‘Only nine percent of black eighth graders in Tulsa are proficient in math’

Dr. Ray Owens continues to work for educational reform.

Oklahoma teacher says ‘sexual assault and harassment in schools is severely under-reported’

"[S]exual assault and harassment in schools is severely under-reported," says Aaron Baker, an 8th-grade teacher in the Mid-Del school district. "This is irrefutable."

Every day all across the United States, educators witness countless examples of female students being touched without consent. We have a culture problem in our schools. We have to start somewhere, and we have to start now!

Mr. Baker isn't the only Oklahoman on the political left who has noticed this. Back in 2014, Democrat state Rep. Rebecca Hamilton, a self-described feminist, observed:

Based on what I heard from my constituents, sexual harassment of girls in our public schools is close to being pro forma. ...Your daughter has a much better chance of growing up to be a strong, independent young woman if she can skip this abuse during her formative years.

Tulsa teacher investigated for sending inappropriate photos to students

"The Tulsa Police Department is investigating reports of a teacher sending inappropriate photos to multiple students at Edison Preparatory School," the News on 6 reports.

‘She knew homeschooling was right for her babies’

Great story over at Education Post about Latasha Fields.

Owasso parents fed up with bullying

"One mother fears for her son's life, one year after he threatened to commit suicide because of bullying," KJRH reports. "'He was going to tie himself up to his bed and choke him until he died,'" she said.

Tulsa teachers pull ‘sick-out’ stunt

Teacher absenteeism hurts students.

And it’s very much a problem in Oklahoma: Chronic teacher absenteeism is an astounding 20 percent in Oklahoma’s public schools.

To make matters worse, some Tulsa public school teachers recently decided to ditch their students in order to make a political point. “Some teachers a few weeks ago decided to sick-out in unison, and it caused 50 teachers between Edison and Booker T. to be absent on the same day, making it very difficult for administrators to handle the class," says Larry Cagle, an English teacher at Tulsa Edison.

"Those students ended up having to sit in auditoriums with one person overseeing 3, 4, 5 classes at a time, which was the intended goal."

Other types of protests are planned, he says.

RELATED:

• Oklahoma Watch wonders if a teacher strike is imminent in the state. If it is, and if it results in a $5,000 pay raise for teachers, economist Byron Schlomach says that would move Oklahoma to 15th in average cost-of-living-adjusted teacher pay. 
• The group Oklahoma Teachers United reports that "Sand Springs High School joins the protest!!! 20 teachers out sick on one day. Fund our schools and pay our teachers. Hear us loud and clear, we are united and we will not back down."
• KTUL reports that "public schools seem unwilling to acknowledge teacher protests."
• KJRH reports that "on Friday, a handful of Kiefer High School students walked out of class. The reason was higher pay for teachers. 'Teachers really didn’t say anything, they just let them,' Kiefer High School freshman Bailey Capehart said. ... Just days ago in Tulsa, Edison Preparatory School students walked out of class after lawmakers didn’t pass a bill that would raise taxes and ultimately raise salaries."
• The Tulsa World reports that teacher walkouts in Oklahoma public schools are under consideration.

Anadarko students arrested for gun, drugs

"A loaded gun turned up in an Anadarko Middle School bathroom Wednesday morning," News 9 reports. 

The school called police, who quickly arrested a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old boy.
Police Chief Tracy Roles says police found the gun in a backpack in the bathroom. Roles says the gun belonged to the 14-year-old. He says they also found what they believe was a small amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, which he says belonged to the 12-year-old. ...

Roles says a police lockdown that included two K-9’s also turned up a bag of marijuana that he says belonged to a 13-year-old girl.

Why do Oklahoma families choose virtual charter schools?

The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board (OSVCSB) recently commissioned a study on "why families choose to enroll in virtual charter schools, as well as the benefits and challenges associated with virtual charter school attendance." Read the whole thing here. One nugget:

Parents and guardians are drawn to virtual charter schools due partly to negative experiences in prior educational settings and partly to the unique opportunities available via virtual education. Related to negative experiences, the top selections by survey respondents included “Bullying or threats from classmates at other schools” (41% of respondents).

Longtime educator says sexual abuse of students ‘is obviously a problem that exists in Oklahoma’

State Sen. Ron Sharp (R-Shawnee), a public school educator for 38 years, has introduced legislation "that would mandate all Oklahoma teachers undergo annual training to keep their certificates," The Journal Record reports. "Senate Bill 899 would allow the State Department of Health to develop coursework informing teachers and other staffers about the potential penalties they could face if charged with crimes related to sexual abuse or exploitation."

According to Sen. Sharp, "This is obviously a problem that exists in Oklahoma and throughout the United States because it’s constantly in the news."

Child abuse of public, private, and home schooled students

In a new memo, Brian D. Ray "reviews available empirical evidence related to abuse rates of public school, private school, and homeschool students by school personnel and by parents." He shows that "an estimated 10 percent (or more) of public and private schoolchildren experience sexual maltreatment at the hands of school personnel, and in addition, some schoolchildren are abused by their parents. The limited evidence available shows that homeschooled children are abused at a lower rate than are those in the general public, and no evidence shows that the home educated are at any higher risk of abuse."

‘It was really disrespectful’

Some Southmoore students have been suspended for inappropriate videos, KFOR reports.

Piedmont teacher accused of excessive force

News 9 has the story.

School choice research is not a Rorschach test

"Folks who don’t like school choice can highlight this study or that that 'proves' school choice doesn’t work," EdChoice points out. "Folks who like school choice have done the reverse. Unfortunately, that’s not how science is supposed to work. We’ve got to look at all of the available empirical evidence and weigh it out."