahoma public schools has cleared the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support and now heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt for final approval.Ray Carter | April 20, 2026
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Budget & Tax, Education
Democrat lawmakers blast Oklahoma school-choice cost, support bigger tax break for gambling losses
Legislation to raise Oklahoma’s school-choice tax-credit cap by $25 million sparked fierce complaints from opponents who said the program drains state revenue—yet those same critics voiced no concern when approving a different bill that hands gamblers more than $25 million in tax breaks.Ray Carter | April 20, 2026