OKPOLICY.ORG
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.
Today you should know that a plan to slash Oklahoma’s top personal income tax rate could be unveiled next week, but state leaders acknowledged the deal hinges on agreements between the House, Senate and governor’s office on a workers’ compensation overhaul and an eight-year infrastructure improvement plan. A new Oklahoma Policy Institute fact sheet shows that Oklahoma’s public schools have relatively low administration costs. The okeducationtruths blog discussed Republican angst over Common Core Standards for school curriculum.
Western Oklahoma State College’s accrediting board has placed the school on probation following a review of controversial online courses reportedly favored by college athletes. The owner of a southern Oklahoma refinery will contest nearly two dozen citations and a $281,000 fine levied by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following an explosion that killed two workers. Test results have identified 57 former patients of Tulsa oral surgeon W. Scott Harrington who have hepatitis C and 3 who have hepatitis B. The Tulsa County jail is lifting its ban on jailing municipal prisoners, even though it is still over capacity.
The Number of the Day is the amount Oklahoma’s public schools have lost per student in education funding over the last five years. In today’s Policy Note, Governing Magazine asks whether pension reforms have gone so far that governments can no longer attract the best person for the job.
In The News
Oklahoma leaders nearing deal on income tax cut
A plan to slash Oklahoma’s top personal income tax rate could be unveiled next week, but state leaders acknowledged Thursday the deal hinges on agreements between the House, Senate and governor’s office on a workers’ compensation overhaul and an eight-year infrastructure improvement plan. The income tax cut has been a top priority of Gov. Mary Fallin, while Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman has championed workers’ compensation changes and House Speaker T.W. Shannon has pushed for the multi-year plan to prioritize renovations to state buildings and other infrastructure. None would confirm details about the tax agreement, but Shannon said the three expected to make an announcement Tuesday or Wednesday.
Read more from the Enid News & Eagle.
Oklahoma’s public schools have relatively low administration costs
Over the last five years, Oklahoma has made some of the deepest cuts to funding for local schools of any state in the country. Some critics claim that Oklahoma can adequately fund schools by reducing administrative costs without increasing the total amount spent on our public education system. However, an analysis of school spending shows that Oklahoma spends relatively little on school administration, and there are not enough savings to be found in cutting administration to significantly improve funding for instruction.
Read more from the Oklahoma Policy Institute.
Republican angst over Common Core
The Republican National Committee has passed a resolution calling for the federal government to halt efforts to implement the Common Core State Standards. This puts the states in quite a pickle. It was, after all, state efforts, namely through the National Governors’ Association and the Chief Council of State School Officers, to develop the Common Core. From the beginning, CCSS has been a bi-partisan venture. So how are states responding? Alabama’s legislature is now rejecting the standards. Oklahoma may not be far behind. House Resolution 1011 would halt “further adoption of Common Core State Standards until further costs are ascertained.” Here’s the problem with Rep. Blackwell’s resolution: we’ve already adopted them.
Read more from okeducationtruths.
Western Oklahoma State College on probation after review of online courses
Western Oklahoma State College’s accrediting board has placed the school on probation following a review of a controversial online course reportedly favored by college athletes. The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools found the college’s 10-day accelerated online courses don’t meet quality and rigor standards required of compressed-format courses. As part of the probation, the board revoked approval for the college to offer accelerated online courses and programs.
Wynnewood refinery owner contests OSHA penalties following explosion that killed two workers
The owner of a southern Oklahoma refinery will contest nearly two dozen citations and a $281,000 fine levied by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following an explosion last year that killed two workers. The issue now moves to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent federal agency that handles such appeals. Many of the most serious citations involve repeated violations surrounding the engineering and hazardous use of a large boiler that exploded Sept. 28 at the Wynnewood Refining Co., killing operators Billy Smith, 34, and Russell Mann, 45. The company had been cited for many of the same violations following another boiler explosion in 2008.
Testing of Tulsa dental patients find 60 cases of hepatitis infections
Test results have identified 57 former patients of Tulsa oral surgeon W. Scott Harrington who have hepatitis C and three who have hepatitis B, the Tulsa City-County Health Department announced Thursday. Health officials stress that a positive test result doesn’t mean the person got the disease from a visit to Harrington’s office, and some of the positive results are likely not related to his practice. “We don’t know yet, so this is just the beginning of a more complex, epidemiologic investigation where we’re going to be interviewing those persons who have positive results and collecting a lot more information from them,” State Epidemiologist Kristy Bradley said.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Tulsa jail lifts ban on municipal prisoners
The county lifted its ban on jailing municipal prisoners Thursday, nearly a week after invoking a clause in its contract with the city due to a spike in its inmate population. Tulsa County Sheriff’s Maj. Shannon Clark said crowding in the jail has eased, thanks to the hard work of numerous agencies. The jail held 1,725 prisoners Thursday evening, down from a high of 1,968 prisoners last week. Clark said the jail, which was designed for a maximum of 1,714 prisoners, is effectively full at 1,650 prisoners because of restrictions on where some inmates may be placed.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
No study is perfect, but the cumulative evidence that high-quality preschool works is overwhelming. Consider a study of 4-year-olds in Tulsa who attended Oklahoma’s high-quality universal preschool program, with small class sizes and well-trained teachers — features that are components of the president’s proposal. They started kindergarten seven months ahead in literacy skills and four months ahead in math skills.
Number of the Day
$706
Amount Oklahoma’s public schools have lost per student in education funding over the last five years
Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Has pension reform gone too far?
Nearly every state in the union and scores of localities have reacted in recent years to their growing unfunded public pension liabilities with reforms that aim to soften that financial burden in the coming decades. The changes have ranged from reducing benefits for current retirees to raising the retirement age to establishing new (read: cheaper) plans for incoming public employees. But have some of these reforms gone too far? Might governments now be putting themselves in a position where they can no longer attract the best person for the job?
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
