Tag: Education

Virtual Charter School reforms

January 10, 2019

Sen. Ron Sharp filed legislation to modify several Virtual Charter School laws in Oklahoma. The 40-year retired educator said his bills are an effort to increase virtual charter school accountability and oversight. “There has been public outcry in recent years to improve public education and that includes virtual charter schools where millions of taxpayer dollars…

Vacancy on the Tulsa School Board

January 10, 2019

The Tulsa Public School Board has been looking for qualified replacements for Cindy Decker’s District 5 seat. Decker, who has been a member of the board since 2015, announced her decision to resign late last year after a job as executive director of Educare. She vacated her seat around January 7. Whoever is appointed will…

Editorial: Never enough cash for the OEA

January 10, 2019

The Oklahoma Education Association, a wing of the National Education Association, deserves credit for getting public education in such a mess in Oklahoma. Last year, the OEA promoted a walkout/strike to raise teacher salaries after the Republican-led Legislature voted in salary increases for public teachers. No amount of tax increases is enough in the eyes…

Letter: Virtual Charter Academy

December 20, 2018 Amie Schweitzer

We enrolled our children at Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy 12 years ago (OVCA)! We made the switch to virtual school when our eldest daughter was diagnosed with a lung condition leaving her immunocompromised. OVCA turned out to be the best decision we’ve made for our children’s education. Each of our children have competed nationally in…

Education Optimization

November 15, 2018 Dan Keating

Probably the biggest loser of the November 6th Oklahoma elections were the teachers. They had so hoped that Drew Edmundson would win and return them to the glory days of “just show us the money.” Here in Tulsa, Tulsa Public Schools closed for the day to get out the vote and drive persons to the…

Editorial: New Tulsa school board needed

November 8, 2018

Tulsa needs a new school board. Reform must come from the top and Tulsa won’t get it from the present board. Recently, the Tulsa Public School Board did their annual evaluation of Superintendent Deborah Gist. Of course, Gist passed with flying colors. That’s because Gist is a liberal educator who is more concerned about growing…

We Need More Discussion

November 8, 2018 Dan Keating

Over the last week, there were several articles that need to be commented on. One was about Webster High School – where 17-year-olds lament being too young to participate in the mid-term elections. The teacher walkout earlier in the year caused students to want to learn more about conditions in Oklahoma’s public education, which were…

Education Stakeholders Again Drop the Ball

October 25, 2018 Dan Keating

You may have seen a number of times, scenes from Marine Corps’ Boot Camp. The mental and physical work is very hard, but it does result in producing America’s finest fighting force. Most of us wish that the world did not need such forces, but we do. You can go from China, the Middle East,…

An Excellent Interview

October 18, 2018 Dan Keating

The Wall Street Journal ran an article by Jillian Kay Melchior entitled, “The Scourge of Diversity.” The column is about Heather Mac Donald, a one-time liberal who now believes identify politics threatens higher education and civilization itself. You may recall that it was Heather Mac Donald who was chased away from invited scheduled speeches by…

Missed Opportunities and Failed Processes

October 11, 2018 Dan Keating

The New York Times recently wrote about a young man age 12 named T.J., who was classified as having a disability. Young T.J. was one of 200,000 students in New York City public schools classified as having a disability, which can be anything from mild dyslexia to a complex physical disorder. The story refers to…