Ray Carter

Center for Independent Journalism

Ray Carter is the director of OCPA’s Center for Independent Journalism.

State review of coronavirus criticizes lockdown strategy

September 24, 2020 Ray Carter

To better prepare for future pandemics, state lawmakers conducted a review this month of state and local government responses to COVID-19. Among the takeaways: Many challenges early in the pandemic were the result of the government itself. “We started with, really, nothing,” said Oklahoma Commissioner of Health Lance Frye. Frye told members of the House…

Debate on class size limit continues: Research not conclusive

September 17, 2020 Ray Carter

Class-size limits imposed by passage of House Bill 1017 in 1990 are often cited as a major reform, but those limits have effectively been repealed for almost a decade now. While some school lobbying groups continue to call for reducing class sizes, experts told members of the Senate Education Committee that class-size reduction is very…

Chinese propagandists funded long-time OU program

September 3, 2020 Ray Carter

OU’s Confucius Institute cited by U.S. State Dept. The U.S. Department of State has declared that the Confucius Institute U.S. Center, which has long operated an institute at The University of Oklahoma, is a foreign mission of the People’s Republic of China. In a statement on the action, the U.S. Department of State said the…

Freedmen ask Choctaws for their rights

August 27, 2020 Ray Carter

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, whose members owned Black slaves and fought on the side of the Confederacy in the Civil War, is now opposing federal efforts to require that descendants of the tribe’s former slaves, called Freedmen, be given promised rights before the tribe can receive federal housing funds. Choctaw leaders say any such…

Hunter’s agreement with the tribes raises troubling questions

July 23, 2020 Ray Carter

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter says he has reached an agreement with five tribal governments on proposed federal legislation that would address issues raised by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. However, the proposed agreement may raise more questions than it answers since its provisions appear to open the door for tribal governments to exercise…

GOP pays a political price for approving tax increases

July 16, 2020 Ray Carter

In 2018, the Republican-controlled Oklahoma Legislature approved some of the largest tax increases in state history. Ever since, GOP supporters of those tax increases have proclaimed their moral courage and insisted voters endorsed their decision. But the results of the June30 elections provide evidence to the contrary, as the political bodies continue to pile up….

Private schools aren’t getting CARES aid from OSDE

June 4, 2020 Ray Carter

The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which included $161 million for Oklahoma’s K-12 schools, requires public schools to coordinate with private schools on “equitable services funding” that can cover a host of costs. But the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) and local public schools appear to be violating provisions of…

Journalism professors demand censorship of Trump

May 7, 2020 Ray Carter

A group of journalism professors, including three from colleges in Oklahoma, have called on television networks to stop the live airing of President Donald Trump’s briefings on COVID-19. “We write to demand that the live, unedited airing of the Daily White House Task Force Briefings stop,” the group letter states. “Because Donald Trump uses them…

Shutdown didn’t deter crime; lawsuits on the horizon?

April 30, 2020 Ray Carter

The statewide COVID-19 shutdown may have dramatically impacted most Oklahomans, but it may not have deterred serious crimes, law enforcement officials told lawmakers. At the same time, the state could soon face a rash of lawsuits challenging the legality of government actions that forced business closures and the loss of citizens’ jobs. Officials made those…

Lankford says ‘stimulus package’ is really ‘stabilization’

April 9, 2020 Ray Carter

In 2009, as the Great Recession roiled the economy, Congress responded with an enormous “stimulus” package that supporters claimed would reignite economic growth. However, the $2 trillion legislation recently passed by Congress has more modest goals, according to U.S. Sen. James Lankford. “That’s not what this is,” said Lankford, R-Oklahoma City. “This is trying to…