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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.
The leader of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Republican leaders to repudiate remarks made by state Rep. John Bennett, who posted on Facebook that “the Quran clearly states that non Muslims should be killed” and that Christians should “be wary of the individuals who claim to be ‘Muslim American.” Tulsa Public Schools found 41 teachers with lapsed state certificates in an audit done as a result of recent revelations that a top executive was employed during 2013-14 without proper credentials. The teachers have been placed on substitute teacher pay while they await certificate renewals.
Higher education officials are expected to vote next month on whether Oklahoma’s current academic standards ensure high school students are college- and career-ready upon graduation. The Oklahoman editorial board criticized the state Board of Education’s slow movement to create new standards to replace Common Core. On the OK Policy Blog, we discussed Oklahoma’s very low turnout for runoffs and suggest some better ways to decide multi-candidate elections. An Oklahoma City man has filed papers to start an initiative petition to end secret balloting in all elections in Oklahoma.
Gross revenue collections for August were up 7.5 percent from a year ago. Engineers will rappel down the sides of the state Capitol next week to the building’s facade for damage. The Oklahoma Workers Compensation Commission, criticized earlier this summer for violations of the Open Meeting and Open Record acts, is seeking to hire a public relations consultant.
Labor Commissioner Mark Costello has asked the Secretary of State to determine if a plan to phase out PSO coal plants was implemented properly by the Department of Environmental Quality. Costello said if the plan wasn’t implemented properly, PSO might have to follow a costlier federal plan to control power plant emissions. A 1994 state law allowing people accused of dealing drugs to be held liable in civil lawsuits is unconstitutional, a Tulsa County judge has ruled.
The Number of the Day is the drop in Oklahoma’s voter registration rate from 2008 to 2012. In today’s Policy Note, Vox discusses how Arkansas is becoming poster child for the benefits of Obamacare.
In The News
CAIR criticizes state lawmakers for anti-Muslim Facebook comments
The leader of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Wednesday called on Republican leaders to repudiate remarks made by state Rep. John Bennett on his private Facebook account. Adam Soltani, CAIR Oklahoma executive director, is also asking the Republican from Sallisaw to apologize for the remarks. A Monday Facebook post from Bennett reads: “The Quran clearly states that non Muslims should be killed. Arab is the ethnicity, not Muslim or Islam. Be wary of the individuals who claim to be ‘Muslim American.’ Be especially wary if you are Christian.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
41 Tulsa Public Schools teachers lack certification
Tulsa Public Schools found 41 teachers with lapsed state certificates in an audit done as a result of recent revelations that a top executive was employed during 2013-14 without proper credentials. Patti Ferguson-Palmer, president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association, said she feels that the move by TPS to place the teachers awaiting certificate renewals on substitute teacher pay is retribution for her speaking out about the appearance of a double standard in the district.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Vote on Oklahoma’s academic standards expected next month
Higher education officials are expected to vote next month on whether Oklahoma’s current academic standards ensure high school students are college- and career-ready upon graduation. Math and English language experts reviewing the state’s Priority Academic Student Skills standards to determine if they meet that benchmark should be done in the next five weeks, Chancellor Glen Johnson said Wednesday. PASS standards were in place before the state adopted Common Core standards. When the state repealed Common Core earlier this year, the standards reverted to PASS.
Inaction a growing problem for Oklahoma Board of Education
The state Board of Education’s action — or, more accurately, inaction — to develop new academic standards for Oklahoma schools is turning into government self-parody. Under the Common Core repeal law, the state Board of Education essentially must unveil new standards in math and language by the start of the 2016 legislative session, in February of that year. This is a short timetable for a significant undertaking that should involve input from a wide range of experts. So far, though, the board has done next to nothing.
Time to off the runoff?
Dr. John Cox won a decisive victory in last week’s runoff election for the Democratic Party nomination for State Superintendent of Instruction, gaining 62.9 percent of the vote and beating challenger Dr. Freda Deskin by some 25,000 votes out of almost 96,000 cast. It was a convincing victory, with one big caveat — the 60,377 votes received by Dr. Cox represented about 1 out of 15 (6.7 percent) of eligible Democratic voters. Turnout for the runoff race was down 42.8 percent from the initial primary, where Dr. Cox and Dr. Deskin led a field of four candidates. With turnout falling so dramatically, is it time for Oklahoma to consider a better way to decide multi-candidate elections?
