'Boy hopes to aid his Tulsa special needs school'

"A 10-year-old boy with cerebral palsy hopes to raise $250,000 for his school," the Associated Press reports.

Keith Boyd, who uses an assisted-language device that he operates with his eyes, is nonverbal and unable to move his body. He used the device to write a business plan for Keith's Ice Cold Lemonade Stand, a business he plans to launch in the spring. All proceeds would go to Little Light House, a Tulsa school for children with special needs.

Labor commissioner says Common Core hostile to parental choice

"Parental choice is eliminated as schools are pushed to have the same curriculum and textbooks," Oklahoma labor commissioner Mark Costello says.

'Virtual school offers education alternative'

Cathy Spaulding of the Muskogee Phoenix has the story.

Interesting nugget in a news story

"Each year," the Tulsa World reports, "Tulsa teachers sign an annual employment contract for 176 days of work, but by union-negotiated agreement, they are allowed up to 10 sick days and five personal days, plus 20 more work days off with substitute pay deducted from their paycheck."

Just one more reason some scholars make the case that teachers are not underpaid.

Spiropoulos laments 'breakdown of policy leadership'

"Oklahoma conservative circles are abuzz over the breakdown of policy leadership at the Capitol," Andrew Spiropoulos writes this week in The Journal Record. "This past week, House Republicans refused to pass the session's principal school choice initiative out of committee and both the House and the Senate are reneging on their promise to restore tax relief passed last session." Read the whole thing here.

They don't call it The Stupid Party for nothing

Redirect some per-pupil funding to help low-income kids in failing schools? Bad! 

Redirect some per-pupil funding to help more privileged, successful students? Good!

Charter schools in rural America

'Education Savings Accounts are worth the fight'

State Rep. Tom Newell says he's not giving up.

'Oklahoma school teacher being charged with sexual battery'

NewsChannel 10 in Amarillo has the story.

House panel proposes ESAs

In Florida.

'Near-universal levels of satisfaction'

That's what researcher Jason Bedrick found among families participating in New Hampshire’s scholarship tax credit program.

Here's some information about a scholarship-granting organization in New Hampshire.

'Teachers, not teamsters, are the typical union members'

A new chart from the indispensable Mike Antonucci shows that Oklahoma's 22,742 unionized teachers make up 35.8 percent of the public-employee labor movement in Oklahoma, and 19.9 percent of total (public sector plus private sector) union membership.

Lawmakers kill ESA bill

Last week House Bill 3398, which would have created an Education Savings Account program for low- and middle-income students in some of Oklahoma's worst schools, failed to advance from the House Appropriations and Budget Committee. The vote was 8 to 14.

Voting yes were Republicans Mike Christian, Sally Kern, Mark McCullough, Jason Nelson, Tom Newell, Leslie Osborn, Sean Roberts, and Colby Schwartz.

Voting no were Republicans Don Armes, Ann Coody, Doug Cox, Lee Denney, Scott Martin, Skye McNiel, and Earl Sears. Also voting no were Democrats Mike Brown, Joe Dorman, Chuck Hoskin, Jeannie McDaniel, Jerry McPeak, Richard Morrissette, and Eric Proctor.

Republicans Lisa Billy, Mike Ritze, Mike Sanders, Weldon Watson, and Paul Wesselhoft did not vote.

In the video clip below, journalist Pat McGuigan told Alex Cameron of the CBS affiliate in Oklahoma City that in his view the defeat was "an unfortunate setback," saying that "children deserve better than what they're getting in Oklahoma."