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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.

OK Supreme Court ruling opens door for California-style elections in OK

Tulsa Beacon

An effort to replace Oklahoma’s current election system with one like California’s model, which often limits voters’ general-election choices to two Democrats with no alternatives, can proceed under recent decisions issued by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The court also held that the signature-collection process, which could place the California model before Oklahoma voters, will not…

Kirk’s death comes as more college students support violence

Tulsa Beacon

The assassination of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and outspoken Christian, comes as a record share of U.S. college students now say violence is an acceptable response to speech with which they disagree. The sixth annual College Free Speech Rankings, released by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and survey partner College Pulse, showed…

Tulsa Public Defender’s Pro-Assassination post fuels public outcry

Tulsa Beacon

A public defender’s social-media post appearing to celebrate the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has drawn public outcry and demands for her resignation. In a short social-media post, Chance Bennett, a Tulsa County Assistant Public Defender, responded to the news of Kirk’s death with a one-word response: “Good.” Bennett’s online bio also listed her…

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…