State Question 751 passed last fall with 75 percent of voters agreeing to amend the state constitution to make English Oklahoma’s official language.  The amendment, currently being challenged in district court, formally recognized English as the common language in which official state business shall be conducted.  Two identical bills introduced this session designed to implement the new amendment, HB 2083 and SB 905, go well beyond what voters approved in State Question 751 and enact sweeping and intrusive changes meant to preserve and enhance the role of official English:

For purposes of this section, “preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language” means an affirmative obligation of strict compliance with the letter and spirit of the Oklahoma Official English Implementation Act including, but not limited to, promoting the use of English by all persons in Oklahoma and avoiding the use of languages other than English for official actions.  This obligation shall be presumed to be superseded if use of a language other than English is specifically required by federal or state law or is permitted by the Oklahoma Constitution, but only to the extent necessary for an individual circumstance, and not as a general policy.

The ‘Oklahoma Official English Language Implementation Act’ acknowledges Oklahoma’s history with “persons from diverse linguistic backgrounds” and carves out particular exceptions for Native languages.  The obligation to use English-only can also be superseded if “specifically required” by federal or state law.  The problem with this presumably well-intentioned exception is that federal law, in most instances, doesn’t explicitly require that anything be offered in another language.  Instead, federal agencies have issued a loose set of guidelines to their respective state counterparts based on Department of Justice guidance, asking that each agency make a determination for itself whether or not using a language besides English is necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, Oklahoma Policy Institute released an issue brief exploring State Question 744, the proposal that will appear on the November ballot that would peg Oklahoma’s education spending to the regional average per pupil expenditure in six neighboring states. On our website you can read the full issue brief or a one-page summary; you’ll also find links to the  language of the ballot measure and to the websites of the pro- and anti-SQ 744 coalitions. Here is the press release that we put out explaining why we believe SQ 744 to be the wrong solution for Oklahoma:

State Question 744, the proposed constitutional amendment that would peg the annual education budget in Oklahoma to funding levels in six neighboring states, is the wrong solution to a real problem, according to a new issue brief from Oklahoma Policy Institute.

“We know that education funding in Oklahoma has failed to keep pace,” said David Blatt, OK Policy’s Director and the report’s author. “However, the challenges faced by common education in Oklahoma are shared across the broad spectrum of state government. By mandating huge spending increases for common education without an overall expansion of state revenues, SQ 744 creates the strong likelihood of setting the state further behind in all our other critical areas of public investment, including higher education, health care, human services, and public safety. This outcome would harm all Oklahomans, including our schoolchildren and teachers.” Read the rest of this entry »