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 or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS. The podcast theme music is by Zébre.
Gov. Mary Fallin’s re-election campaign launched an online petition calling for the closure of the facility housing child immigrants at Fort Sill. The petition criticized President Obama for meeting the “transportation, education and health care of illegal immigrants, even as Washington ignores the very real needs of American citizens.” The American Mental Health Counselors Association estimates that 122,000 Oklahoma with mental health issues are being denied care because Governor Fallin has refused federal funding to expand Medicaid for Oklahomans. The Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs Executive Director said the agency is operating a dangerously low staffing levels due to state budget cuts.
Nearly 1 in 4 Oklahoma children live in poverty and the number of children living in high-poverty areas has more than doubled since 2000, according to a national study released Tuesday. Oklahoma City Public Schools is among 60 of the nation’s largest districts throwing their support behind a presidential initiative meant to ensure more students of color are succeeding academically. Two elementary schools in the Oklahoma City district are facing critical teacher shortages as the start of school draws near. Teachers say they repeal of Common Core Standards won’t greatly affect their teaching methods, but some expressed concern that tests will be less rigorous. The OK Policy Blog examined a new initiative that is seeking to coordinate the thousands of people working to improve education in Tulsa.
NewsOK examined challenges faced by grandparents who are the primary caretakers of their grandchildren. Oklahoma Watch examined why Moore has not received federal storm damage prevention aid, even as other cities in Oklahoma at less risk for storms are receiving aid. Residents in north Tulsa are unsure where they will get affordable groceries after the impending closure of the area’s only grocery store.
The Number of the Day is the number of women in the Oklahoma legislature out of 149 legislators. In today’s Policy Note, Vox discusses the evidence that expanding Medicaid coverage has improved lifelong health by improving care for pregnant mothers.
In The News
State politicians demand closure of Fort Sill child-immigrant facility
The state’s political leadership fired another volley at the Obama administration on Monday over the use of Fort Sill to house juvenile immigrants arriving in the U.S. from Central America. Gov. Mary Fallin’s re-election campaign launched an online petition calling for the closure of all such federal facilities, including the one at Fort Sill, while six of the state’s seven members of Congress issued a joint press release with a similar message. The seventh member of the delegation, Sen. Tom Coburn, said through spokesman John Hart that he wanted to see the situation personally before commenting.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Without Medicaid expansion, many Oklahomans with mental health issues will go untreated, experts say
A framed portrait of Abraham Lincoln hangs prominently near Joshua Kraft’s bedroom door. For Kraft, it’s a reminder of what he could be, what he wants to be. Although historians don’t agree across the board on how he suffered, it’s documented that Lincoln suffered some form of chronic depression. For Kraft, that’s a motivator. Kraft is one of an estimated 122,000 Oklahomans with mental health issues who would have qualified for Medicaid in Oklahoma if the program were expanded to include more low-income adults, according to a report from the American Mental Health Counselors Association.
Oklahoma Juvenile Affairs Director: “Need A Substantial Budget Increase For 2016”
The Oklahoma Board of Juvenile Affairs heard about the dire state of its budget during its monthly meeting Friday. Executive Director Keith Wilson told the board that “this next budget year will be nip and tuck” and that a “substantial increase in the budget for 2016” will be necessary. “At this point in time we are operating 15.5 percent below where we were operating with the initial budget in 2010,” said Wilson. “We have to cut approximately $3 million, just shy of it, out of the budget this year. That’s something over $5 million that it left us to fund.”
Oklahoma ranking for child well-being falls
Nearly 1 in 4 Oklahoma children live in poverty and the number of children living in high-poverty areas has more than doubled since 2000, according to a national study released Tuesday. The 25th annual Kids Count report from the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Oklahoma 39th in 16 indicators across four areas: economic well-being, education, health and family and community. The state dropped from 36th in 2013, one of the largest declines in the national listing.
Read more from the Associated Press.
Oklahoma City Schools sign presidential education pledge
Oklahoma City Public Schools is among 60 of the nation’s largest districts throwing their support behind a presidential initiative meant to ensure more students of color are succeeding academically. While promoting his initiative Monday, President Barack Obama said 60 districts signed a pledge to participate in the initiative called My Brother’s Keeper. Obama first unveiled the program in February. The goal of the initiative is to improve graduation rates among black and Hispanic male students, improve academic performance and ensure students are ready for college or the workforce.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Teacher shortage to greet Oklahoma City students when school opens in August
Two elementary schools in the Oklahoma City district are facing critical teacher shortages as the start of school draws near, and that has district leaders reconsidering practices for recruiting, hiring and retaining teachers. As of Monday, Thelma Parks Elementary was 53 percent staffed and Upper Greystone Elementary was 62 percent staffed. Three other schools are at 75 percent of staffing for teachers, according to district officials. Rod McKinley, the district’s chief of human resources, attributed the shortages — 11 schools are 80 percent staffed — to principals he said are waiting too long to fill vacancies.
