Turning 5: Our greatest blog hits

As we prepare to celebrate OK Policy’s fifth anniversary, we’ve gone back and selected our top five greatest hits from our blog. The winners, selected by staff, all generated strong traffic and buzz, and exemplify our efforts to apply careful… Read more [More...]

Day-after thoughts on SQ 744

Several months ago, with polls showing SQ 744 ahead by a two-to-0ne margin and supporters announcing that the National Education Association had committed over $3 million to the Yes campaign, many thought that the measure’s passage was a slam-dunk.  Subsequent… Read more [More...]

This ain't over yet: Outlook and recommondations for navigating the ongoing state fiscal crisis

This week OK Policy distributed a 4-page memo on the state budget to all candidates for state offices, which we have now released to a broader audience. The memo is intended to offer policymakers a clearer understanding of the budget… Read more [More...]

Has common education been a budget priority?

One of the more contentious skirmishes in the battle over SQ 744 concerns the question of whether, in the absence of a constitutional amendment basing common education funding on a constitutionally-entrenched formula, Oklahoma’s elected officials have neglected K-12 funding. Supporters… Read more [More...]

Guest blog (Michelle Cantrell): The Case for SQ 744

In the spirit of full and vigorous debate on state policy issues, OK Policy is pleased to post this guest blog by Michelle Cantrell challenging our position on State Question 744.  Michelle is the mother of three boys in the… Read more [More...]

These go up to 11: Sorting the State Questions on the November Ballot

Oklahoma voters have the great good fortune this November to decide the fate of no less than 11 proposed constitutional amendments on matters ranging from education funding and health care reform to judicial nominations and (we kid you not) Sharia… Read more [More...]

While We Were Out: Debate over SQ 744 heats up

My decision to take vacation over the final week of July and first week of August allowed me to avoid not only some of the worst of the summer heat wave here in Oklahoma but also much of the heated… Read more [More...]

SQ 744: The wrong solution

Today, Oklahoma Policy Institute released an issue brief exploring State Question 744, the proposal that will appear on the November ballot that would peg Oklahoma’s education spending to the regional average per pupil expenditure in six neighboring states. On our… Read more [More...]

How much budget cutting is too much?–SQ 744 and this year's revenue shortfall

The House of Representatives Appropriation and Budget Committee recently held hearings on an interim study of State Question 744. State Question 744, also known as the HOPE petition, is an initiative sponsored by the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) that would… Read more [More...]