Gov. Kevin Stitt has hired Mark Gower as the Director of the Department of Oklahoma Emergency Management (OEM). “Mark Gower has been dedicated to the safety and security of Oklahomans his entire career,” said Gov. Stitt. “His expertise is well suited to guide the Department of Emergency Management, and I look forward to working with…
Senate Republicans will attempt to increase accountability in state government by creating a legislative budget office and will protect the state’s $2.9 billion investment in education as part of their 2019 legislative session, according to a press release by Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat and members of the GOP Caucus. “Our agenda is simple…
Statewide enrollment is up a bit; Tulsa enrollment keeps dropping Oklahoma’s public schools have a slightly increasing student population, according to numbers released by the State Department of Education. Tulsa Public Schools are losing students – 2,059 in the past five years with 540 in the past year. Broken Arrow stayed virtually the same (11…
State Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, has introduced a bill that would grant “personhood” to unborn children in Oklahoma. The Personhood Act, Senate Bill 195, states, “The life of each human being begins at conception” and “unborn children have protectable interests in life, health and well-being…” It would grant “on behalf of the unborn child at…
State Sen. Mark Allen thinks large, organized protest groups should be accountable for the cost incurred for additional security, cleaning and repairs to the State Capitol. Allen, R-Spiro, authored Senate Bill 592, at least partially in response to the 2018 protests promoted by the Oklahoma Education Association and other groups. It requires organized protest groups…
Sen. Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee, is continuing his push this session to save taxpayers from paying for special elections when state legislators leave office before their term is up. Senate SB 363 requires state senators or representatives who resign, are removed from office, or are expelled, to pay the remaining balance of their campaign fund to…
The Senate has completed filing bills for the first session of the 57th Legislature. The deadline was January 17. A total of 1,040 Senate Bills and 21 Senate Joint Resolutions were filed. In 2017, a total of 831 Senate bills were filed, along with 46 Senate Joint Resolutions. The deadline did not apply to appropriations…
OKLAHOMA CITY – Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat on filed legislation that would allow homeless students to qualify for the highly successful Lindsey Nicole Henry (LNH) scholarship program. The LNH scholarship program was created in 2010 to provide state funds to children with special needs to attend private schools that could better accommodate their…
State Sen. J.J. Dossett has filed legislation to assure students, parents and educators that the results of a single reading test won’t cause children to be held back. Dossett, a former teacher, said when the Reading Sufficiency Act (RSA) was originally approved in 2011, the idea was to use a federally-mandated reading test to determine…
Broken Arrow teacher Donna Gradel, the 2019 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, is a finalist for the 2019 National Teacher of the Year. Gov. Kevin Stitt, who pledged to make public education more effective, made the announcement last week in Broken Arrow. “Donna’s teaching philosophy is that every student has potential no matter his or…