State's largest newspaper says ESAs are 'an idea that deserves support'

In a house editorial today, The Oklahoman recaps the 2015 legislative session.

Most disappointingly, lawmakers failed to authorize education savings accounts, not even as a pilot program for low-income students in Oklahoma’s worst schools. ESAs would have allowed children’s families to use taxpayer dollars that currently go to bad public schools and instead use the money to send needy children to quality private schools. It’s an idea that deserves support.

Homeless students on the rise in Oklahoma

Nate Robson of Oklahoma Watch has the story, along with a nice profile of Positive Tomorrows.

As I've pointed out before, school choice can help:

OKC teachers tell of being verbally and physically abused by students

Tim Willert reports that yesterday was "the end of the road for potentially dozens of teachers and support staff at Roosevelt Middle School, where student misconduct went largely unchecked over the last several months at the direction of district officials, several teachers told The Oklahoman."

“Some of the behavior I’ve experienced is intolerable, and a lot of teachers don’t want to come back because of the environment,” said one of three Roosevelt teachers who spoke to The Oklahoman, but asked that their names not be used for fear of retaliation. “The students know what they can and can’t get away with. It’s clear to them.”  

One of the Roosevelt teachers predicted a mass defection of staff from the school over the next two weeks. “You’re going to see a 70 percent turnover in this building,” the teacher said. ... 

Some of the teachers said discipline at the school, 3233 SW 44, began to deteriorate in November, when district discipline policies were abandoned at the school. “We were told we were no longer using the discipline procedures we had been using,” one of the teachers said. “Basically, there was no program in place to allow discipline to occur.”  

Another teacher said staff members were told during a faculty meeting last month to stop suspending students altogether. ... 

Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Rob Neu, who has acknowledged that student discipline is a major problem confronting the district, said no such direction was given to site administrators at Roosevelt or any other schools. ... 

Ed Allen, president of the Oklahoma City American Federation of Teachers, finds Neu’s explanation at odds with what he’s heard from his union members. “What we’ve heard for months is that principals are being told to either reduce suspensions or eliminate suspensions altogether,” said Allen, whose union represents 2,700 teachers. “I hear that so much that I have to believe that some message is going out.”  

Roosevelt teachers told of having personal property damaged by students, of having students walk out of class without permission and of being verbally and physically abused by students. 

'Incomplete'

That's the grade OCPA president Michael Carnuccio gave Oklahoma's 2015 legislative session, largely because policymakers failed to empower parents with education savings accounts (ESAs).

Does school spending matter?

Jay Greene is not persuaded "to abandon the long-standing and well-established finding that simply providing schools with more resources does not improve student outcomes."

UPDATE: Over at Education Week, Rick Hess has more. And Eric Hanushek has more here.

'I cannot imagine why some kids don’t like to come to school, can you? '

A longtime principal at Jenks Middle School paints a troubling picture of "daily life as a student in a typical middle or high school classroom in America today." Happily, these kids have options.

UPDATE: An Oklahoma high school teacher has some interesting observations here.

School choice improves public schools

Jason Bedrick has the latest on some public school bureaucrats who are upping their game.

Does early childhood education impede emotional and cognitive development?

"Twenty years ago, kids in preschool, kindergarten and even first and second grade spent much of their time playing: building with blocks, drawing or creating imaginary worlds, in their own heads or with classmates," David Kohn writes in The New York Times.

But increasingly, these activities are being abandoned for the teacher-led, didactic instruction typically used in higher grades. In many schools, formal education now starts at age 4 or 5. Without this early start, the thinking goes, kids risk falling behind in crucial subjects such as reading and math, and may never catch up. 

The idea seems obvious: Starting sooner means learning more; the early bird catches the worm. 

But a growing group of scientists, education researchers and educators say there is little evidence that this approach improves long-term achievement; in fact, it may have the opposite effect, potentially slowing emotional and cognitive development, causing unnecessary stress and perhaps even souring kids’ desire to learn.

Let's just give moms the money and let them decide what's best for their children.

Are Oklahoma's private schools too expensive to make ESAs worthwhile?

Not at all, says Oklahoma State University professor Vance Fried. Oklahoma should enact ESAs and put parents back in charge.

Former coach pleads guilty to raping student

The Tulsa World has the story.

'It’s ridiculous for schools to expect us all to learn in the same way'

"There is a need for online school," says Emily Mee, a recent graduate of Oklahoma Connections Academy, a government-funded online school. "Some people need more time, some need to be challenged. It's ridiculous for schools to expect us all to learn in the same way."

Educational choice continues to grow

"Private school choice initiatives have become increasingly common across the United States," Patrick Wolf writes. "Far from being rare and untested, private school choice policies are an integral part of the fabric of American education policy."

Washington Post blogger says Oklahoma's educational performance is lousy

Read Jennifer Rubin's analysis here.