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Today you should know that pressure is growing on Oklahoma schools and third graders who for the first time will be held back if they can’t pass a reading test in April. Oklahoma Policy Institute previously released an in-depth report on the third-grade reading law and reforms that could help it work better. Public Radio Tulsa reported that even while state lawmakers are facing a $170 million budget shortfall, the rapid growth of oil and gas tax breaks is leaving millions on the table.
On the OK Policy Blog, Camille Landry tells the story of an Oklahoma college graduate struggling with student loan debt. Fifty-three percent of recent college grads are jobless or underemployed, the highest share in the last 11 years. State legislators are seeking more oversight of an association that regulates high school athletics in Oklahoma. Rep. Arthur Hulbert filed legislation that would double the waiting period for most Oklahoma couples seeking a divorce.
A bill by Rep. Wade Rousselot would change state adoption law to require both birth parents to go before a judge together to sign away parental rights. Currently they can use a public notary and do not need a judge. Gov. Fallin’s office is pushing the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to ease overcrowding by increasing the use of private halfway houses. One halfway house in Tulsa was recently shut down after an investigation revealed staff were allowing inmates to fight to settle debts or as punishment for misconduct.
An op-ed by the retiring Tulsa public schools police chief argues that Oklahoma can’t achieve positive changes in schools while starving them of funds. The Number of the Day is the average monthly SNAP or ‘food stamp’ benefit per person, per meal in Oklahoma. In today’s Policy Note, Wonkblog lays out how the new Republican proposal to reform Obamacare differs from the current law.
In The News
Pressure is on for Oklahoma third-graders as reading test looms
The pressure is on for thousands of third-graders who will get held back if they can’t pass a reading test in April. Wilbur House, director of curriculum development for Oklahoma City Public Schools, said Monday the performance on the test was so bad last year that 869 children would have been forced to repeat third grade. This is the first year students actually will get held back if they don’t pass the test, so students, teachers and parents are all feeling the pressure.
See also: Issue brief on Oklahoma’s new third grade retention law from Oklahoma Policy Institute
Oil and gas tax breaks leaving millions on the table in Oklahoma
It’s not looking good for Oklahoma’s budget. State leaders expect a $170 million shortfall. This year’s budget was just half a percent larger than five years ago, without adjusting for inflation. And projections estimate a deficit of up to $2 billion by 2035. “A significant part of the explanation for the problems we are facing has to do with the growing cost of tax breaks, particularly the tax breaks that were enacted back in the early 1990s for horizontal and deep-well drilling and then were modified back in 2010.” said Oklahoma Policy Institute Director David Blatt at the organization’s budget summit earlier this month.
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
Tower of Debt (Guest Post: Camille Landry)
“I don’t know where it all went wrong,” Shelley says. “I went to college, earned my degree. So where are all the good jobs?” Shelley McMurray graduated two years ago from a state university with a degree in psychology. She planned to attend graduate school to become a child & family therapist. Instead Shelley works part-time for a social service agency at $18/hour, plus another 15-20 hours per week at a local mall for $11.50/hour. Fifty-three percent of recent college grads are jobless or underemployed, the highest share in the last 11 years. More than a third of young college graduates have taken jobs that do not require a college degree.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
Legislators want oversight on high school activities association
Fed up with the association that oversees high school athletics in Oklahoma, three state legislators announced plans Monday to force changes there but not to take it over. The OSSAA considers itself a private voluntary association. It oversees extracurricular activities for nearly every public school in Oklahoma for grades seven through 12. It makes decisions on the makeup of athletic districts, playoffs and student transfers and eligibility. Last fall, coaches and parents complained during legislative hearings about the association’s decisions. Also, the Oklahoma Supreme Court slammed it for arbitrary and capricious actions against a football team.
Lawmaker pushes for longer wait for divorce seekers
A lawmaker filed a measure that would double the waiting period for most Oklahoma couples seeking to dissolve their marital relationships. District 14 Rep. Arthur Hulbert, R-Fort Gibson, said he would propose the amendments in an attempt to curb divorce rates and reduce poverty. Researchers, however, have cast doubt upon the premise. Hulbert said his idea was driven by his concern about the state’s high divorce rate. Census data show there are 13 divorce actions filed for every 1,000 Oklahomans, ranking it with Arkansas, Alabama and Kentucky as having the second highest-divorce rate in the country.
Read more from the Muskogee Phoenix.
‘Baby Veronica’ case spurs proposed change in Oklahoma adoption laws
A new bill has been proposed that would change adoption law in Oklahoma. The bill, introduced by State Rep. Wade Rousselot, (D) Okay, would require both birth parents to go before a judge to sign away their parental rights. The parents would not have to appear at the same time. Under current Oklahoma law, a birth parent does not have to go before a judge and can use a notary public to sign away parental rights.
Lawmaker, Governor’s office say DOC underutilizing halfway houses
A state lawmaker and Gov. Mary Fallin’s office believe the Oklahoma Department of Corrections isn’t properly releasing offenders to lower levels of supervision as they near the end of their sentences. But the agency contends it is following the law. Rep. Gus Blackwell, R-Laverne, said the agency’s high inmate capacity is in part due to its reluctance to rely on halfway houses, as allowed by law. The Department of Corrections recently emptied male offenders from the Avalon Correctional Services halfway house in Tulsa following an investigation of the facility. The company hopes to come up with a plan so the DOC will again rely on the halfway house, said Brian Costello, Avalon president and chief operating officer.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Tulsa police chief: Starving education brings predictable results
I’ve spent more than 35 years in law enforcement, the last 5 1/2 serving as chief of police for the Tulsa Public Schools Campus Police. I’ve learned a lot about education, educators and children in the process of policing in an education environment. As someone who has been connected to the cattle industry most of my life, I am reminded of an old cattleman saying: “You can’t starve a dollar out of a cow.” Some people, seeing the high price of cattle feed, try to cut costs by refusing to feed their cattle properly. The result is usually disastrous. Likewise, you can’t starve education to achieve positive and effective change.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Quote of the Day
As someone who has been connected to the cattle industry most of my life, I am reminded of an old cattleman saying: “You can’t starve a dollar out of a cow.” … If our state leaders and state school superintendent were in the cattle business, they would not only go broke but probably would be arrested for animal abuse. Starving education through lack of funding to force change in hopes of better performance will not work and is not working.
-Gary Rudick, retiring chief of the Tulsa Public Schools campus police department (Source: http://bit.ly/1i6KVoD)
Number of the Day
Average monthly SNAP or ‘food stamp’ benefit per person, per meal in Oklahoma
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Republicans have an Obamacare replacement. Economists will love it, real people won’t.
The biggest, most significant difference between Obamacare and the replacement plan is about financing — how you pay for all those insurance subsidies. The replacement plan repeals a whole slew of industry taxes that had the insurance companies, hospitals and medical device makers all helping to foot the bill. Those are gone. In their place is a limit on the the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored insurance. Right now, the federal government does not tax health insurance when it is provided to an employee by an employer. The Republican plan would limit the tax exclusion to 65 percent of the average health insurance plan.
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