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.

Cuts to Medicaid being considered by Congress will affect access to health care for “all Oklahomans” and harm the state economy, state hospital leaders warned Friday. 

Members of the Oklahoma Hospital Association said the proposed federal cuts to Medicaid could eliminate nearly 15,000 jobs and over the next decade reduce federal reimbursements to Oklahoma hospitals by $8.7 billion. 

“This is happening at such a breakneck speed,” said Denise Webber, president and CEO of Stillwater Medical. “There’s not ample time to plan and create a strategy that can serve Oklahomans and U.S. citizens in a manner that we can plan for.”

Read the full story at Oklahoma Voice.

During oral arguments held Tuesday, attorneys for the Oklahoma Republican Party argued to the Oklahoma Supreme Court that a proposed initiative petition is unconstitutional because it forces political parties to support candidates they may not normally support. In contrast, the petition’s proponents told justices there is precedent to do just that based on past rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court.

State Question 836, also referred to as Initiative Petition 448, would end Oklahoma’s closed primary system and replace it with open primaries where “all candidates for a covered office would appear on the same primary ballot without regard to party affiliation, and any qualified voter could vote for any candidate without regard to party affiliation.”

Read the full story at NonDoc

Oklahoma ranks among the bottom five states for overall child well-being in the 2025 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report of recent data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing child well-being in post-pandemic America. Oklahoma ranked among the top half of all states in only two of those 16 indicators. The data show Oklahoma leaders must do more to invest in the well-being of Oklahoma children and families, including proven programs and services that can help them thrive.

For the 2025 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, Oklahoma ranked 46th overall for child well-being, with only Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana, and New Mexico ranking lower. Oklahoma’s individual rankings on major categories were:

• 40th in economic well-being
• 40th in family and community,
• 43rd in health, and
• 48th in education (ahead of only Alaska and New Mexico).

Read the full story at Oklahoma Policy Institute.

This year's legislative session did not see the budget fireworks of 2024 or the historic education funding of 2023, but lawmakers still managed to add $25 million into the state funding formula, along with new programs and regulations.

Read the full story at KOSU.org

An Oklahoma City federal judge this week placed an indefinite ban on enforcement of a state law criminalizing undocumented immigrants living in Oklahoma.

The decision from U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones extends the two-week hold he implemented for House Bill 4156 on May 20 to last until he makes a final ruling on a lawsuit challenging the statute.

HB 4156, enacted last year, created the state crime of “impermissible occupation,” threatening fines and jail time for immigrants living in Oklahoma without legal residency.

Read the full story at Oklahoma Voice.

‘I don’t want my kids hearing that’: Oklahoma parents look to opt out of new social studies content

New academic standards for social studies classes include Bible teachings, doubts of 2020 election integrity

Frustrated with religious content and polarizing language added to Oklahoma academic standards, some parents say they plan to opt their children out of “ideologically charged” social studies lessons in public schools.

...

Under the new standards, Oklahoma high school U.S. history classes will be required to have students “identify discrepancies” in the 2020 election results, including the “sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”

Read the full story at Oklahoma Voice

Lawmakers are running out of time to override some of Gov. Kevin Stitt's vetoes, which prompted some pushback from constituents.

There are several bills that lawmakers could override, including a bill that would require insurance providers to include mammograms. That bill, which was written by a lawmaker with breast cancer, was vetoed by Stitt.

"One in eight women in the United States this year will be diagnosed with breast cancer, one in six women here in Oklahoma. This is an issue that needs to be a top priority," state Rep. Melissa Provenzano said.

Read the rest of the story at KOCO.com