Roughly 70,000 children in Oklahoma are homeless. They sleep in tents, under bridges, in cars, or on the couch or floor of someone’s apartment. Based on enrollment data from K-12 public schools, OU researchers concluded tens of thousands of students are without permanent housing.
I suspect that @RyanWaltersSupt has no strategy to meet the learning needs of these vulnerable children. He'll just try to fire their local superintendent or teachers if they do not reach the proficiency of wealthy students in math & reading within a few months. He's out of touch
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Arguing it restricts classroom discussion without educational justification, a group of educators and students announced that they have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s so-called “critical race theory” ban, HB1775. @tulsaworld
The plaintiffs say House Bill 1775, which Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law last year, is unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Attorney General John O’Connor said he looks forward to defending the law against "activists who do not share our Oklahoma values."
The law never mentions the phrase critical race theory. But the intention, GOP lawmakers said when they passed it, is plain: ban teaching that makes students feel uncomfortable.
Amnesia has gripped the Oklahoma Legislature as lawmakers approved a series of tax-cutting measures without knowing where to make up the lost funding.
A wave of bills passed out the House and Senate on last week that would cut the corporate franchise tax, suspend grocery taxes, reduce personal income tax and give property tax relief to higher-income older residents.
In total, this would take about $557.2 million from revenue for fiscal year 2024. This is on top of last year’s reductions in the personal and corporate income tax, totaling about $347 million for fiscal year 2023.
Labor force participation rate is an important indicator of an economy’s health, with a higher participation rate usually being a sign of a healthier economy. More people participating in the labor force means more people supporting those who are unable to work. @OKPolicy
Labor force participation also has fiscal implications. As more people work, more people pay taxes, broadening the tax base. If fewer work, govt must either raise taxes to maintain spending levels or make funding cuts, hurting many of the core services upon which we all rely.
Labor force participation has been declining in both Oklahoma & the country as a whole since the turn of the century. Much of this decline is due to our aging population, while other recent contributing factors are child care responsibilities and COVID-related disabilities.
Countless Oklahomans rely on access to high-quality, affordable child care in order to work. However, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on the child care industry, impacting parents’ ability to work and businesses’ ability to recruit and retain a reliable workforce.
Due to underfunding, Oklahoma’s child care system was in crisis before the first COVID case at a child care center was reported on March 18, 2020. Since then, countless providers across the state have closed their doors; the ones that remain are spending 47% more to provide care.
While the state acted swiftly to provide some guidance & support, a larger long-term investment in the child care industry is still desperately needed. @OKPolicy
President Biden understands this and tried to include funding for childcare in the infrastructure bill. @GOP said no.
. @MummoloNews I understand you are asking folks for a grade for Oklahoma leadership on its COVID response. As a nurse and healthcare lawyer who works with hospitals and providers all over Oklahoma, I say a solid F-. I’m not sure if they could have done worse if they’d tried.
First, @GovStitt spent $2M on useless HQN. He hired a nitwit no one to buy masks that never appeared, losing more money. Stitt and #OKleg were reluctant to follow any medical advice, participated in #TrumpRallyFail in Tulsa that, despite few attendees, those present were exposed.
Herman Cain died, much of Trump’s on-site staff got COVID. No effort to slow the pandemic here to speak of. We still have highest per capita death rate in the COUNTRY, one of bottom 5 states on vaccination rates. Right now, hospitals are full, staff exhausted statewide.