Lawmakers expand ESA's

In Arizona.

UPDATE: Jonathan Butcher has more.

Tulsa judge got it wrong

Oklahoma parents of children with special needs no longer will be able to receive education scholarships for their children if a ruling by Tulsa County District Judge Rebecca Nightingale is not overturned on appeal.

Law professor Andrew Spiropoulos makes the case that it should be:

If the Henry program breaches the wall of separation between church and state, then so does every state-funded program where an individual can choose the provider of the service. If a Medicaid patient receives care at a Catholic hospital or a recipient of a state-funded higher education scholarship attends a church-affiliated university, the school districts' arguments require that these important and long-standing programs be invalidated. I don’t think that’s what the framers of our constitution had in mind.

Reason for optimism?

There's nothing wrong with occasional boosterism, especially from politicians (who are particularly prone to it). Normally I can just let it slide. But this sentence from state Rep. Randy McDaniel today in The Oklahoman is a head-scratcher:

Oklahomans have many reasons to be optimistic about the future, including low unemployment, quality schools and affordable homes.

Low unemployment and affordable homes, yes. But "quality schools" that give Oklahomans reason to be "optimistic about the future"?

Oklahoma's education system is among the worst in the country, and even our "best" school districts are mediocre by international standards. Moreover, there's precious little in the trend lines to give Oklahomans reason for optimism.

Education reporters must adapt

Education reporters are going to have to adapt to the new reality of "public education," former reporter Ron Matus writes.

They’ll have to cover more ground with more depth. Readers won’t be well served if education coverage continues to be reflexively focused on traditional public schools. And newspapers’ bottom lines won’t be well served when growing numbers of parents see that their schools are either 1) not being covered or 2) being snared in simplistic story lines that don’t mesh with their realities.

School choice saves money

(Cont'd.)

Lindsey's Law timeline

In today's Tulsa World, Kim Archer has a helpful Lindsey's Law timeline:

June 2010: Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Act, or HB 3393, is signed into law.

Fall 2010: Broken Arrow, Jenks, Union, Tulsa and Liberty school boards vote not to process the scholarships.

Jan. 18, 2011: Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt threatens legal action against those school districts and individual board members if they fail to comply with the law within the week.

Jan. 24, 2011: Union, Jenks, Broken Arrow and Liberty school districts announce that they will sue Pruitt over the constitutionality of the law. They also vote to process scholarships under the law until a decision on its constitutionality is made.

April 25: Twenty parents sue Broken Arrow, Jenks, Union and Tulsa school districts, alleging that their special-needs children were denied private school scholarships in 2010-11. Liberty Public Schools is not named in the lawsuit.

May: The state Legislature passes HB 1744, which transfers responsibility for administering the scholarship program from the districts to the Oklahoma State Department of Education. It took effect Aug. 26.

July: In light of that legislation, federal Chief Judge Claire Eagan grants the parents a stay so they can pursue "administrative remedies" through the state Education Department. Eagan also invites the school districts to file their challenge of HB 3393's constitutionality in state court, saying it would be a "better means of resolving the controversy between the parties."

Aug. 26: Pruitt asks the state Auditor's Office to investigate whether the Broken Arrow, Jenks, Liberty, Owasso, Tulsa and Union school districts complied with the law in 2010-11.

Sept. 2: Jenks and Union school districts file a countersuit in state court to challenge the constitutionality of the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Act on behalf of all school districts. Their suit names the parents of three students in each district who participated in the federal lawsuit against the schools.

Nov. 3: A federal lawsuit filed against the Broken Arrow, Jenks, Tulsa and Union school districts by a group of parents alleging that their special-needs children were denied private school scholarships was dismissed at the parents' request.

March 27: Tulsa District Judge Rebecca B. Nightingale struck down the law, ruling it is unconstitutional. Opposing attorneys said they would immediately file a motion for a stay to keep the law intact until the appeals process is complete.

'It’s like suing grandma for using Medicare'

[The following press release was issued today by state Rep. Jason Nelson.]

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 27, 2012) – State Rep. Jason Nelson said a Tulsa judge’s ruling against a law providing scholarships to special-needs students is just “one battle in the overall fight to help special-needs children” and vowed to continue advocating for families in need.

“I will keep fighting for the families and fighting to uphold this very necessary law,” said Nelson, R-Oklahoma City. “I support an appeal to the Supreme Court and a motion for a stay of the judge’s ruling pending an appeal. The strong reason we needed this law in the first place still stands – to help families of special-needs students who are not being served by public schools.”

Nelson noted the judge’s ruling could have far-reaching consequences for Oklahomans.

“The judge’s ruling is baffling and will likely impact many state programs affecting everything from preschool to Medicaid,” Nelson said. “The judge ruled on the merits without comment, perhaps because her decision is indefensible.”

The Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship Act allows students with a disability on an individualized education program (IEP) to receive state-funded scholarships to attend private school. The scholarships are funded with money already designated for the child’s education.

In response, the Jenks and Union school districts sued some of the parents of children with special needs who obtained the scholarships provided by the law.

Under the judge’s ruling, Nelson noted that it is now possible for Medicaid patients to be sued for being treated at a Catholic hospital.

“This is a horrible precedent,” Nelson said. “It’s like suing grandma for using Medicare. I will keep fighting to defend parents’ rights to do what is best for their children. This is the standard everywhere else in state government. This ruling now calls into question other critical programs in health care, foster care, prison ministries, preschool and higher education tuition grants.”

Nelson praised the parents of special-needs students for staying strong.

“These parents have displayed great courage while going through an unprecedented legal assault by two government school districts,” Nelson said. “They have not backed down, and neither will I.”

Nelson thanked the Becket Fund for coming to the aid of the parents of special-needs children, as well as Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who defended the law, and Bob Latham, local counsel for the School Choice Coalition. He also thanked state Sen. Patrick Anderson (R-Enid), who co-authored the law, and all legislative colleagues “who supported these parents.”

“Most of all, I want to thank former Governor Brad Henry and his family for supporting the program and allowing the law to be named for Lindsey,” Nelson said.

UPDATE: CapitolBeatOK's reporting is here and here.

It's hard to compete with 'free'

I make the case here, and Andrew Spiropoulos laments the demise of Villa Teresa school here.

'We ought to expect more from those who speak for our schools than outright falsehoods'

One would think.

School choice saves money

Again.

High schoolers reading books at 5th-grade level

Sandra Stotsky writes:

According to Renaissance Learning’s 2012 report on the books read by almost 400,000 students in grades 9–12 in 2010–2011, the average reading level of the top 40 books is a little above fifth grade.

Weak schools causing national-security risk

"Flaws in U.S. schools are increasingly causing a national-security risk, producing adults without the math, science and language skills necessary to ensure American leadership in the 21st century, warns a report issued Tuesday by the Council on Foreign Relations," Jason Dean reports in The Wall Street Journal.

Anti-bullying film features several Oklahomans

KOCO-TV has the story.