Common Core repeal has Oklahoma educators worried
With the Legislature’s repeal of tough, new English and math standards known as Common Core, education leaders said they’re concerned Oklahoma students will fall further behind their counterparts in more than 40 state which have implemented the standards. Until Oklahoma develops its own new standards — a process expected to take at least two years — districts were directed by the new law to return to the Priority Academic Student Skills, or PASS standards, that were in place in 2010. But many educators worry those standards aren’t nearly enough to adequately prepare students for college or the workforce.
Initiative seeks to bring together the puzzle pieces for improving Tulsa schools
With over 300 early childhood education providers, fifteen independent school districts, ten four-year colleges, one community college, and more than one hundred education-related nonprofits in the greater Tulsa area, the task of educating students involves a huge number of individuals and institutions. Yet for all these efforts, we don’t have a good idea of who is doing what, or what programs are showing the best results. This disconnect is what Jeff Edmonson, Managing Director of the StriveTogether Network, has called “program rich but system poor.”
Read more from the OK Policy blog.
Refilling the nest: Limited help is available for empty nesters who agree to raise grandchildren in Oklahoma
When their second and youngest child left for college, Steve and Cathy Mathes looked forward to a retirement full of golf trips and the option — but not the need — to start a new job. They never expected their home to be filled once again with the sounds of an infant crying and siblings fighting. Yet their 3,000-square-foot home — the one they downsized to after their two children left — is now home to five children of the Matheses’ daughter, who lost custody of them.
Moore, other storm-damaged cities shut out from prevention aid
The destruction and deaths caused by the Moore tornado led many people in the city to believe that a residential storm shelter was essential. But after the May 20 tornado, when the federal government began approving cash aid for projects like residential shelters to prevent the future loss of life and property, Moore was shut out of the program, according to data analyzed by Oklahoma Watch in a joint project with KGOU Radio. Stillwater, on the other hand, has so far gotten the largest share of federal “hazard mitigation” funds released under the presidential disaster declaration, records show.
Why Oklahoma City, other metropolitan areas are crucial to the economy
Author and Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program fellow Jennifer Bradley argues that cities like Oklahoma City are vital to a post-recession economy. During Oklahoma City’s 2014 Mayor’s Development Roundtable in May, she said she admires Oklahoma’s progress and improvement. “When it comes to building a livable, sustainable, and economically viable place, there’s no such thing as finished,” Bradley says. Bradley is the co-author of the 2013 book The Metropolitan Revolution that argues for the effectiveness and power of local government, something she says s needed now more than ever.
Read more from Oklahoma Watch.
Customers, Councilor Hoping For Solution To North Tulsa Grocer’s Closing
Open for four years, the shelves at Gateway Market at Pine Street and Peoria Avenue are emptying. Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson discussed the situation with community members at a meeting over the weekend. He says letters are already out to other stores to move in. Customer Derosa Boyd just became a grandfather. He’s now wondering where he’s going to go get baby food when Gateway Market closes its doors. Gateway Market is the only grocery store in north Tulsa, and neighbors are worried about the limited food options they’ll be left with.
Quote of the Day
“According to the Affordable Care Act’s (marketplace), I signed up and went through that process, and they said I would qualify for state Medicaid. When you go to the state Medicaid website, due to Governor Fallin’s unwillingness to expand it, I don’t qualify.”
– Joshua Kraft, a 26-year old Oklahoman with chronic depression and anxiety. Because the state has refused to accept federal funds to expand health coverage to low-income Oklahomans, Kraft’s illness largely goes untreated (Source: http://bit.ly/1n7MxD4)
Number of the Day
20
Number of women in the Oklahoma legislature out of 149 legislators, the 3rd lowest percentage in the nation.
Source: Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Study: Medicaid’s benefits start in the womb
The best evidence we have suggests that having health insurance improves access to care, resulting in improved health. But can those effects actually start before birth? According to a new study supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, that appears to be the case. The idea isn’t as strange as it might sound: there’s a strong consensus that the in-utero fetal environment has strong and persistent effects on adult health down the road. But most research on this has focused on things that negatively impact fetal development and future health, like poor nutrition and maternal infection. Fewer studies have tried to tease out potentially positive effects from policy changes affecting pregnant women and young children.
You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
I can’t afford the Obama cheap care, the deductibles were ridiculous, with it in place my employers minimum is now lower, so now they do not cover prescriptions at all, health insurance is now 75/25 instead of 80/20 so more expensive and more out of pocket. Then they are talking about how to help employees from Hobby Lobby, what about me; I do not get any prescription coverage at all, since the government can even think about helping me when will they help me also. I am also concerned about my son’s well being, they have had shortages more then once on immunizations, so next time he goes to get his are they not got to have available for the legal American children or has the shortage just been a lies?