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In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
Peggs Superintendent John Cox defeated Freda Deskin in Tuesday’s Democratic runoff for state superintendent. Cox will face Joy Hofmeister in the general election. The okeducationtruths blog and blogger Brett Dickerson discussed the big issues at play in Oklahoma’s superintendent race.
School choice advocate Chuck Strohm defeated Jenks school board member Melissa Abdo in the runoff for House District 69, after an outside group poured $30,000 into the race with ads saying Abdo’s support for education funding was a call for a tax increase. OETA reported on how “dark money” spent by groups that don’t disclose their donors is shaping Oklahoma politics.
Veteran prosecutor Steve Kunzweiler defeated state Rep. Fred Jordan in the race for Tulsa County District Attorney. State Sen. Connie Johnson defeated perennial candidate Jim Rogers in a runoff to determine the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Johnson will face U.S. Rep. James Lankford in the general election. Republican Steve Russell and Democrat Al McCaffrey won their respective runoffs and will face each other for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Lankford. You can see all state runoff election results here. OU political scientist Dr. Keith Gaddie questioned the cost of primary runoffs in Oklahoma and suggested a better alternative.
Despite the legislature’s vote to abolish Common Core in Oklahoma, about half of the school districts in the state are keeping the standards. Alex Public Schools Superintendent Jason James wrote that teacher shortages are the number one problem facing Oklahoma schools. Two elected officials in Rogers County who were targeted by a multicounty grand jury investigation that yielded no indictments are suing the Rogers County Sheriff. The Tulsa Police Department’s Gilcrease Division was ordered by the chief to remove from its building a donation bucket for embattled Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson.
The Oklahoman examined the debate over what’s behind the huge increase of earthquakes in the state. State officials announced a $100 million initiative to improve safety at railroad crossings, funded by federal dollars and the sale of the Sooner Sub rail line. The Number of the Day is the direct spending by out-of-state and international travelers in Oklahoma in 2010. In today’s Policy Note, entrepreneur Nick Hanauer wrote that America cannot sustain its current levels of inequality without a serious backlash or a police state.
In The News
Cox wins Democratic runoff over Deskin in state superintendent’s race
Peggs Superintendent John Cox handily beat rival Freda Deskin with a win in Tuesday’s Democratic runoff for state superintendent. He will face Republican Joy Hofmeister in the general election Nov. 4. “I tell you, I am just really humbled right now, because what I was looking for was for people to come out to support public education. It’s not about John. It’s about public schools,” Cox told the Tulsa World in a telephone interview Tuesday night. He secured nearly 63 percent of the vote statewide, while Deskin, of Edmond, took around 37 percent. Joy Hofmeister of Tulsa won the June Republican primary with nearly 58 percent of the votes, avoiding a runoff.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Then there were two
Congratulations to John Cox, who won the runoff election last night to claim the nomination as the Democrat in the race to replace Janet Barresi as state superintendent. Over the next 10 weeks, he will turn his sights towards Republican Joy Hofmeister, who annihilated Barresi in June. And no, saying that never gets old. Hopefully we will see a clean, positive, issue-oriented campaign. It’s politics, though, so I assume we’ll see some of the nasty stuff too. Maybe there will be more on the good side.
Read more from okeducationtruths.
See also: Charter schools to be defining issue of Okla State Superintendent race from Life at the Intersections
Kunzweiler wins Tulsa County District Attorney seat
As a joyous Steve Kunzweiler linked arms with his wife and two youngest daughters Tuesday night, he announced proudly that he would be Tulsa County’s next district attorney. Kunzweiler’s opponent, state Rep. Fred Jordan, called him to concede as Kunzweiler wrapped up a live media interview at 9 p.m. Ballots in 90 percent of Tulsa County precincts, which had a combined turnout of about 19,000 voters, had been tallied and showed a 12 percentage point lead in favor of Kunzweiler. He received 56 percent of the vote to Jordan’s 44 percent.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Strohm defeats Abdo in House District 69 after dark money infusion from the Tulsa World; How dark money is shaping Oklahoma politics from OETA.
State Sen. Connie Johnson wins Democratic runoff for U.S. Senate
State Sen. Connie Johnson easily defeated perennial candidate Jim Rogers in a primary runoff Tuesday to determine the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Johnson, of Oklahoma City, had 54,728 votes (58 percent) to 39,649 votes (42 percent) for Rogers, of Midwest City. Johnson will face U.S. Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, in the general election. They are vying to fill the unexpired term of U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Muskogee, who is stepping down two years early because of health concerns.
