Oklahoma Political News

Oklahoma higher education officials on Thursday voted to revoke a policy that allowed some immigrant students lacking legal status to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities in limited circumstances.

The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education were previously permitted by state law to do so, but a federal judge on Friday ruled the Oklahoma law is unconstitutional and violates the Supremacy Clause.

Read the full story at Oklahoma Voice.

The decision to end contracts before the Legislature reconvenes has raised eyebrows.

Citing the need to bring a bloated budget back under control, interim Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Greg Slavonic confirmed plans Tuesday for broad cuts to contracted services that would take effect Oct. 1.

According to an Aug. 27-dated document from a meeting with Oklahoma legislators, a line-item review of 573 ODMHSAS contracts indicates the agency plans full renewal for only 128 of the agreements. Another 122 contracts face reduced funding. Of the 573 contracts reviewed, 312 are designated not to be renewed at all.

Read the full story on NonDoc.

Election officials turned over at the highest rate in at least a quarter century during the last presidential election, according to new research from the Bipartisan Policy Center.

An analysis of shifts in election officials published Tuesday found nearly 41% of election officials administering the 2024 election were different than those in 2020. Turnover has accelerated over the past two decades, rising from about 28% in 2004 to 40.9% last year.

Read the full story at Oklahoma Voice.

Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday remembered the late George Nigh as a man who put people ahead of politics.

“He came at other people with an outstretched hand, not a clenched fist,” Clinton said of the former Oklahoma governor, who died July 30 at 98.

Clinton, a friend of the former governor, delivered the remarks at Nigh’s memorial service at Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City. 

“He honestly believed that public life could be decent and honorable and that people could be helped, not so much with a hand out as with a hand up,” Clinton said.

He described Nigh, a McAlester native and  former teacher who was twice elected governor, as a person who made a decision to be happy, uplifting, positive and loving.

“I am convinced that one of the reasons that he lasted 98 years and had all of his marbles all the way to the end (was) because he made good choices,” Clinton said.

Clinton said he and Nigh were both elected governor the same year. Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas. 

Read the full story at Oklahoma Voice.

 

A federal appeals court has upheld Oklahoma’s ban on gender-affirming procedures for minors.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, ... found Wednesday that the Oklahoma Legislature’s 2023 ban was not intended to discriminate against transgender children.

... The Oklahoma Legislature passed the ban with Senate Bill 613 in May 2023. The law bans gender-affirming medical treatments for Oklahomans under 18 years old and creates a felony for health care providers who violate the ban.

Read the full article at Oklahoma Voice

EDW's own Board member, Christy Taylor, wrote an opinion article for The Oklahoman:

Oklahoma parents and taxpayers deserve better than the chaos Ryan Walters has brought to our state's education system. Last week's shocking revelations — inappropriate content displayed in the superintendent's office and partnerships with failing schools — represent the culmination of a leadership crisis that has pushed Oklahoma to dead last in national education rankings.

Read the full op-ed at The Oklahoman

A website recently ranked Oklahoma 50th in education quality, giving ammunition to critics of state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters from both sides of the aisle.

Oklahoma's education ranking is frequently used to critique the state's education system or school policies, and especially in criticism against politicians who are responsible for funding and overseeing public schools. Oklahomans have been told for years that their schools compare poorly against other states.

Read the full article on Yahoo News

Over $7.5 million in federal grants were not distributed to Oklahoma CareerTech at the beginning of the fiscal year to fund adult education programs, the agency’s director said.

The Trump administration froze the funding amid concerns that it was going toward educating undocumented immigrants, Brent Haken, director of Oklahoma CareerTech, said during a meeting Thursday.

The freeze affects Adult Education and Family Literacy programs offered by 30 providers at 119 sites across Oklahoma. These programs help adults earn their high school diploma equivalency, among other services. CareerTech had previously taken steps to make sure those utilizing the grant money are not undocumented, he said. He hopes the funding will be unfrozen.

Read the full story at News From The States

The state superintendent’s allegation that schools have ample surplus money prompts pushback

Disagreement between Oklahoma’s top education official and public school leaders continued this week over whether districts are well-funded enough to afford free cafeteria meals for all students.

After issuing an order Monday that all public schools begin offering no-cost food service, state Superintendent Ryan Walters followed up by identifying four districts that he said have enough money in surplus to afford the mandate.

Each of the four suburban districts — Bixby, Deer Creek, Piedmont and Broken Arrow — has said Walters made inaccurate allegations. They said the amounts Walters called a “surplus” seem to include bond money that cannot legally be used for school meals.

Read the full story at Oklahoma Voice

The U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary made half-true or false statements about fluoride in public drinking water, Alzheimer’s disease, autism and puberty during his visit to Oklahoma.

...

In a brief speech, Kennedy blamed unhealthy food for a growing epidemic of chronic health conditions in the United States and talked about dwindling sperm counts in American teenage boys and rising rates of autism. But he did not repeat past claims that fluoride in public drinking water is making Americans “stupider” or that autism is caused by an “environmental toxin.”

We reviewed scientific studies and government reports to fact-check some of Kennedy’s claims.

Read the full story at The Frontier.