Quotes of the Day

“When we see communities wrap around schools, we see attendance improve, we see graduation rates improve and eventually we start looking at literacy rates and test scores that start improving.”

Erin Velez, program manager for the Center for Community School Strategies in Tulsa, which is helping to start a new community school in Del City [News9].

“To the best I can tell, this is the most comprehensive plan to address inequities that our city has produced in our history. And I think it says a lot about Tulsans in 2018 who want to play a role in making it be a city for everybody.”

-Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, who is releasing his ‘Resilient Tulsa’ strategy today to engage Tulsans in addressing racial and other inequities [Tulsa World].

“For too long, Oklahomans with disabilities have been denied easy access to savings and investment opportunities, and that stops today.”

-Oklahoma State Treasurer Ken Miller, speaking about the state’s new STABLE accounts where Oklahomans with disabilities can save and invest without risk of losing their SSI benefit. [NewsOK]

“We want this to stop, and the only way that it will stop is if there are specific, tangible, measurable reforms and policy that make officers accountable when there is misconduct and provide officers proper training to prevent misconduct. We don’t believe that the city recommendations that they have started to implement deal with the core of the issue, which is officer accountability and better training.”

-Tulsa attorney Damario Solomon Simmons, one of more than 50 activists, community leaders and elected officials who released a joint letter demanding that the city act immediately to address racial disparities in police practices [Tulsa World].

“During this time, the very same politicians who claimed that you could eliminate the income tax without raising other taxes or cutting services have lost faith in the supposedly magical powers of tax cuts. They have come to accept that one-sided fiscal policies have contributed to a growing structural budget deficit and an unsustainable reliance on non-recurring revenues.”

-OK Policy Executive Director David Blatt, discussing how Oklahoma Republican lawmakers’ approach to tax policy has changed over the last six years. [Journal Record]

“We’re saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by doing this. We’re making better use of officer time. But most importantly, we’re going to save the lives of people in Tulsa, there’s no doubt in my mind, by having this facility in place.”

-Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, at the opening of a new Sobering Center where police can bring people they arrest for public intoxication instead of taking them to jail. Clients will not face charges or have a recorded arrest. [Public Radio Tulsa]

“Our current history textbook, The Story of Oklahoma, is so old that the Oklahoma City bombing only gets a couple of pages in the epilogue. It’s OK, though. We only have about 60 copies for our 600-plus freshmen, so the teachers have to create their own resource packets anyway.”

-Melissa Smith, teacher at US Grant High School in Oklahoma City, describing the conditions in her underfunded classroom [The Guardian].

“The state of Oklahoma has exacerbated this situation by placing only children with the greatest problems at the shelter, and then failing to move them into appropriate placements with staff who are specially trained to care for these children. This reflects the state’s continuing failure to plan for the placement of special needs children.”

-Marcia Lowry, the plaintiff’s attorney in a federal class-action lawsuit challenging abuse of Oklahoma foster care children. Monitors put in place following the lawsuit are now calling for the state to close the Laura Dester Children Center and relocate kids by June 30 [Tulsa World].

“For now, we are in waiting mode. I have the impression that if the signatures are submitted, it will freeze everything. It would be a disaster if they decided the revenue and the raises are separate – that would mean we have to pay the raises without the revenue.”

-Rep. Matt Meredith, D-Tahlequah, speaking about the attempted veto petition to repeal revenue intended to fund teacher raises [Tahlequah Daily Press].

“I hear from some people ‘the polls are open 7 (a.m.) to 7 (p.m.), go vote.’ Guys, we have two jobs, we have two or three jobs — that’s why we’re in this mess.”

-Stephanie Jones, a Tulsa Elementary teacher, who successfully advocated to close Tulsa Public Schools for election day [Tulsa World].