Tag: Teachers

Provenzano’s bill raises salaries

February 7, 2019

Freshman legislator Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, has authored House Bill 1957 that would dramatically increase the minimum salaries for public school teachers in the state. Provenzano is a former administrator at Washington, Hale and Bixby high schools. If passed, the new pay minimums would take effect for the 2020-2021 school year for certified personnel (teachers…

BA’s Donna Gradel is a finalist for national teacher of the year

January 31, 2019

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…

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 legislators face challenges

November 8, 2018

Negative campaigning works, especially when it is reinforced by the liberal news media. Thanks to the wrong-headed belief that lawmakers created the mess in public education, ill-informed Oklahomans have voted in a number of teachers, former teachers and administrators into the Legislature. The first order of business for these “educators” will be to craft a…

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,…

Survey shows teachers will vote no on State Question 801

October 18, 2018

A survey conducted by Professional Oklahoma Educators indicates that almost 80 percent of teachers, administrators and support staff do not support SQ 801, which calls for a vote of the people on the November ballot to amend the state constitution. If passed, SQ 801 would allow local school districts to use money from property taxes,…

Teacher shortage despite the raises

October 4, 2018

Despite an average salary raise of around $6,000 a year, Oklahoma’s public schools are having trouble hiring certified teachers. The reported figure for Tulsa Public Schools is about 340 noncertified instructors. Here is how the number of emergency teaching certifications issued by the Oklahoma Department of Education has risen since 2011: 32 – 2011-12 98…

Teacher of the Year Donna Gradel proclaims the ‘Year of the Teacher’

October 4, 2018

Donna Gradel, 2018 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, has officially launched her yearlong tour of Oklahoma, vowing to visit schools in all 77 counties by June 30. Gradel has been speaking across the state since assuming her full-time Teacher of the Year duties July 1, but with the new school year now in full swing,…

Teacher of the year likes Batman

September 27, 2018

A Yukon elementary school art educator whose alter ego as the Caped Crusader earned her the nickname the “Batman Teacher” is Oklahoma’s 2019 Teacher of the Year. Becky Oglesby teaches Pre-K through third grade at Ranchwood Elementary School in Yukon Public Schools. Oglesby was a second-year teacher at Plaza Towers Elementary in 2013 when a…