Ray Carter

Center for Independent Journalism

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

OSDE urged the use of Southern Poverty Law Center

February 18, 2021 Ray Carter

During the week of the 2020 presidential election, the official Facebook page of the Oklahoma State Department of Education encouraged teachers to use materials produced by an organization that critics say has actively worked to brand orthodox Christians and mainstream conservative organizations as “hate groups.” On Nov. 3, 2020, the Oklahoma State Department of Education…

‘Boomer Sooner’ called ‘racist’ in mandatory OU class

February 11, 2021 Ray Carter

Each year at sporting events and other school gatherings, supporters of the University of Oklahoma routinely chant “Boomer Sooner.” But this year, a mandatory diversity training program informs OU students that “Boomer Sooner” is steeped in racism and can represent a form of oppression. “Settlers called ‘boomers’ believed they had the right to settle these…

Getting a diploma doesn’t prove students really learned

January 28, 2021 Ray Carter

In a court filing, an Oklahoma school district has declared the issuance of either a passing grade or a high school diploma is not—“and never has been”—an indicator that a student mastered state-mandated core courses. Lone Grove Public Schools also stated that any court order tethering a high-school diploma to mastery of high-school core course…

Oklahoma schools may have 55,236 ‘ghost students’

January 21, 2021 Ray Carter

Newly released enrollment figures for Oklahoma schools show districts may receive at least $195 million combined for 55,236 “ghost” students who do not attend classes in the district but are nonetheless included in enrollment counts used to determine state funding for each district. Under Oklahoma law, state funding for schools is distributed based on several…

OSDE: Christian schools must ‘change’ to get funding’

October 15, 2020 Ray Carter

A member of the Oklahoma State Board of Education suggested recently that private schools should not be allowed to participate in a state program for children with special needs unless they substantially abandon their Christian identity. During a monthly meeting, Altus Christian Academy and Christian Heritage Academy both applied to participate in the Lindsey Nicole…

TPS ‘social justice’ training seeks to ‘dismantle oppression’

October 8, 2020 Ray Carter

A recent training program at Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) advised teachers to incorporate “social justice” into all courses, including subjects such as physical education and math. “When we teach, we either reinforce the oppressive status quo, or we work with students to dismantle it,” the training-program material stated. In August, staff at TPS underwent training…

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…