Fact Check: Would school consolidation boost Oklahoma teacher salaries?

In a recent press release, Sen. Kyle Loveless (R-Oklahoma City) made some claims about how much Oklahoma might be able to improve teacher salaries through school consolidation. He said, “The state of Oregon has the exact same population as Oklahoma… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma Legislature has a funny way of supporting education

In February, the Oklahoma House approved a bill (HB 1749) that would ban payroll deductions for membership dues to any organization that conducts collective bargaining on behalf of public employees. This week the bill was narrowly approved by a Senate… Read more [More...]

This new school meals program helps high-poverty kids and schools

Last spring, we reported on a powerful new tool to fight hunger in high-poverty schools. Community Eligibility, part of 2010’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, allows certain high-poverty schools, groups of schools, or school districts to offer breakfast and lunch to… Read more [More...]

Education vies for funding down the road

How do you boost support for education in a year when the state faces a massive budget shortfall? Several bills to provide teacher pay raises have gained initial committee approval, but these bills are unlikely to make it into law… Read more [More...]

What Fallin’s goals for state government tell us about Oklahoma

During her 2015 State of the State Address, Governor Fallin announced a new state website that would identify measurable objectives for state government and track how Oklahoma is doing at reaching these objectives over time. The website looks at 160… Read more [More...]

Priorities for Oklahoma lawmakers in 2015

Oklahoma’s 2015 Legislative session kicks off today with a State of the State address from Governor Mary Fallin. OK Policy and the Together Oklahoma coalition have identified six priorities for the coming session that are practical, politically achievable steps to… Read more [More...]

Governor Fallin wants to boost educational attainment. President Obama has a new plan to do it.

Rosie Nelson is a former OK Policy intern and is currently a PhD student at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. In the recent inaugural address for her second term, Governor Fallin said one of her top goals is to… Read more [More...]

Higher Education: A sound investment towards Oklahoma’s economic prosperity (Guest Post: Michael Thomas)

Michael Thomas is one of four 2014-2015 OK Policy Research Fellows. Michael is a Master’s student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program at Oklahoma State University. He works as a Graduate Research Assistant for the department of Graduate… Read more [More...]

ABCs of School Finance (Guest Post: Lori Smith)

Lori Smith is the Chief Financial Officer for Edmond Public Schools. This post is excerpted from an Edmond Public School brochure, “20 Questions (and Answers) about School Finance”. What is State Aid? State Aid represents the funds that are appropriated… Read more [More...]

The “C-word” debate ignites pre-session passions (Steve Lewis Capitol Update)

Steve Lewis served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1989-1991. He currently practices law in Tulsa and represents clients at the Capitol. You can sign up on his website to receive the Capitol Updates newsletter by email.… Read more [More...]