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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.
Today you should know that State schools Superintendent Janet Barresi drew sharp criticism this week when it was revealed that she denied a request that would have helped cash-strapped Moore Public Schools as it continues to recover from the deadly tornadoes and storms that struck in May. Barresi blasted the federal government for allowing states to request a delay in the use of test scores for teacher evaluations, even though she has pushed for the same delay in Oklahoma.
Enid Superintendent Shawn Hime wrote in NewsOK that Common Core Standards will bolster Oklahoma students’ skills. Oklahoma has improved in overall child well-being, particularly in health and education, but continues to rank in the bottom 10 among states for those categories. Interim studies requested by House lawmakers this year include examining state employee pay and the cost to the state to defend laws found unconstitutional. See the full list of House interim study requests here.
While the Department of Corrections struggles with having 99 percent occupancy in its prisons, counties are feeling the effects of backed-up state inmates taking up valuable space in their jails. The Latino Community Development Agency in Oklahoma City is finding success in helping Hispanic women to survive breast cancer. Janet Pearson writes that debates over the implementation of Obamacare are very similar to debates from when Medicare was first implemented in the 1960s. Tulsa’s property tax revenue has grown 70 percent since 2010 as tax rates have increased to repay general obligation bonds.
The Number of the Day is the percentage of Oklahomans who are eligible for tax credits to buy health insurance in 2014 that do not have a bank account. In today’s Policy Note, economist Nancy Folbre explains why 401(k)s aren’t helping most Americans save for retirement and should be replaced by a national pension system.
In The News
State schools Superintendent Janet Barresi’s denial of Moore schools’ funding request draws sharp criticism
State schools Superintendent Janet Barresi drew sharp criticism this week — on Facebook — when it was revealed that she denied a request that would have helped cash-strapped Moore Public Schools as it continues to recover from the deadly tornadoes and storms that struck in May. During an informal phone conversation following the storms, Barresi said she was asked by a Moore school official if the district could have its state aid spread out over 12 months instead of the usual 11 months. The move would have freed up roughly $5 million for the district, which is struggling with cash-flow issues in the wake of May’s violent weather. The state Education Department denied the request, prompting a Moore district high school teacher to post a scathing rant against Barresi on a Facebook page with ties to schoolteachers.
Superintendent Barresi blasts federal government for allowing teacher evaluation delay that she supports
State Superintendent Janet Barresi is criticizing a new move by the U.S. Department of Education as overly intrusive. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced to state school chiefs this week that they could request a delay through 2016 on meeting requirements to use student test results to decide whether to keep or fire teachers. “President Obama and the education establishment have caved into union bosses’ demands to roll back critical reforms. … We do not need the U.S. Department of Education, the education establishment or union bosses running our lives,” Barresi said in a written statement. But Barresi already worked with state lawmakers to push through legislation allowing much the same delay for Oklahoma school districts that need it and Gov. Mary Fallin has already signed that bill into law.
Enid superintendent: Common Core can bolster future for Oklahoma students
In 2010, Oklahoma legislators adopted the Common Core State Standards to meaningfully reform our schools. By doing so, lawmakers provided Oklahoma students with a valuable opportunity to develop the skills that today’s global economy demands. Now, some who enthusiastically supported these reforms are contemplating rejecting these standards before they’ve had a chance to work. There’s no hidden agenda behind Common Core. The policy puts in place a set of increasingly complex math and English/language arts achievement goals for K-12 students. By the end of high school, all American students would be expected, among other things, to be capable of writing cogent, well-reasoned arguments that are supported by relevant evidence. Common Core will also give us the ability to see how Oklahoma students are achieving compared to their peers in other states and across the globe.
