Quotes of the Day

“I wouldn’t label this an Obamacare grant. I think that classification is confusing to people and, in a sense, inaccurate.”

– Alex Weintz, Governor Fallin’s Communications Director, referring to a $3 million grant that the state applied for under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) (Source: http://bit.ly/1qrTQCS)

“Having a highly qualified teacher in every classroom is the most effective strategy for academic improvement, but as a state, that’s not where we’ve chosen to invest our time, energy or resources. It’s short-sighted because it limits the effectiveness of any other plan Oklahoma puts in place.”

-Sean Hime, executive director of Oklahoma State School Boards Association, on a survey that found Oklahoma schools are beginning the school year with more than 800 teacher vacancies (Source: http://bit.ly/1mk8VW6)

“Ever since DACA I’ve been able to do a lot of the things that I wanted to do. I volunteer at the YMCA as a soccer coach. I volunteer with the Make-A-Wish Foundation as well. I’m a wish-granter there. What’s next? I hope I don’t get deported.”

-28-year-old Angelica Villa Lobos, whose father brought her to the United States when she was 10. She is one of about 4,500 Oklahomans who have been protected from deportation by President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (Source: http://bit.ly/1BxhJS1)

“In one telling email, a staffer wrote rejecting the Affordable Care Act ‘buys us some time to look twice at the exchange with people who want us to make an anti-ObamaCare statement.’ In another email concerning a response to a blog post by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a staffer suggested the response should not include the name of President Clinton because ‘it’s not a president we want to associate with.’ It’s good that Fallin chose to release the documents. But it’s disturbing some decisions about the Affordable Care Act were based more on politics than how it could impact low-income Oklahomans.”

-The Stillwater News Press, on newly released emails showing how Governor Fallin’s staff made the decision to refuse federal funds for expanding health coverage and creating a state-led health insurance exchange (Source: http://bit.ly/1BtjLCK)

“If more people delay or choose not to immunize, we do run a risk of an outbreak in Oklahoma. (Measles) is a serious disease that spreads like wildfire.”

– Lori Linstead, director of immunization services at the State Department of Health. Oklahoma health officials are worried by reports that the number of unvaccinated Oklahoma students is increasing (Source: http://bit.ly/1pQsU2a).

“I do not support legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. Nor do I support a broadly-defined ‘medicinal’ marijuana use that makes it easy for healthy adults and teenagers to find and buy drugs.”

– Gov. Mary Fallin, in a statement asking lawmakers to work with her in the next legislative session to approve use of marijuana-derived medication to treat children with seizure disorders on a trial basis (Source: http://bit.ly/XiVuzZ)

“It says a lot about the health of both women and babies in the state of Oklahoma. There’s lots and lots of research showing that breast-feeding is the best choice for both mom and baby. For babies, we know it decreases their risks for allergies … serious childhood illnesses like diabetes and decreases their risk of diseases later on in life.”

– Kathryn Konrad, co-leader of the Oklahoma Birth Network, discussing CDC data showing Oklahoma babies are breast-fed at some of the lowest rates in the nation (Source: http://bit.ly/1vFxGVV)

“I do not like the direction this is going…we sound like we agree with seceding from the union. It is obstructionist. It is not constructive or productive – it is just sour grapes. It is not leading, it is taking the easy way out. And it is does not acknowledge the facts.”

– Katie Altshuler, Gov. Fallin’s Policy Director, in an email to the Governor’s Chief of Staff discussing whether the state should create Oklahoma’s health insurance exchange. The email was part of a trove of documents ordered released on Monday following a lawsuit over their release (Source: http://bit.ly/VekNBz).

“If you get cancer — any type of cancer — you get sent to a cancer center and get everything you need. That’s not how it works with developmental and intellectual disabilities, and no one is there to explain it to you.”

-Michael Turner, a Tulsa parent of a child with developmental disabilities. Oklahoma Medicaid in-home nursing services have been cut under a new review process, leaving the Turners and other families scrambling for recourse (Source: http://bit.ly/1A6ppJi).

“Policymakers need to remember that the repeal of Common Core doesn’t lessen the overwhelming burden placed on students by these tests. This burden was here before, and without intervention this burden will remain. One in five students suffers from high test anxiety. A further 16 percent have moderate anxiety. How much learning can be accomplished under this kind of duress?”

-Oklahoma PTA President Jeffery Corbett, who said that 340 delegates at the Oklahoma PTA’s annual convention unanimously voted to cal for a moratorium on high-stakes testing as the basis for graduation or grade retention (Source: http://bit.ly/1rR9w4O)