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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.
While Oklahoma lawmakers debate controversial funding cuts for an Advanced Placement United States history course, critics said the measure is a politicized distraction that overshadows the greater threat to education posed by insufficient school funding. Tulsa high school teacher John Waldron wrote that the threat to AP U.S. history is part of a general assault on public education. Oklahoma City Schools superintendent Robert Neu wrote that the state Legislature is the greatest threat to Oklahoma public education today.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in the case of a Tulsa Muslim who was denied a job at Abercrombie & Fitch because she wears a head covering. Nearly a third of Oklahoma’s 308 nursing homes experienced a drop in their public rating as the federal government adopted new, more rigorous standards. KGOU examined how large, off-the-top transfers to transportation has contributed to the funding crunch for other state needs.
In the latest OK PolicyCast, we share a panel discussion on what’s really going on in Oklahoma’s economy. The Tulsa World wrote that a bill that would undermine the Oklahoma Open Records Act sailed through a legislative committee Thursday without any discussion of its most pernicious provision. A new peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Science urges greater collaboration and transparency between industry, government agencies and researchers in responding to the consequences of earthquakes triggered by oil and gas activity.
The Tulsa World reported that a dramatic drop in the number of meth labs in Oklahoma has lead to Mexican cartels filling the void. The Number of the Day is Oklahoma’s place in Gallup’s 2014 State Well-Being Ranking. In today’s Policy Note, Bloomberg Business reported on how more religious groups in the South are joining the fight against predatory payday lending.
In The News
Okla. debate over US history overshadows education cuts, critics say
While Oklahoma lawmakers debate controversial funding cuts for an Advanced Placement (AP) United States history course, critics say the measure is a politicized distraction. he bill proposed last week by Republican state representative Dan Fisher attempts to appease critics who say the curriculum places too much emphasis on the darker periods of U.S. history, despite overwhelming support for the course among high school teachers and college professors nationwide. The bill has angered education experts who believe it overshadows the greater threat to education posed by insufficient school funding.
Read more from Al Jazeera America.
Threat to AP U.S. history part of general assault on public education
When I was in high school, I took the Advanced Placement U.S. history exam. I recall writing an essay on the Articles of Confederation, evaluating whether the earliest form of American government had any merit. It was my first foray into a curriculum designed to take the study of history to a higher level, and the first step on a path to what I do now: teach high school history.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Lawmakers showed courage in defeating Education Savings Account bill
Pride fills my heart when I visit with our students in Oklahoma City Public Schools. For many students, walking through the schoolhouse door every day is a show of great courage. They persevere through greater challenges than many adults in our city will ever know. What a great example our students are for Oklahoma lawmakers.
U.S. Supreme Court to hear Muslim woman’s hijab case against Tulsa store
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in the case of a Tulsa Muslim who was denied a job at Abercrombie & Fitch because she wears a head covering. Samantha Elauf was 17 years old in 2008 when she applied for a job at the Woodland Hills Mall’s Abercrombie & Fitch store. According to court documents, assistant manager Heather Cooke wanted to hire Elauf but was told by her district manager, Randall Johnson, not to hire her because she wears a head scarf.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Many Oklahoma nursing homes experience ratings drop as government toughens standards
Nearly a third of Oklahoma’s 308 nursing homes experienced a drop in their public rating Friday as the federal government adopted new, more rigorous standards in its five-star rating system. Ninety-three Oklahoma nursing homes experienced a drop of at least one star in their ratings, while only seven state nursing homes managed to improve their ratings.
Oklahoma’s Increased Road And Bridge Funding Comes With A Price
A decade ago, Oklahoma was the poster child for states with a crumbling infrastructure. About one-third of the state’s bridges were structurally deficient, including some too dangerous for school buses or commercial trucks to cross. When Republicans came to power in 2004, they worked with Democrats on a direct allocation of income tax revenue to fund an eight-year plan to improve roads and bridges.
OK PolicyCast Episode 21: An Economic Check-Up for Oklahoma
This week we share a panel discussion from OK Policy’s 2015 State Budget Summit. In recent years Oklahoma has seen among the lowest unemployment and highest personal income growth in the nation. At the same time, there’s evidence that is rising tide is not lifting all boats.
Hear more from the OK PolicyCast.
Oklahoma Muslim leader talks about mental illness and stigma in community
All the man wanted to do was pray. He began reciting his morning prayer, kneeling to the floor. Millions of Muslims pray five times a day, facing Mecca, reciting prayers in Arabic, and this man was doing that. But the staff at the state mental health hospital saw the Muslim patient’s actions as an anxiety attack, rather than an exercise of his faith.
Forces of secrecy on the offensive in the state Capitol
A bill that would undermine the Oklahoma Open Records Act sailed through a legislative committee Thursday without any discussion of its most pernicious provision. House Bill 1361 was described and debated before the House Public Safety Committee as an effort to protect privacy and prosecutions from a 1-year-old law that guarantees public access to police dash-cam and body-cam videos. But another section of the law — which got no discussion at all before the Public Safety Committee sent the bill to the full House — would allow any state or local agency to deny public access to any record if, in the opinion of the agency, it “would clearly cause excessive disruption of (its) essential function.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
The Science of Oil and Gas-Related Earthquakes is ‘Ready for Application,’ USGS Says
A new peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Science urges greater partnership between industry, government agencies and researchers in responding to the consequences of earthquakes triggered by oil and gas activity. The paper, authored by the U.S. Geological Survey and other federal scientists, as well as state seismologists, including the Oklahoma Geological Survey’s Austin Holland, also endorsed more transparency.
Dramatic drop in Tulsa meth labs leads to Mexican cartels filling the void
Last October, Tulsa Police Officer Albert Caballero was trailing a white Ford SUV when it suddenly pulled in front of another vehicle, cutting it off. Caballero pulled the vehicle over and found it occupied by two Hispanic men, both of whom said they were from Texas and were self-employed. A police drug dog was brought to the scene and reacted to the vehicle, leading officers to find $48,000 worth of methamphetamine in three packaged bricks.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
“Our lawsuit will make affordable health care go away if we win.”
-State Attorney General Scott Pruitt, speaking about his lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies for purchasing health insurance. If successful, Pruitt’s suit would undo the subsidies going to 4 in 5 Oklahomans who purchased health insurance on Healthcare.gov. On average, the subsidies lower monthly premiums from $302 to $95 (Source).
Number of the Day
39th
Oklahoma’s place in Gallup’s 2014 State Well-Being Ranking
Source: Gallup.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Payday Lenders Escaped Regulation, but Now They Face the Church
On one mile of the Atlanta Highway in Montgomery, Ala., more than a dozen stores offer payday loans or cash on a car title, or they let you pawn a ring. Easy Money, Always Money, TitleBucks: They remind the Reverend Shannon Webster of vultures. “To cluster like that for the purpose of ripping off the poor, it’s against every kind of moral instruction that we have,” said Webster, 62, pastor at Birmingham’s First Presbyterian Church.
Read more from Bloomberg Business.
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Still no discussion of marijuana – medical or full legalization.
With 5000 non violent marijuana offenders in state prisons at a cots of $250,000 per DAY, we can not afford to ignore the potential to be realized from legalizing Marijuana.
Wake up and smell the coffee. It’s coming.