Author: Guest

Pass common sense sentencing reforms now (Guest post: Sean Wallace)

Sean Wallace is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Corrections Professionals, an association representing employees of the Department of Corrections. During her 2015 inaugural address, Governor Mary Fallin told the crowd assembled on the Capitol steps that one of the… Read more [More...]

The many benefits of online voter registration (Guest post: Rachael V. Cobb)

Rachael V. Cobb is Associate Professor of Government and Chair of the Government Department, Suffolk University. She is a member of the Scholars Strategy Network Working Group on Expanding and Protecting the Right to Vote. This is an edited version… Read more [More...]

The wind energy debate comes sweeping down to the Capitol

Editor’s Note: Wind power is a growing source of energy production in Oklahoma that is drawing close scrutiny at the state Capitol. Is wind production beneficial to Oklahoma’s economy and communities? Should the state continue to provide the industry with… Read more [More...]

Too many foster youth enter the adult world without a safety net (Guest post: Brandon Crawford)

Brandon L. Crawford s one of four 2014-2015 OK Policy Research Fellows. Brandon is a Sociology Ph.D. student at the University of Oklahoma’s Norman Campus. He is also a research assistant at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ Office of… Read more [More...]

ABCs of School Finance (Guest Post: Lori Smith)

Lori Smith is the Chief Financial Officer for Edmond Public Schools. This post is excerpted from an Edmond Public School brochure, “20 Questions (and Answers) about School Finance”. What is State Aid? State Aid represents the funds that are appropriated… Read more [More...]

Protecting Oklahoma’s most vulnerable infants (Guest Post: Cassidy Hamilton)

Cassidy Hamilton is one of four 2014-2015 OK Policy Research Fellows. Cassidy graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Economics and is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Administration at the University of Oklahoma. She works as an AmeriCorps… Read more [More...]

We must move from angst to action in the wake of Brown and Garner deaths (Guest post: Hannibal B. Johnson)

Hannibal B. Johnson is a Harvard Law School graduate who teaches at Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. His several books include Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District, Black Wall Street, Up from the Ashes, and Acres of Aspiration. A… Read more [More...]

Supporting innovation in Oklahoma’s rural schools (Guest post: Sarah Julian)

Sarah Julian is the Director of Communications for the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, a non-profit that provides support and resources to the state’s public schools. Oklahoma’s public schools continue to face difficult financial challenges—this is neither new nor surprising.… Read more [More...]

Multi-member districts: More choices, more voices (Guest Blog Post: Ryan Kiesel)

Ryan Kiesel is Executive Director of the ACLU of Oklahoma, as well as a former member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, alt-music aficionado and fierce truth-to-power speaker. Ryan‘s comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the ACLU of… Read more [More...]

Ideas for improving representative democracy in Oklahoma (Guest Blog: Dr. Randal Burris)

Dr. Randal Burris is a life-long Oklahoman, a graduate of Oklahoma State University, and a practicing veterinarian from Broken Arrow. This is one of a series of responses to OK Policy’s blog posts on Oklahoma’s “broken democracy”. Thank you for… Read more [More...]