Southern Baptist leader advocates 'a healthy pluralism in the public square'

Hickman argues for special-needs scholarships

It's 2014, and we now know that the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship program is changing lives, like these and these.

But in the spring of 2010, passage of the Henry Scholarship legislation was far from certain. Indeed, getting the bill across the finish line required great effort from many people. One of those people was state Rep. Jeff Hickman (R-Fairview), who ably defended the proposed legislation on the House floor. And with Rep. Hickman's ascension to Speaker this week, it's worth remembering his remarks. In my view his most persuasive observation -- one which remains unassailable to this day -- is this:

If schools are doing their job, no student will leave the school system. If they’re getting the services they need, they’ll stay.

'Good research vs. bad research'

Michael Q. McShane discusses the two, and points to the good research on school choice.

Pre-K must include school choice

"Preschool is hot – again," John E. Coons writes ("Pre-K must come with school choice").

It has been so, off and on, since ancient Greece. Plato’s ideal state would have imposed full-time boarding school starting at day one for all newborns, keeping them permanent strangers to their parents – those natural enemies of his perfect Republic.

The spirit of Plato has played a larger role in American public schooling than often we recognize. Still, contra Plato, our imperfect Republic still allows parents to keep their children home until age five or six, then lets those who can afford it to choose among all schools, public and private. But for the less fortunate family, it is difficult or impossible to avoid their child’s conscription for seven hours, five days a week. To that extent, Plato wins, they lose. ...

What is plain – whether compulsory or at parental discretion – is that pre-K could be an opportunity to serve both child and family, but only on one condition: the choice of the provider (and the option for authentic home schooling) must be guaranteed to the parent.

Oklahoma Connections Academy approved by statewide virtual charter board

Oklahoma Connections Academy is the first school to be approved for the 2014-2015 school year.

Education Savings Accounts put parents in charge

OCPA president Michael Carnuccio and Friedman Foundation president Robert Enlow make the case in the Tulsa World.

'Former Norman teacher's aide begins serving time'

"A former Norman teacher's aide has begun serving time in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of lewd molestation stemming from inappropriate incidents involving a 9-year-old boy," The Oklahoman reports.

'Bonds proposed For Mid-Del school security'

News9 has the story.

'These findings justify alarm"

Indeed they do. From a house editorial today in The Oklahoman:

In its new Kids Count data snapshot, the Annie E. Casey Foundation says 79 percent of low-income Oklahoma fourth-graders aren’t reading proficiently, based on National Assessment of Educational Progress data. The problem isn’t limited to the poor. The foundation reports 57 percent of higher-income Oklahoma fourth-graders also aren’t proficient in reading.

Other than that ...

"Common Core supporters know many voters and politicians dislike federal meddling with education," Joy Pullmann writes, "because it is not authorized by the Constitution, is utterly ineffective, and destroys the right of parents to bring up their children as they see fit."

Weapons confiscated inside Oklahoma schools

News9 has the story. Horace Mann was unavailable for comment.

The state might mandate education ...

"... but the family — the 'father,' Kuyper clarified — defined its terms."

GAO report faults handling of abuse in schools

"Federal, state and local agencies aren’t doing enough," the Idaho Statesman reports, "to monitor and prevent sexual abuse of children by school employees, resulting in a spotty reporting system that might underestimate the number of children who are sexually abused in schools, according to a new congressional report." The report follows up on a "2004 U.S. Department of Education report that said nearly 10 percent of students have sexual contact with school employees before they graduate."

This calls to mind Hofstra University researcher Charol Shakeshaft's observation that "the physical sexual abuse of students in schools is likely more than 100 times the abuse by priests." As Tom Hoopes has written:

A writer for The New York Times lurked online at pedophile chat rooms, and reported this summer about the chilling way pedophiles convince themselves that children want to have sex with them and insinuate themselves into the lives of children.

The Times' Kurt Eichenwald explained that pedophiles often discuss their personal lives. They come from all walks of life, but they like to speak about how close their jobs take them to children. "The most frequent job mentioned, however, was schoolteacher," he wrote. "A number of self-described teachers shared detailed observations about children in their classes, including events they considered sexual, like a second-grade boy holding his crotch during class."