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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 Gov. Mary Fallin will wait until after the 2014 elections to lead an initiative petition drive to let voters decide whether to crack down on smoking in public places. Congressmen Markwayne Mullin heard overwhelming support for the Affordable Care Act from his constituents on a telephone town hall. The Muskogee Veterans Affairs Regional Office closed down today due to the government shutdown, and drills for almost all of Oklahoma’s 9,700 National Guard members were canceled.
The cut score for the Biology I end-of-instruction tests that state Education Department staffers said came from a committee of science teachers was actually much higher than the panel recommended. Schools are scrambling to offer remedial biology classes for students who did not pass under the higher cut scores. In the Tulsa World, Julie Delcour discussed how Oklahoma remains one of the worst states in the nation for violence against women. On October 29, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services will host a public lecture on “Domestic Violence: The Hidden Epidemic”.
The Number of the Day is the number of working-age adults in Oklahoma without college degrees or with limited English proficiency. In today’s Policy Note, an emerging proposal from House Republicans would demand more tax cuts and cuts to Social Security and Medicare as part of any deal to end the shutdown or raise the debt limit. Robert Greenstein explains why this is not a reasonable offer.
In The News
Fallin puts petition to curb smoking on hold
Gov. Mary Fallin will wait until after the 2014 elections to lead an initiative petition drive to let voters decide whether to crack down on smoking in public places. Fallin said in February that she would lead efforts to get the measure on the ballot after a Senate committee voted against Senate Bill 36. The measure would have let cities and towns pass ordinances that are stricter than state law governing tobacco use. “Now, the tobacco interests may have won the battle yesterday, but they didn’t win the war,” Fallin said then while announcing the initiative petition effort. Supporters had hoped to get it on the ballot in 2014, but little new information had been released since Fallin’s February announcement.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Mullin hears support for Obamacare during telephone town hall
Second District Congressman Markwayne Mullin heard a different story and told a different tale during his one-hour telephone town hall Monday night. Of the roughly two dozen callers who got through, none demanded the impeachment of President Barack Obama or seemed very supportive of Republicans’ continued demand for changes to the Affordable Care Act in exchange for a budget deal. Two callers said they had signed up for insurance through the ACA, commonly called Obamacare. Another said co-workers had. When Mullin tried to tell her that insurance enrollment through the online exchanges that went active on Oct. 1 “isn’t happening,” she said, “It absolutely is!”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Muskogee Veterans Affairs Regional Office closes as shutdown drags on
The Muskogee Veterans Affairs Regional Office succumbed to the effects of the federal shutdown Tuesday, closing all operations deemed non-essential. The regional office, which is home to the VA’s only call center responsible for responding to education benefits inquiries, closed to the public Monday afternoon. The call center is also expected to close in conjunction with the shutdown. According to Jacob Nichols with the office of the director, the Muskogee VA Regional Office is the biggest of the VA’s 56 regional offices. More than 1,300 are employed at the office, which has an annual payroll of $105 million.
National Guard cancels drills during government shutdown
Almost all of Oklahoma’s 9,700 National Guard members will not drill again until the federal government shutdown ends, which, depending on the shutdown’s length, could keep millions of dollars out of the state’s economy, a Guard official said Monday. Drills scheduled for October’s first weekend were canceled, Col. Max Moss said, and the Guard sent out a message on its Facebook page Monday saying this coming weekend’s drills have been canceled, as well. “No National Guard units are able to perform IDT (Inactive Duty Training) during the shutdown unless it’s in support of a mobilizing unit,” Moss said. The shutdown will affect all National Guard members in the nation, he said.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Biology cut score higher than panel recommended
The cut scores for the Biology I end-of-instruction tests that state Education Department staffers said came from a committee of science teachers was “much higher” than the panel recommended, says a committee member who deliberated over what the new cut scores should be. In August, the Oklahoma State Department of Education announced it had included more challenging test questions and hiked the minimum score called a “cut score” needed for passage of the Biology I exam, which students took in April. Brandi Williams, who works at the University of Oklahoma, was on the committee that recommended a cut score. The state Education Department may decline a cut score committee’s recommendation. But Williams and others say they were angry when a state official seemed to imply the final cut score recommendation was theirs.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Changes in scoring sends students back to biology class
When Gaylen Urie’s biology students at Glenpool High School were preparing for their state tests last spring, he told them getting at least 40 out of the 60 questions correct would put them safely into passing territory. Now, some of those students who heeded his advice are in his special class for kids who didn’t pass the Biology I End of Instruction exam. “Going into the test, I always tell my kids what I expect,” Urie said. “Forty is eight more (correct answers) than what kids had to do the previous year, so I thought that 40 would be aiming really high.”
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Oklahoma remains a badland for violence against women
In 1997, the year Marcia Smith started with the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse, Oklahoma ranked third nationally per capita in deaths attributed to domestic violence. Flip forward 16 years. Smith is still with the state’s umbrella coalition for domestic violence services, serving as its executive director. Care to take a guess on where Oklahoma ranks now in the rate of women killed by men? No. 3. The report, reflecting that really discouraging ranking, came out last week, coinciding with the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Upcoming event: Policy & Practice lecture discusses domestic violence on October 29
On October 29, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) will host Jacqueline Steyn, Chief Programs and Compliance Officer of YWCA Oklahoma City, to deliver “Domestic Violence: The Hidden Epidemic” as part of its Practice and Policy Lecture Series. Ms. Steyn has served at her current position with the YWCA for ten years, aiding victims and families affected by domestic violence. Ms. Steyn has practiced as a mental health professional for over 25 years. She serves on a variety of statewide committees dedicated to reducing domestic violence and trauma in Oklahoma, including the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Quote of the Day
Do you know what finally enabled me to answer those questions? I had to switch from the mindset of a person who is proficient in biology content, and instead think like standardized test writers. What hope was there for our kids to answer those questions correctly?
-Brandi Williams, who wrote that she struggled with questions on Oklahoma’s biology end-of-instruction test despite having taught biology for 8 years and having taken 40 hours of graduate level biology courses during her work on her master’s degree in science education (Source: http://bit.ly/18MpGEg).
Number of the Day
534,712
The number of adults (25-64) in Oklahoma without college degrees or with limited English proficiency, more than 1/4th of the state’s working age adults
Source: Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
“Emerging” House Republican Offer Could Spell More Trouble on Shutdown, Default
The nation may be in for more trouble on the government shutdown and debt limit than many commentators realize — if Robert Costa’s recent National Review piece accurately reflects House Republicans’ thinking on their next steps. In “The Emerging Offer,” Costa describes the “offer” that House Republican leaders are assembling, which suggests that what House Republicans will portray as a reasonable, middle-ground compromise is anything but. The offer largely represents yet another effort to push — as ransom for President Obama and Congress to pay in exchange for House Republican agreement to reopen the government and raise the debt limit — a set of highly unbalanced policies that are favored by one end of the political spectrum.
Read more from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
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