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Beth Wallis
Reporter for StateImpact OklahomaBeth Wallis holds a journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. Originally from Tulsa, she also graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor's degree in music education and a master's degree in conducting performance. She was a band director at a public school for five years.
Beth is an alumnus of the Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellowship and NPR Next Generation Radio. She's been recognized for her work by the Hearst Awards, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Collegiate Press and the Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association. She was awarded Best Podcast from the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists for her series "At the Seams," which explores Norman's relationships with political division, police funding and its own racial history.
Beth enjoys hiking, playing with her four dogs and discovering new favorite musical artists.
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“Summer slide” is the phenomenon of students losing ground academically during the summer break.
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State Superintendent Ryan Walters is looking to prominent conservatives to head up a committee reviewing academic standards for social studies education — calling for a “complete overhaul” of the current standards.
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The Statewide Charter School Board gathered Monday for its first-ever meeting, and one of its first decisions was to hold off acting on a June State Supreme Court order to rescind the contract of the nation’s first publicly funded religious school.
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Responding to a recent state Supreme Court decision against what would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious school, the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School’s board says it will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and voted Friday not to open its doors in the fall.
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State Superintendent Ryan Walters said during opening comments of Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting that “every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom.”
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The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the state’s contract with what would be the first publicly funded religious school is unconstitutional and must be rescinded.
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The Oklahoma Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency presented its report to lawmakers Thursday on federal grant funding for the State Department of Education and on the agency’s authority in student testing rulemaking.
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Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the budget bill for the State Department of Education into law Friday and vetoed two sections that would have put guardrails on State Superintendent Ryan Walters. But shortly after, he issued an executive order that covered some of lawmakers’ concerns.
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Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against what would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious school, the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, beat one hurdle in their case Wednesday.
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StateImpact education reporter Beth Wallis and health reporter Jillian Taylor talk with managing editor Logan Layden about some of this year's legislative highlights.