Recent Articles

When K-12 schools are underfunded… (Guest post: Elizabeth Smith)

Elizabeth Smith is the planning director for the Yale National Initiative at the University of Tulsa, a partnership between TU, Tulsa Public Schools, and Yale University to strengthen teaching in Tulsa schools.  She recently completed a Ph.D. in Public Policy,… Read more [More...]

The dangerous hidden agenda behind State Question 776 (Guest Post: Sen. Connie Johnson)

Connie Johnson serves as Chair of the Say NO to SQ776 Campaign Committee. She was a State Senator representing District 48 in northeastern Oklahoma County from 2002-2014. I’ve worked throughout Oklahoma these past few months to defeat State Question 776… Read more [More...]

Private school tax subsidy blurs the line between charitable gift and money laundering (Guest post: Carl Davis)

Carl Davis is Research Director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that works on federal, state, and local tax policy issues. When is a charitable contribution not a “donation” at all?  If a taxpayer… Read more [More...]

Judges on the Ballot in Oklahoma: What you need to know

The original version of this post was authored by past OK Policy intern Forrest Farjadian. It was updated for 2016 by OK Policy intern Chelsea Fiedler. Oklahoma is one of 39 states where voters have a role in selecting judges.… Read more [More...]

At the intersection of hunger and health (Guest Post: Effie Craven)

Effie Craven serves as the State Advocacy and Public Policy Director for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, where she advocates for programs and policies that promote access to nutritious foods and… Read more [More...]

New research finds Tulsa Head Start program produces lasting gains (Guest Blog: Deborah Phillips and William Gormley)

Deborah Phillips is Professor of Psychology and William Gormley is Professor of Government and Public Policy at Georgetown University. Their Tulsa-based research on early childhood education has appeared in the top scientific journals in their fields, in national media outlets,… Read more [More...]

The decade Oklahoma’s ag jobs vanished (Guest Post: Brian Ted Jones)

Brian Ted Jones is director of education for Kirkpatrick Foundation. Data on farm employment is from census records accessed through the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. Since 1990, the number of agricultural jobs in Oklahoma has declined by 77 percent, according… Read more [More...]

In its current form, Education Savings Accounts proposal would widen inequality (Guest post: John Lepine)

John Lepine is an OK Policy Research Fellow. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Administration, Curriculum, and Supervision at the University of Oklahoma. He is also a reading specialist and English department chair at the McLain Magnet High School… Read more [More...]

Budget cuts put unbalanced burden on places of worship (Guest Post: Dr. Mitch Randall)

Dr. Mitch Randall is the Senior Pastor at NorthHaven Church in Norman. These are his remarks from a recent press conference urging lawmakers not to reduce or eliminate tax credits that benefit low-income Oklahomans. You can read the letter in… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma women can’t afford wage discrimination. This bill aims to help. (Guest post: Alexandra Bohannon)

Alexandra Bohannon is an OK Policy Research Fellow. She is currently a second-year student in the Master of Public Administration program with a concentration in public policy at the University of Oklahoma. Alexandra works as a Graduate Research Assistant for… Read more [More...]