Oklahoma taking baby steps in improving children’s overall well-being, still ranks near bottom nationally
Oklahoma has improved in overall child well-being, particularly in health and education, but continues to rank near or in the bottom 10 among states for those categories, according to a report released Monday. The state improved from 40th last year to 36th in child well-being. It was 43rd two years ago, according to the annual Kids Count Data Book by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “I’m encouraged,” said Doug Gibson, executive director for the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. “I think we’ve made some progress. We still have a ways to go. We haven’t arrived.” The states are ranked on 16 factors divided into the four categories of economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma lawmakers request studies on variety of issues
Lawmakers have requested a variety of interim studies, such as state employee pay and the cost to the state to defend laws found unconstitutional. Friday was the deadline for senators to submit requests. The deadline for House requests is July 12. Some requests are repeats of studies done in prior years. Often lawmakers use information gleaned from interim studies in drafting legislation or declining to pursue issues. Rep. Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City, asked for a study on unconstitutional legislation and its cost to taxpayers. Floyd said she hopes the study, if approved, will help determine how much defending illegal laws costs the taxpayers. Meanwhile, House Speaker T.W. Shannon, R-Lawton, plans to pursue a study looking at term limits for appellate judges.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: Full list of 2013 interim study proposals
Inmate overcrowding trickles down to county jails as Oklahoma prisons at 99 percent capacity
While the Department of Corrections struggles with having 99 percent occupancy in its prisons, Tulsa County and other entities in northeast Oklahoma are feeling the effects of prison-ready inmates taking up valuable space in their jails. “Whenever we hit 230 (inmates) during a warrant sweep last year, we were filled to the gills,” Rogers County Undersheriff John Sappington said. “We average anywhere from 190 to 200.” The Rogers County Jail in Claremore has the space to accommodate 250 prisoners, but that doesn’t mean it has enough beds, blankets or other necessities, Sappington said. “We also don’t have the staff to house 250 inmates,” he said. “We’ve lost (staff) due to them walking back and seeing all the inmates and saying, ‘This isn’t for me.’ “
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma City agency has success helping Hispanic women survive breast cancer
At night, Elsa Garcia laid in bed, touching the three, strange lumps in her left breast. An immigrant from Guatemala without health insurance, Garcia, 59, had never heard of breast cancer. And even if she knew what the lumps meant, she couldn’t pay for treatment. Like many Hispanic women in Oklahoma City, Garcia turned to an Oklahoma City-based outreach center for help. Through the Latino Community Development Agency, she was able to get her first mammogram. After being referred to a doctor at their free women’s health clinic, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. If not for the agency, Garcia said the cancer would have gone undetected and she might not be alive eight years later.
Health care debate has a familiar ring
It was one of the federal government’s most controversial, hard-fought, intensely debated initiatives ever. It took decades for viable proposals to make it before Congress, and years before any received serious consideration. It represented one of the most polarizing partisan political frays of modern times. Obamacare? Guess again: Medicare, now one of the government’s most popular and ardently defended programs. If history does repeat itself, then odds are quite good that the federal Affordable Care Act, usually known as Obamacare, will not only endure, but perhaps someday be just as popular.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Tulsa’s ad valorem tax revenue has risen 70 percent in three years
The city’s property tax revenue has grown 70 percent since 2010 as tax rates have increased to repay general obligation bonds approved with the 2008 Fix Our Streets initiative, records show. Tulsa property owners are expected to have paid $73.1 million in property taxes to the city in the fiscal year that ends next Monday, up from $43 million in fiscal year 2010, when the city began issuing bonds for the $452 million funding package. It had taken six years for the city’s property tax collections to increase by a similar margin prior to Fix Our Streets, having grown 72 percent between fiscal years 2005 and 2010. The revenue boost is largely a result of the city’s growing share of the combined property taxes collected for various local and county government entities, but because that share remains small – 16 percent – the burden on taxpayers has increased less dramatically.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
If I’m uninsured and it’s October, I won’t be able to go anywhere without escaping a message. I turn on my TV and there’s an ad. I go on the Internet and there’s another ad. Someone shows up at my door to talk about it. I go to church and my pastor is talking about it.
-John Gilbert, who field operations for the non-profit Enroll America, which is working to alert uninsured Americans about new opportunities to gain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act (Source: http://wapo.st/14SYYZi).
Number of the Day
27 percent
Percentage of uninsured Oklahomans, eligible to cash-in tax rebates to buy health insurance on the state’s new online ‘exchange’ in 2014, that do not have a bank account
Source: Jackson Hewitt
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Rowboats for retirement
It feels so good to row your own boat. You’re the captain. You can set your own course and speed. According to the boat advertisements, you are almost sure to reach your destination as long as you pay for good advice, rebalance and row hard. Sure, there may be big waves, but you can ride them out, and storms always subside. A lot of people used to think of 401(k) retirement accounts this way. But in the last six years, most Americans have gained a new appreciation of financial bad weather and the threat of a perfect storm. Stock market volatility, low interest rates and a sagging bond market have discouraged retirement savings. Persistent unemployment and stagnant wages have left many workers treading water, struggling so hard to stay afloat that they couldn’t open a retirement account even if they wanted to.
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