A bridge too far

"But even if the general appetite for [virtual charter school] regulation increases, closing Oklahoma’s enrollment loophole by creating a roster of homeschool and private school students may not be politically feasible," Caroline Halter reports.

“Our state is not one that wants to intrude on personal information of family members who are choosing not to be a part of public schools,” Hofmeister said.  

Even Sen. Sharp admitted he could not support such a law and survive reelection.

Could school funding reform increase integration, test scores?

"If you actually want to best serve low-income urban kids," says Matthew Ladner of the Arizona Chamber Foundation, "yes you want to give them access to charter schools, yes you want to give them access to private schools, but you also want to give them access to suburban district schools." 

I'm sure our pallid pals in the suburbs will be all for it, right? Because we know they care about all children.

Former substitute teacher accused of sending nude photos to Wagoner County teens

KTUL has the story.

Putnam City school district facing lawsuit, accused of not protecting students

News 9 has the story.

Oklahoma taxpayers funding 'ghost students'

Oklahoma school districts are getting paid for “ghost students,” says the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, “and they will fight, fight to the death, to maintain those.”

Scholarship tax credit accounts for a tiny fraction of Oklahoma’s total tax credits

Oddly, most of Oklahoma's tax-credit scholarship critics are silent regarding the other 98.8 percent of state tax credits.

Former Oologah special-education teacher accused of having sex with student at school

You may recall that a teacher in Oologah was arrested last year on allegations of having sex with a student at the boy's house during Oklahoma's much-publicized teacher walkout. 

There's more news out of Oologah today: the News on 6 reports on an Oologah special education teacher charged with second-degree rape.

The Rogers County Sheriff’s Office said Daniel Bodine and an 18-year-old student had sex about twice a week for six months. Investigators said that happened inside a room attached to a classroom. The Rogers County Sheriff’s Office said they have evidence to support the two were having sex both during school hours and after school.

Even after raises, Oklahoma teacher activist calls for lawmakers’ ouster

"In the last two legislative sessions, lawmakers have raised taxes and increased K-12 appropriations by a combined $638 million, or 20 percent," Ray Carter reports. "That sum includes funding for a two-year combined average teacher pay raise of more than $7,000. Yet that hasn’t stopped one prominent public-education activist from calling 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."

One prominent lawmaker says this Stillwater teacher is "out of touch with reality." (Of course, we knew that back when he told the members of the Socialist Workers Party that a teacher strike "is the right thing to do.")

With Oklahoma teachers’ input, national union endorses wide range of liberal causes

"This month attendees at the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly approved a resolution declaring the teachers’ union 'vigorously opposes all attacks on the right to choose and stands on the fundamental right to abortion under Roe v. Wade,' but shot down another resolution declaring the union would 're-dedicate itself to the pursuit of increased student learning in every public school in America by putting a renewed emphasis on quality education,'" Ray Carter reports.

My assigned district school? Some say no thanks

School choice is further along in some other places than it is in Oklahoma.

For example, the Raleigh News & Observer reports today ("1 in 5 NC students don’t attend traditional public schools, new figures show") that "the percentage of North Carolina’s 1.8 million K-12 students attending traditional public schools dropped to 79.9% this year."

Last week in the Tallahassee Democrat, former OCPA research assistant Patrick Gibbons pointed out that "in the span of a generation, Florida has gone from 10 percent of students attending something other than assigned public schools to 47 percent." Education researcher Matt Ladner has noted that in greater Phoenix "fewer than 50% of students attend their assigned district school."

Oklahoma is not there yet, but we're moving in that direction. One hopes that over time our political leaders will align public policy more and more with their constituents' preferences. 

Top 10 states in education deliver bang for the buck

Public-school spending in Oklahoma will hit an all-time high this year. Yet only a third of Oklahoma voters say our school system provides a good return on investment. Let’s make Oklahoma a Top 10 state by delivering better student performance at a better price.

Suspended Norman High School assistant principal accused of drugging, raping woman

KFOR has the story.

Coach fired by Broken Arrow school district after allegedly soliciting a minor

"A Broken Arrow man faces two felony charges related to a Snapchat conversation he had with a 16-year-old girl that resulted in his termination from coaching roles at Broken Arrow Public Schools," the Tulsa World reports.