See also: Russell easily wins GOP nod in 5th District congressional race, will face McAffrey in general election from NewsOK.
See all state runoff election results here.
Cost Of Oklahoma Runoff Elections Debated
In regards to actually holding runoff elections, you may be surprised to hear, Oklahoma is just one of eight states to hold runoffs. And the negatives of these elections could out-vote the positives. For around 80 years, Oklahoma has held runoff elections. But as one political analyst suggests, the state may need to find a new tradition. “There are a variety of things that happen at the end of summer and beginning of fall. Kids go back to school, Sooners take the field, and we vote our runoffs,” said Oklahoma University Political Science Chairman, Dr. Keith Gaddie.
Schools Deal With Fallout Following Death of Common Core
Education standards in Oklahoma remain in a holding pattern with the death of Common Core by the state legislature in May. House Bill 3399 required all schools return to Priority Academic Student Skills Standards, also known as PASS, until new standards could be developed. But, as KOSU’s Michael Cross shows us, not all schools are choosing to throw Common Core into the dumpster.
800 pound gorilla
There is an 800 pound Gorilla in the room. It is big, ugly, and wrecking havoc on our children’s education. Yes, I’m talking about the 800 or so classrooms with children ready to learn but no teacher available to teach them. Why are we 800 teachers short? – many, many reasons. For some it may be about pay… for others it may be about testing. Climate, culture, autonomy?, valid reasons all around. Large class sizes, unfair accountability measures, evaluations based on factors outside the teacher’s control? – understandable.
Read more from Thoughts regarding #OklaEd.
Lawsuits filed by Rogers County targets of state multicounty grand jury investigation
Litigious fallout surfaced Monday from last week’s state multicounty grand jury investigation that yielded no indictments against elected officials from Rogers County. District Attorney Janice Steidley, who serves Rogers, Mayes and Craig counties, and Rogers County Commissioner Kirt Thacker, both of whom lost re-election bids in June, filed civil lawsuits in Tulsa County District Court.
Read more from the Catoosa World.
Tulsa police ordered to remove bucket requesting donations for Ferguson officer
The Tulsa Police Department’s Gilcrease Division was ordered by the chief to remove from its building a donation bucket for contributions to embattled Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer Darren Wilson’s legal fund, officials confirmed Monday. A Tulsa World staff member received a photo of the bucket that was taken Saturday at the division headquarters, at 3436 N. Delaware Ave. A note asking, “Can you spare $1.00 for Officer D. Wilson Ferguson P.D. Legal Fund?” was attached to the bucket.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Questions remain at epicenter of quake trend
Oklahoma is a seismically active state crisscrossed with thousands of natural fault lines. But seismic activity has spiked over the past five years, leading scientists, regulators, oil and natural gas industry representatives and the general public to question what is different today — if anything — and what could be causing the rumblings. The number of earthquakes measuring magnitude 3.0 or greater has jumped from an average of less than five a year to about 40 a year for the past five years and more than 200 so far in 2014, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey.
Oklahoma devotes $100 million to improve safety at railroad crossings
State officials on Tuesday announced a $100 million initiative to improve safety at railroad crossings. In 2013, eight people were killed and 13 were injured in accidents at state rail crossings, transportation officials say. Oklahoma Department of Transportation Director Mike Patterson said the $100 million comes from federal funds and the sale of the Sooner Sub rail line, which generated $75 million.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
“We know that what we’re doing now is good for students and that we’re turning out students that are ready for college or career and we’re going to let the craziness keep happening at the Capitol. We’re not going to let politics drive what we’re doing here.”
– Stillwater Superintendent Ann Caine, speaking about her district’s decision to continue teaching according to Common Core standards rather than revert back to previous standards after Common Core was overturned in Oklahoma this spring (Source: http://bit.ly/1qg8lMO)
Number of the Day
$6.3 million
Direct spending by out-of-state and international travelers in Oklahoma in 2010.
Source: U.S. Travel Association.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats
Memo From: Nick Hanauer. To: My Fellow Zillionaires. You probably don’t know me, but like you I am one of those .01%ers, a proud and unapologetic capitalist. I have founded, co-founded and funded more than 30 companies across a range of industries—from itsy-bitsy ones like the night club I started in my 20s to giant ones like Amazon.com, for which I was the first nonfamily investor. Then I founded aQuantive, an Internet advertising company that was sold to Microsoft in 2007 for $6.4 billion. In cash. My friends and I own a bank. I tell you all this to demonstrate that in many ways I’m no different from you.
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