Quotes of the Day

“None of us know just how much creativity and talent we are squandering by choosing not to invest more in public education in Oklahoma. How many children invisible in the back of the class, coming to school hungry, and not having needs met in any aspect of their lives, could be world-changers? More than we think.”

-Scott Meacham, president and CEO of i2E Inc., on the need to invest in public education. [NewsOK]

“I’ve overcome both statistics of becoming a teen mother and becoming incarcerated myself. I did this by staying on birth control and making education my number-one priority.”

-Mvskoke (Creek) Nation citizen Isabel Coronado, writing about how mass incarceration is affecting indigenous peoples in Oklahoma [Teen Vogue]

“I remember being in the second grade, and I was scared to go to school. I have a memory of my brother, who was in kindergarten at the time, and we were holding hands being very scared. Kids threw rocks at us. Parents chanted, ‘Two-four-six-eight, we don’t want to integrate.’”

-Gail Anderson, who attended Tulsa Public Schools when the district was forced to integrate by the U.S. attorney general in 1968, fourteen years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional [Tulsa World]

“We have successful examples of how to fight poverty in this country. But in recent years we have mostly seen attacks on these programs instead of efforts to build on their success.”

-OK Policy analyst Courtney Cullison, speaking about new Census data that shows Oklahoma fell further behind the nation on poverty and uninsured rates in 2017 [OK Policy]

“If you have a serious mental illness and I go to you under the bridge, and I say, ‘Listen, if you’ll get control of those voices in your head for 90 days, I’ll provide you shelter.’ It’s just not going to happen while you’re living under a bridge.”

-Dan Straughan, executive director of the Homeless Alliance, speaking about why it’s more effective to provide housing for the homeless before trying to help them cope with any other issues they have [NewsOK]

“If things continue to trend the way we are, and we see the results we are seeing across the country, women are going to build momentum. And as more women step up and encourage other women to run, I think this is definitely something we can achieve in next decade.”

-Liz Waggoner, executive director of the Oklahoma Women’s Coalition, speaking about when women might reach equal representation in the Oklahoma Legislature [Oklahoma Watch]

“We must continue the path that we started. Last year was a good first step for Okla Ed, but the rest of the plan must be completed. That will require another 500 million over two years for #oklaed and I am committed to finishing the plan we started.”

-Oklahoma House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols [Twitter]

“My idea of community service is a mechanism where defendants who could not afford programming or other fines, fees or costs. In lieu of those fines fees or costs, community service would be used as a punitive measure, which I think is totally appropriate. I think what has happened is everybody wants to get money from entities who can’t afford it and as a result we’ve created these unconscionable debts on individuals who can’t even pay them.”

-Bob Ravitz, chief public defender in Oklahoma County, speaking about how Oklahoma District 12 DA Matt Ballard is charging Oklahomans a monthly fee to participate in court-ordered community service [The Frontier]

“There are a lot of promise programs but they are not as robust, as richly rounded and as driven by information and data as [Oklahoma’s Promise] is. As I talk with other groups around the nation and their legislators about financial aid programs that make a difference, that work, this is the one I spotlight.”

– Cheryl Blanco of the Southern Regional Education Board, highlighting the success of the Oklahoma’s Promise tuition scholarship program for low-income students (Source)

“Oklahoma’s application defines success not as improved health for SoonerCare beneficiaries, but lower utilization of health care services. In other words, success means fewer people receiving healthcare.”

– Philip Rocco, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, in a public comment opposing Oklahoma’s plan for Medicaid work requirements (Source)