Tag: Schools

Cops watch for school zone speeders

May 9, 2019

During the month of May, the Tulsa Police Department will focus on posted speed violations and hazardous moving violations in active school zones (lights flashing) throughout the city. Tulsa Police traffic officers and motorcycle officers will be randomly monitoring active school zones within the City of Tulsa. A citation issued for speeding in a school…

Editorial: GOP saved the retirement funds

May 9, 2019

If you are a retired public school teacher, you should thank the Republicans in the Legislature for making sure you retirement check is there every month. In 2009, after 100 years of Democrat leadership, the teacher retirement fund had 49.8 percent of the amount of money needed to pay every teacher who was eligible to…

Bill would limit charter schools

May 2, 2019

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 1395 to improve the financial transparency and accountability of Oklahoma’s five public virtual charter schools. Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, R-Muskogee, and Rep. Sheila Dills, R-Tulsa, are the authors of the bill, which will subject virtual charter schools to same financial reporting requirements, financial audits, audit procedures and audit requirements as…

School tests results coming in May

May 2, 2019

State education officials are promising that parents and school patrons will see the preliminary results of the Oklahoma School Testing Program for grades 3-8 by the end of May. Individual scores will be posted at oklaschools.com. To log in to the portal, families must have their student’s 10-digit State Testing Number, or STN, which is…

Handguns on campuses

April 25, 2019

The Senate Education Committee approved House Bill 2336, by Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, would allow a local board of education to adopt a policy to authorize the carrying of a handgun onto school property by school personnel who hold a valid reserve peace officer certification or who possess a valid handgun license. “Schools can decide…

Higher caps for voucher program

April 25, 2019

Sen. Jason Smalley, R-Stroud, is supporting amended legislation to raise the cap on the Equal Opportunity Education Program when it comes back to the Senate. SB 407, as amended, proposes to increase the annual tax credit cap for contributions to eligible scholarship-granting organizations from $3.5 million to $15 million. The bill would also increase the…

$1,200 teacher raise advances

April 18, 2019

In a bipartisan, unanimous vote, the Senate Appropriations Committee last week advanced a House teacher pay raise bill . House Bill 1780 by Speaker Charles McCall would implement a $1,200 teacher pay raise bill at a cost of $70 million annually. President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, is the Senate author of the bill….

Bradley named to state school board

April 11, 2019

Gov. Kevin Stitt has appointed Carlisha Williams Bradley to the State Board of Education. Pending Senate confirmation, Bradley will serve a four-year term effective through April 2, 2023. “I am thrilled to appoint Carlisha to the State Board of Education,” said Stitt. “She is a driven and successful individual who has been a strong leader…

Woolley is elected to School Board

April 11, 2019

Stacey Woolley got 68 percent of the vote (552-259) over Nicole Nixon and was elected to the Office No. 1 on the Tulsa School Board on April 2. In the Tulsa Tech race for Office No. 7, Jim Baker beat Tom Trimble, Sr. 1,540-934. Christi Gillespie got 1,924 votes in the race for Ward 3…

Free speech in colleges, universities

April 4, 2019

U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, agreed with President Trump when he signed an Executive Order to improve transparency and promote free speech in higher education. “It’s unfortunate that we need an Executive Order or bill to clarify that free speech needs to be protected on our nation’s college campuses—places that are supposed to inspire thought,…