Former Tulsa student accused of posting obscene video of special-needs student

The News on 6 has the story.

Sometimes, Oklahoma schools' problems can be self-inflicted

The Oklahoman takes note of Catoosa's $1.5 million press box.

Oklahoma school districts fail to comply with transparency law

Gov. Brad Henry signed the School District Transparency Act into law in 2010. But over at OCPA’s Center for Investigative Journalism, Jay Chilton reports that not all school districts are in compliance.

Commode Core shows why we need school choice

The Obama administration’s bathroom bullying, Greg Forster writes in Perspective, demonstrates the conflict between America’s commitment to a pluralistic society and its policy of maintaining a government school monopoly.

Spending priorities and the $1.5 million press box

Oklahoma’s education system had $8.7 billion in total revenue last year, the most in state history, OCPA president Jonathan Small writes. But in a bloated system with questionable spending priorities and more non-teachers than teachers, the money simply isn’t going to teachers.

Fired OKC high school teacher charged in sexual battery case involving students

The Oklahoman has the story.

Oklahoma Teacher of the Year to be announced on Tuesday

The Oklahoma State Department of Education has the details on the upcoming announcement of the 2017 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. Pictured above (at left) is OCPA’s Estela Hernandez, who served as a judge in the competition. At right is Myron Pope, vice president for student affairs at the University of Central Oklahoma, one of the other judges in the contest.

'School choice can be a winning issue'

So notes The Oklahoman in a house editorial today. 

In Senate District 25 in the Tulsa area, Republican Joe Newhouse won easily against Lisa Kramer. Newhouse supported school choice, including education savings accounts. Kramer was strongly opposed, even voting as a member of the Bixby school board to ignore Oklahoma law and deny state scholarships to children with special needs. That became an issue in the runoff.

Republican Scott McEachin won his runoff handily for the House District 67 seat against an opponent who was vocally against school choice. The contrast wasn't as stark in other races, but several candidates who supported school choice and ESAs won their GOP runoffs. These include Pugh, Dave Rader in Senate District 39, Matt Jackson in House District 85 and Lonnie Paxton in Senate District 23. In some of those races, both runoff candidates supported school choice.

The myth of the underpaid teacher lives on

Larry Sand on the latest report from a union front group.

Parental choice candidates advance

Supporters of parental choice in education should be pleased with last night's election results, as a press release from the American Federation for Children (AFC) makes clear.

Joe Newhouse

In Senate District 25, "AFC supported Joe Newhouse over his opponent Lisa Kramer. Newhouse is a U.S. Navy fighter pilot who campaigned as a supporter of public education and school choice, including education savings accounts or ESAs. Newhouse’s opponent opposed school choice and as a member of the Bixby School Board voted to defy the law and deny students with special needs access to state-funded scholarships. In the end, SD 25 voters strongly supported Newhouse’s optimistic message of school choice over Kramer’s indifference to children with very serious challenges."

The result shouldn't be surprising—by now it's no secret that Republicans support school choice—but still it seemed like it would be a close race. It wasn't until I saw the kiss-of-death endorsement from the Tulsa World telling Republicans to vote for the longtime Democrat Kramer that I knew this race would indeed be Melissa Abdo 2.0. Incidentally, some folks profess to be quite upset about "dark money" (also known as "First Amendment money") when it helps pro-school-choice candidates but seem blissfully unconcerned when it helps anti-school-choice candidates.

Scott McEachin

In House District 67, "AFC supported Scott McEachin in the runoff. McEachin is an attorney and longtime Republican activist who campaigned on boosting teacher pay without tax increases and supporting school choice, namely ESAs." OCPA trustee Tom Coburn endorsed McEachin, and some OCPA staff and family members made weekend treks to Tulsa to knock doors for him. McEachin's opponent was surprisingly vocal in his opposition to school choice, almost as if he thought he was involved in a Democratic runoff. In other words, he chose a position contrary to Ronald Reagan and James Lankford and Mary Fallin and Todd Lamb and Scott Pruitt and Jim Bridenstine and the state and national GOP platforms. And, he lost the GOP runoff 56.44 percent to 43.56 percent. Ouch.

"Additional candidates who have supported school choice and ESAs in writing won their primary elections as well," AFC adds. They are (clockwise, from top left): Adam Pugh, Senate District 41; Dave Rader, Senate District 39; Matt Jackson, House District 85; and Lonnie Paxton, Senate District 23.

"Tonight’s victories follow an impressive showing by pro-school choice candidates in the June primaries where 12 out of 15 bipartisan candidates supported by AFC either won their election outright or advanced to a runoff election," AFC says.

UPDATE: Though AFC says Adam Pugh supported ESAs in writing, journalist Patrick McGuigan now reports that Pugh appears to have changed his position. At the 2:00 mark below, McGuigan discusses the matter with Alex Cameron of the CBS affiliate in Oklahoma City:

Common Core, LGBTQ agenda spur homeschooling surge

"Local newspapers and homeschool leaders from West Virginia to Alabama and North Carolina to Texas report a surge in homeschooling interest and enrollment," Nicole Russell writes.

Why more black parents are homeschooling their kids

"While some parents cite religious and moral reasons," The Christian Science Monitor reports, "others say they are keeping their kids out of public schools to protect them from school-related racism."

From medical doctor to homeschooling mom

Trauma surgeon Kathryn Butler, who teaches at Harvard Medical School, tells why she left clinical practice to homeschool her children.