Tag Archives: Education Oklahoma

Tulsa Charter School Silences Parents

By David Arnett

Moms for Liberty – Tulsa County is asserting “a serious governance failure” at Tulsa Classical Academy (TCA) as the administration eliminated public comment from its school board meetings. This is a significant departure from the standard practice of publicly funded schools allowing citizen input. As an independent charter district, TCA operates without the standard oversight, electoral accountability or established grievance pathways found in most public school districts. Legislators say this makes openness even more essential – not optional and many are speaking out on the troubling change of procedure.

Tulsa Classical Academy
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Literacy Crisis is a Bureaucracy Problem

By Dr. Rebecca Pellam, Academic Consultant and Literacy Researcher

Debunking the Partisan Myth of the “Southern Surge”

This Sunday morning, as I sipped my coffee and scrolled through the latest headlines, I stumbled across yet another piece framing the “Southern Surge”—the remarkable literacy gains in states like Mississippi and Louisiana—as a red-state triumph over blue-state failures.

As a conservative educator with a passion for teaching kids to read, I’d love to cheer for a partisan win. But let’s be honest: this red-versus-blue narrative is a lazy oversimplification that muddies the real story. It lets Oklahoma off the hook for a literacy crisis that’s left 73% of our third-graders non-proficient in reading (Oklahoma State Department of Education [OSDE], 2023a; National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2022).

This isn’t about politics. It’s about an entrenched bureaucracy that’s squandered $150–250 million over the past decade on outdated, ineffective programs, leaving our kids to struggle while other states soar. Let’s celebrate the Southern Surge’s success by crediting its true drivers—explicit, systematic instruction over politics—and demand Oklahoma learn from it.

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OSU President Hargis Honored

By Staff Report

Oklahoma State University’s Hargis Leadership Institute is established to mentor the leaders of today and tomorrow; now in a newly renovated space. Nearly four years to the day after its launch, HLI was the site of another ribbon-cutting ceremony. This time, for its revamped home on the second floor of the Student Union.

“The Hargis Leadership Institute empowers our students to lead with character, humility and purpose,” OSU President Jim Hess said. “It’s about learning how to lift others, living the Cowboy Code and making a difference in the world.”

OSU President Jim Hess and Burns Hargis, Photo: Eric Priddy/OSU
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The Real Problem with School Choice

By Jonathan Bartlett

Analysis: “School Choice” is the modern name for school vouchers.  Essentially, the idea is that money for schooling should follow a student wherever they go.  If they go to public school – great!  The public school gets the money.  But it is also fine if they go to a private school.  The private school will just get the money that would have gone to the public school.

Once upon a time I was in favor of this, and there are a lot of conservatives who favor this approach for a number of reasons.  I will also say that most of the criticisms of School Choice being brought out by either the public or the public school system almost completely miss the mark and misunderstand what is happening and what the goal is.  However, there is a deeper criticism of School Choice that I have come to recognize. 

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Walters Joins Teacher Freedom Alliance

By David Arnett

After resigning his position as Oklahoma State Superintendent, Ryan Walters has been named incoming Chief Executive Officer of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a new national organization founded by the Freedom Foundation that provides educators professional support services and resources as an alternative to traditional union membership.

While conservatives supported many of Walter’s anti-woke initiatives, they frequently acknowledged that, during his term as State Superintendent, the most dangerous place any Oklahoman could stand was between Ryan Walters and a television camera. What Oklahomans demand is quality K-12 instruction in phonics, mathematics, and personal economics. Less dramatic leadership would also be appreciated.

Ryan Walters
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