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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 Oklahoma State Department of Education is asking the state Board of Education to approve a no-bid contract with the same vendor the department fired after two years of statewide testing disruptions. Oklahoma Watch discussed why the state may have little choice but to rehire CTB/McGraw-Hill to handle winter testing. Outgoing State Superintendent Janet Barresi has created a new assistant state superintendent position and hired the husband of a top Education Department official to fill it, raising questions about cronyism. The state Department of Education will hold town hall meetings across the state to discuss the academic standards Oklahoma is reverting to after the repeal of Common Core and how the loss of the No Child Left Behind waiver will influence local schools.
Ozy Magazine reported on how tax cut politics are evolving across the country in the wake of Kansas’ huge budget shortfalls and faltering economy. David Blatt’s Journal Record column discusses why Oklahoma’s economy has not recovered as well as some state politicians are claiming. Former Oklahoma Health Care Authority Director Mike Fogarty wrote an op-ed in the Oklahoman refuting arguments made by the paper against expanding Medicaid. The OK Policy Blog discussed how Oklahoma’s community health centers are threatened by falling state funding for uncompensated care.
The Oklahoman editorial board wrote that the state needs to move into the 21st century in how we think about mental illness. A new study shows nearly three out of four young Oklahomans are ineligible for military service for reasons related to obesity, lack of education or having a criminal record. You can read the full report here.
A Center for Public Integrity analysis shows that nearly two of every three dollars spent on TV advertising in the state school superintendent race were spent attacking candidates. Biologists say a prehistoric fish native to the Arkansas River is on the brink of being wiped out in Oklahoma. The Choctaw Nation has broken ground on a new $10 million tribal complex in McAlester.
The Number of the Day is how much Oklahoma put in a fund to reimburse uncompensated care at community health centers this year. In today’s Policy Note, the New York Times examines how economic insecurity has contributed to falling marriage rates in America. On the OK Policy Blog we previously discussed why the decline in marriage is a symptom of poverty, not the cause.
In The News
State Education Department officials want to rehire fired testing vendor
The Oklahoma State Department of Education is asking the state Board of Education to approve a no-bid contract with the same vendor the department fired after two years of statewide testing disruptions. The recommendation to contract once more with CTB/McGraw-Hill is on the agenda for a Thursday morning state board meeting. The recommendation is for a “sole source” — or no-bid — contract with the firm for the 2014 winter testing window.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
See also: State May Have Little Choice But to ReHire McGraw-Hill from Oklahoma Watch.
Barresi creates new position, hires staff member’s husband
Outgoing State Superintendent Janet Barresi has created a new assistant state superintendent position and hired the husband of a top Education Department official to fill it, raising questions about cronyism. State Rep. Jason Smalley, R-Stroud, called it “a good ol’ boy hire” and is calling for the immediate resignation of Barresi, her general counsel Kim Richey and Larry Birney, Richey’s husband and the new assistant state superintendent.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Town hall meetings across Oklahoma to address state of education
Various open town hall meetings across the state starting Monday in Durant and ending in November will address the state of education in Oklahoma. The meetings will provide information to the public as to how the loss of the No Child Left Behind waiver will influence local schools. The meetings will offer the opportunity for Oklahomans to learn about Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS), a system that local schools will be using for the next two years.
Income Tax: Supply Side With a Cushion
Death and taxes are life’s two certainties, it is said, but we’d add a third: politicians who promise tax cuts. Tax policy, long a touchstone debate between conservatives and liberals, has taken on heightened importance as the tea party drives Republicans to fiscal extremes. These days, would-be governors from Wisconsin to Arizona have set their sights on the state income tax, arguing that reductions will spur the economy and bring their states more wealth. In doing so, they’ll take care to avoid the fate of Kansas.
Curb your enthusiasm
Oklahoma policymakers and editorial boards regularly tout the state’s low jobless rate and thriving energy sector as proof of our economic success. But given the Census Bureau’s annual report on income and poverty released last week, we may want to curb our enthusiasm. The report shows the economic recovery remains incomplete. In Oklahoma, median household income grew slightly in 2013 but remains 2 percent less than pre-recession levels of 2007, adjusted for inflation.
Read more from the Journal Record.
See also: New Census data shows Oklahoma’s economy is leaving too many behind from the OK Policy Blog.
Good reasons to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma
The American Cancer Society recently expressed concern for impoverished Americans who live in states that haven’t extended Medicaid coverage. The ACS suggests such coverage offers “to help detect cancers early, when treatment is more effective and less costly, and to save lives by preventing some cancers from occurring in the first place.” “Cancer group misses mark in critiquing state efforts” (Our Views, Aug. 27) counters with an Oregon study finding that, after only 18 months of coverage, newly enrolled Medicaid beneficiaries had no “statistically significant health improvement” in blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes control. There was no mention that the same study also found significant increases in early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and preventive care, including a 100 percent increase in the number of breast cancer screenings.
