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The Tulsa Beacon

 

Ray Carter

Center for Independent Journalism

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

Stitt deploys State Troopers to Tulsa to tackle crime and homeless encampments

Tulsa Beacon

Saying Tulsa leadership is failing city residents, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced he is deploying state law enforcement to clear homeless encampments from state-owned property inside Tulsa and reduce the city’s growing crime problem. “Tulsa is a beautiful city. I lived there for years. But today everybody can see the disaster it’s turning into—homeless people on…

Despite more money, OK students struggle

Tulsa Beacon

Since 2018, Oklahoma’s per-pupil public school revenue has increased by 51 percent. But academic outcomes have declined steadily since 2018 despite the massive funding increase. That defies expectations. When C. Kirabo Jackson, a professor of education and professor of economics at Northwestern University, and Claire L. Mackevicius, an assistant professor of education policy and equity…

OSSAA conflict-of-interest questions in Glencoe Case

Tulsa Beacon

This month, the 15-member board of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA), which oversees K-12 school competitions, voted to bar four teenagers from playing basketball for Glencoe after the boys used the open-transfer process to enroll in Glencoe schools. The boys’ families have sued the OSSAA, alleging the association acted arbitrarily and in defiance…

OK wins court fight to protect minors

Tulsa Beacon

Aligning with a recent decision issued by the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has upheld an Oklahoma law that bans the performance of sex-change surgeries on minors or the provision of puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to children as a treatment for gender dysphoria. “We recognize the importance…

Lawmaker: Time to dismantle OSSAA

Tulsa Beacon

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association’s recent decision to prevent four teenage boys from playing basketball for Glencoe High School because they transferred into the district, effectively undermining Oklahoma’s open transfer law, has one lawmaker urging his colleagues to dismantle the association and start anew. “The OSSAA is structured in a way that is unfair…

OSSAA embroiled in controversy & lawsuit … again

Tulsa Beacon

In what has become a recurring pattern, the governing board of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) has been accused of interfering with student transfers despite state law allowing open transfer between public-school districts and the association’s own rules. As in the past, the OSSAA’s actions have resulted in a lawsuit, and some lawmakers…

OSSBA seeks another billion for schools … for administrators

Tulsa Beacon

Since 2018, Oklahoma public school funding has increased by $3.3 billion, with per-pupil revenue surging 51 percent during that time. But the Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA), a lobbyist organization hired by school districts, says Oklahoma schools need $1 billion to $2 billion more. And the head of OSSBA says Oklahomans should not necessarily…

Federal Court ruling buoys new Oklahoma anti-discrimination law

Tulsa Beacon

During this year’s legislative session, Oklahoma lawmakers voted to prevent state officials from discriminating against religious persons who want to serve as foster or adoptive parents. Under Senate Bill 658, by state Sen. Julie Daniels and state Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services cannot require any current or prospective adoptive or…

OK Democrats say no masks for ICE

Tulsa Beacon

Members of the Oklahoma House Democratic caucus are calling for immigration enforcement officials to be readily identifiable, despite a massive increase in violent threats against law enforcement officials who have arrested violent illegal immigrants in recent weeks. In a resolution signed by 20 Democratic members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, the lawmakers stated that…

OK teacher pay ranks higher than many realize

Tulsa Beacon

In a press release issued earlier this year, House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson of Oklahoma City declared that Oklahoma ranks “last in the region for teacher pay.” That statement received a good deal of attention at the Oklahoma state Capitol for one major reason: It wasn’t true. A report issued in April by the National…