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The Weekly Wonk is a summary of Oklahoma Policy Institute’s events, publications, blog posts, and coverage. Numbers of the Day and Policy Notes are from our daily news briefing, In The Know. Click here to subscribe to In The Know.
This week, we updated CountySTATS 2013, a powerful tool for learning about your county that displays summary data and statistics for each of the state’s counties with a two-page fact-sheet. On our blog, OK Policy analyst Gene Perry examined the debate surrounding A-F grades and whether schools can overcome the effects of poverty; we’ve written about the A-F grading system before. We also concluded a two-part series on the state of women in Oklahoma by discussing the health of women and families; the first post, which covered economic security and leadership, can be read here.
In his Journal Record column, OK Policy director David Blatt argues that October’s low revenue collections are an alarm bell for next year’s budget. The Oklahoman and Tulsa World quoted Blatt in an article on Oklahoma’s rate of enrollment in the federal healthcare marketplace. Covering State Insurance Commissioner John Doak’s announcement that he would be seeking reelection, the Muskogee Phoenix cited OK Policy’s press release regarding statements made by the Insurance Commissioner earlier this fall. OK Policy analyst Kate Richey appeared on OETA to discuss the low grade Oklahoma received in the Center for American Progress’s state-by-state report on the status of women.
- $7,480 – Average annual cost of infant daycare in Oklahoma – $1,331 more than the cost of a year of tuition and fees at a public college or university in 2013
- 208 – Average NAEP reading score for Oklahoma 4th Graders who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, 22 points below the average score for wealthier kids
- $44.7 million – Decrease in Oklahoma General Revenue collections compared to this time last year, a drop of 2.5 percent
- 2,412 – Number of Oklahomans determined eligible to enroll in Medicaid/CHIP while filling out an application on healthcare.gov in October
- $2.94 – The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Oklahoma – 2nd cheapest in the U.S.
Policy Notes
- States rejecting Medicaid expansion are harming their biggest cities, according to The Atlantic.
- The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes that states that cut education funding often cut income tax rates simultaneously, reducing revenue that might have gone to schools.
- A map from Frontline illustrates the geography of child homelessness.
- A new report from the Center for American Progress discusses the school-readiness gap and preschool benefits for children of color.
- On the OK Policy blog, we break down the health of Oklahoma’s women and families.
