Oklahoma graduation rate declines

"High school graduation rates for most states continue to improve, according to preliminary data released Monday by the Obama administration," the Associated Press reports.

The Education Department says preliminary data indicate 36 states saw higher graduation rates for the 2013-2014 school year. The biggest gains were in Delaware, Alabama, Oregon, West Virginia and Illinois. 

Five states had declines: Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma. 

Government should not penalize parents by making them pay twice

"Because parents have the personal obligation to take care of their own children, no other person can take over their responsibility and corresponding authority," writes Melissa Moschella, an assistant professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of America.

Even when parents delegate part of that authority to teachers, doctors, relatives, etc., they remain ultimately responsible. For that reason, parents have not only the responsibility, but also the right, to rear their children in accordance with their consciences. 

When the state requires that children be educated in a way that parents consider harmful or inadequate, the state is preventing parents from fulfilling their obligations, thus violating their conscience rights and potentially damaging the children. It is assumed, of course, that the state considers itself to be acting for the benefit of the child, as in the case of the Romeikes and the Johanssons. But since parents have primary authority over their children, when there is disagreement between parents and state, the state should defer, except in clear and non-controversial cases of abuse, neglect, or threat to public order. ... 

The state also has the right to enact minimal educational regulations with a view to the maintenance of public order. Such regulations assure that all children receive the education that they need to become law-abiding and productive citizens able to participate responsibly in the democratic process. However, the state can and should enact such regulations in a way that supports, rather than undermines, the primacy of parental educational authority. It thus should not impose a particular curriculum, require that all children attend a state-run school, or penalize parents (even financially, by requiring them to pay both school taxes and private school tuition or homeschooling costs) for not sending their children to a school operated by the state.

Legal limbo persists for Henry Scholarship kids

Andrea Eger has the story.

Here's hoping for a good outcome for these kids:

The not-so-subtle ways public schools promote Islam at the expense of Christianity

David French discusses them here.

Parents explain why they don't want choices

Teacher shortage 'crisis'?

"According to Oklahoma State Department of Education statistics obtained by MiddleGround News," Jay Chilton reports, "during the past three school years, the average student-to-teacher ratio has been 14.5-to-1. During the 2012-13 school year there were 14.4 students per certified teacher, in 2013-14 there were 14.7 students per teacher, and in 2014-15 there were 14.6 students per teacher."

Oklahoma testing system ‘designed to hide failure’

Citing a recent report by the journal Education Next, The Oklahoman points out today that Oklahoma's testing system "is designed to hide failure."

Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, states are required to test students in grades three through eight in math and reading. But states set the score required to be deemed “proficient” on those tests. 

For the most part, far lower scores are accepted for proficiency on state tests than on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test. Education Next compared the share of students deemed proficient on state tests with the share ranked that way on NAEP to determine if high standards were employed on state tests. Oklahoma ranked 45th. 

More worrisome, between 2011 and 2013, Education Next found 20 states raised the standard for proficiency on state tests while just eight states lowered standards. Oklahoma was in the latter group. 

Oklahoma families deserve a public school system that combines quality academic standards with valid testing measurement of results—not a system in which failure to meet inferior standards is still deemed a success.

Funding growth, expanding opportunity

Michael Q. McShane recommends some novel funding mechanisms for schools of choice.

Survey: African-American parents emphatically favor school choice

Lennie Jarratt reports that "African-American parents overwhelmingly favor school choice, according to a new nationwide report conducted by Brilliant Corners Research and Strategies (BCRS)."

Oklahoma GOP interim chairman promotes school choice

"Our candidates for the White House are sharing their vision for America," Oklahoma GOP interim chairman Estela Hernandez writes in a blog post today.

One thing that all our candidates agree on is the need for improving education in this country. The best way to improve our student’s success is to allow parents the freedom to choose the educational path that is best for them. 

Our Republican Principles says, "It is the right of every parent to act in their children’s best interest including health decisions and choosing the form of their education, whether at a public school, private school, or homeschool." 

Currently, there is a move by Democrats to institute a sales tax dedicated to education. Before we simply throw more money at the problems of education we need to reform the system. Students who are trapped in underperforming schools must be given the opportunity to succeed. 

We need more solutions and less rhetoric, we must come together as parents, as Republicans, as Oklahomans and work together for a stronger, more efficient education system that offers real solutions and real options. 

OCPA recently released a great video about Republican solutions for education, I encourage you to watch it. 

Four ideas for expanding school choice in Oklahoma

[Guest post by Patrick Gibbons]

Oklahoma already has two private-school choice programs which are making a big difference in the lives of children. Unfortunately, the programs only serve a tiny fraction of Oklahoma students. Here’s how policymakers could help more children.

Expand Tax Credit Scholarships

We know that tax credit scholarships are popular among the voting public. Policymakers should look to improve and expand Oklahoma’s existing program. They should remove the cap on corporate and individual donations so both groups can donate as much as they wish and also increase the total cap above the current $3.5 million, which is a just a tenth of one percent of Oklahoma’s state appropriations for education. Moreover, adding an “escalator” to the cap can allow the program to grow automatically if scholarship organizations raise 90 percent of the funds for the current cap. In addition, offering tiered scholarships based on income level can ensure equity by providing lower-income families with more financial support.

Provide Individual Tax Credits for Education Expenses

Parents paying for private education or home education have to pay twice: once in taxes to support public schools and again for tuition, fees, textbooks, and school supplies. To address some of this unfairness, some states now offer tax credits for these education expenses. Illinois has the largest tax credit program with nearly 300,000 families earning credits up to $500 for educational expenses. [Model legislation for Oklahoma is here.]

Individual tax credits for education expenses are subject to one major criticism: you only get tax credits up to the amount you owe in taxes. Since wealthier families tend to owe the most in taxes, they will get the largest tax credits. Which brings us to the next policy proposal.

Provide Refundable Tax Credits for Private School Expenses

One solution to the problem mentioned above is a refundable tax credit for educational expenses, such as exists in South Carolina. That program allows parents of special-needs children to receive up to $10,000 in tax credits for educational expenses. If the credits exceed your tax bill then you receive a tax refund for the difference. This ensures that the rich aren’t the biggest beneficiary of the program. (However, not all families can afford to wait several months for the refund.)

Create Education Savings Accounts

When Arizona’s special-needs voucher program was declared unconstitutional, the state Supreme Court speculated that a program which allowed parents to choose more than just private schools could be constitutional. Thus, the nation’s first ESA program was born.

With an ESA, the state funds an educational account parents can access to pay tuition, school fees, textbooks, school supplies, curriculum, and therapies. In Florida, for example, parents can even contract out services with charter, virtual, and district public schools. Under ESA programs, reimbursements are reduced from months to weeks, or can be immediate through the use of a debit card.

[Former OCPA research assistant Patrick Gibbons (M.A. in political science, University of Oklahoma) is the public affairs manager at Step Up for Students, an organization providing scholarships for low-income and special-needs schoolchildren in Florida. A former schoolteacher, Gibbons also serves as a research fellow for the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.]

The high-regulation approach to school choice

In a series of blog posts, Professor Jay Greene will discuss why he thinks this approach is mistaken.

Latinos want to talk about education more than immigration

Seven out of 10 Latinos support some of type of school choice, Julio Fuentes writes.