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Initiative petition seeks to make individual votes public
An Oklahoma City man wants to end secret balloting. Bryan Leslie Baxter has filed papers with the Oklahoma secretary of state indicating he wants to circulate an initiative petition to make public votes that are currently private. Baxter, a retired state employee, said Friday that he believes such a move will increase voter participation. “The secret ballot has brought about isolation and a disenfranchised public,” he said. The legal notice of the effort was published Wednesday in the Tulsa World, starting a 10-day protest period. If no protest is filed, Baxter can begin gathering signatures Sept. 8, according the Secretary of State’s Office.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Gross revenue for August is up
Gross revenue collections for August were up 7.5 percent from a year ago, according to a report released Wednesday by State Treasurer Ken Miller’s office. “Oklahoma’s economy continues to climb up the expansion side of the business cycle,” Miller said. “Our people are earning and spending more as reflected by steady growth in income tax and sales tax receipts.” Gross collections for August brought in $898.44 million up $64.2 million.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Engineers to rappel down sides of Oklahoma Capitol to check for damage
Engineers will rappel down the sides of the state Capitol next week to get a close look at the historic building’s stained and crumbling limestone facade. This is the initial discovery phase of a four- to six-year, $120 million project that represents the biggest repair and refurbishment of the historic building since it opened in 1917. A $487,000 contract has been approved for the Chicago engineering firm WJE to examine and study the exterior of the building. As many as a dozen holes will be drilled in the exterior to allow for better inspection of the walls.
Wanted: Better publicity
The Oklahoma Workers Compensation Commission, criticized earlier this summer for violations of the Open Meeting and Open Record acts, is seeking a public relations consultant. According to an Aug. 25 bid solicitation obtained by Oklahoma Watch, the Workers Compensation Commission is “soliciting quotes for public relations consulting to assist the Workers Compensation Commission with day-to-day public (and) media relations.” The solicitation listed a deadline four days out, saying the bids were needed as soon as possible.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Oklahoma regulators respond to labor commissioner on PSO environmental plan
A bureaucratic fight over how an environmental settlement with Public Service Co. of Oklahoma was implemented could affect consumers. On one side is Labor Commissioner Mark Costello, who said PSO’s plan to phase out its coal units at Northeastern Station near Oologah wasn’t implemented properly by the Department of Environmental Quality. In July, Costello asked Secretary of State Chris Benge to determine if DEQ followed the state’s Administrative Procedures Act. Costello said the agency didn’t submit the plan to the Legislature and Gov. Mary Fallin for their review and approval. Costello said if the plan wasn’t implemented properly, PSO might have to follow a costlier federal plan to control power plant emissions affecting visibility at national parks and wilderness areas.
Tulsa County judge rules Drug Dealer Liability Act unconstitutional
A 1994 state law allowing people accused of dealing drugs to be held liable in civil lawsuits is unconstitutional, a Tulsa County judge has ruled. The ruling last week by District Judge Jefferson Sellers tossed out a lawsuit filed on behalf of three children against 51 people who are convicted or accused of drug dealing and related offenses in Tulsa County. Tulsa attorney Kevin Adams filed the lawsuit one year ago under the Drug Dealer Liability Act. Children of people who use drugs had been able to sue under the law to recover damages caused by their parents’ illegal drug use.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
“Strangely enough, the Guthrie building is in much better shape than this one. It has been preserved and it looks a lot better than our actual Capitol.”
-John Estus, spokesman for the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, speaking about Oklahoma’s original state Capitol building in Guthrie. Engineers will rappel down the sides of the current state Capitol next week to inspect the crumbling limestone facade (Source: http://bit.ly/1t3uOMP).
Number of the Day
-4.1%
Drop in Oklahoma’s voter registration rate, from 81.1% 2008 to 77.0% 2012.
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Why is Arkansas, of all states, becoming the Obamacare poster child?
Arkansas is quickly becoming Obamacare’s poster child. The state’s innovative Medicaid expansion — which uses the public program’s dollars to buy enrollees private coverage — has cut the uninsured rate nearly in half and become a model for other red states. Mark Pryor, Arkansas’s vulnerable Democratic senator, is running on health reform. And on Tuesday, news broke that insurance premiums on the state exchange would fall in 2015. Preliminary rate information was accidentally leaked late last week, and reported by the Arkansas Times.
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