Flatline: Funding cuts threaten Oklahoma’s community health centers
Last winter, Oklahoma’s community health centers (CHCs) received some unwelcome news. A state fund for cover uncompensated care had run dry seven months early. Community health centers, which are among the very few places that low-income Oklahomans can get care regardless of ability to pay, struggled to cut costs without cutting essential services until the state fiscal year ended in July. This year, CHCs calculated that they would need $9 million to cover fiscal year 2015 uncompensated costs. But by the time the budgetary dust settled, CHCs were allocated just $2.55 million – less than one-third of what they’d asked for, and even less than the $3.12 million FY 2014 funding that ran out before half the year was over.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog.
See also: “I don’t know where we go from here”: Community health centers caught in limbo from the OK Policy Blog.
Oklahomans must move into 21st century in dealing with mental illness
How powerful is the stigma associated with mental illness? Consider a story told last week by former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy. Kennedy, who has suffered with addiction issues and bipolar disorder, was a Democratic congressman from Rhode Island when he authored a bill to make group insurance firms offer the same benefits for mental health and addiction treatment as they do for physical health treatment. After he was arrested for driving under the influence in 2006, Kennedy said, several colleagues came to talk to him about their own experiences with mental illness or addiction. Yet those same congressmen voted against his bill. They told him, “I can’t vote that way because I’m from the Midwest … My constituents say it’s not a medical issue.”
Oklahoma Youths Not Fit For Military
Nearly three out of four young Oklahomans are ineligible for military service for reasons related to obesity, lack of education or having a criminal record, a new study shows. That percentage of ineligibility is the 14th highest in the country. The report was published by Mission: Readiness, a group composed of 450 retired generals and admirals who are championing the White House’s nutrition reform efforts as a way to combat obesity.
Read the report here from Mission: Readiness.
Most Oklahoma Primary Money Supported Attack Ads
An analysis of television advertising in this year’s primary races in Oklahoma shows that nearly two of every three dollars spent on TV advertising in the state school superintendent race were spent attacking candidates. The analysis by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity shows about $3.9 million was spent on television advertising through Sept. 8 for state-level offices, including superintendent, governor, corporation commissioner and state legislative races.
Read the analysis here from the Center for Public Integrity.
Oklahoma Wildlife Biologists Track Dwindling Number Of Prehistoric Fish
Just west of Tulsa’s skyline, prehistoric fish are living in the Arkansas River. Biologists say the Shovelnose Sturgeon is on the brink of being wiped out in Oklahoma. The Wildlife Department is launching a new study to track the fish and is asking for your help. The Shovelnose Sturgeon used to be a common catch here on the Arkansas River in Oklahoma, but over the decades, the species has dwindled.
Choctaw Nation breaks ground on new $10M tribal complex
The Choctaw Nation has broken ground on a new $10 million tribal complex in McAlester. Choctaw Chief Gary Batton joined state and local leaders Tuesday to mark the beginning of the project, which calls for an early childhood education building, a community center, a food distribution center and a wellness center.
Quote of the Day
“No one in this building is happy. This was not our first choice. We tried to make it abundantly clear how frustrated we have been working with McGraw-Hill the past couple of years. This is not an ongoing relationship here. This is a short-term, one-cycle testing contract.”
– Joel Robison, chief of staff at the state Education Department, on the Department’s request that the state Board of Education approve a no-bid contract with CTB/McGraw-Hill for winter testing. SDE had previously fired the company following two consecutive years of statewide testing disruptions. (Source: http://bit.ly/1uIeRN6)
Number of the Day
$2.55 million
How much Oklahoma put in a fund to reimburse uncompensated care at community health centers this year — less than one-third of what they said they will need, and even less than the $3.12 million FY 2014 funding that ran out before half the year was over.
Source: Oklahoma Policy Institute
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Marriage Rates Keep Falling, as Money Concerns Rise
Of all the milestones on the road to adulthood, Americans are increasingly forgoing one of the biggest: marriage. Twenty percent of adults older than 25, about 42 million people, have never married, up from 9 percent in 1960, according to data in a Pew Research Center report published Wednesday. The trend has been consistent for decades. Since 1970, each group of young adults has been less likely to marry than the previous generation. Although part of the trend can be attributed to the fact that people are simply marrying older, Pew projects that a quarter of today’s young adults will have never married by 2030, which would be the highest share in modern history.
Read more from the New York Times.
See also: Marriage won’t end poverty from the OK Policy Blog.
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