State Superintendent Ryan Walters is again taking aim again at teachers’ unions. Walters presented a video during Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting that critics say rises to the level of propaganda.
The video is part of the launch of what Walters calls a “public awareness campaign” to inform people of teacher union positions. It features speakers from the National Education Association’s 2022 conference, footage from Walters’ interview with Fox News, and an interview with the author of a young adult LGBTQ+ book. It also included a video from Texas and another from Pennsylvania defending pedophiles - it’s unclear what the connection is to Oklahoma teacher unions.
The Oklahoma Education Association fired back in a statement saying, in part, “We want to build positive relationships and improve public education in Oklahoma, rather than having to continually defend hardworking educators after every board meeting by responding to inflammatory and dangerous accusations.”
Oklahoma lawmakers took another look at several of the bills the governor vetoed amid an education funding standstill. Lawmakers overrode the veto that would have led to the end of Oklahoma’s public television broadcaster.
Big Bird fans can rest easy. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate voted to override the Governor’s veto that would have led to the end of Oklahoma’s public television broadcaster, OETA.
At the time of his veto - Gov. Kevin Stitt said that Oklahoma Educational Television Authority’s long-term strategic value was quote “unclear if not outright imagined.”
But lawmakers defended the public broadcaster known for airing programs like Sesame Street and NOVA. State law requires the agency to have its board’s authority renewed by the legislature every three years.
Lawmakers in both chambers overwhelmingly supported the veto override - with a supermajority vote both times.
Oklahoma lawmakers overrode Gov. Kevin Stitt’s veto of a bill changing the way the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s members are appointed.
Republican Representative Danny Sterling’s vetoed House Bill 2263 was overridden by the House and Senate a mere day before the deadline.
The bill divides who gets to appoint the six members of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority equally among the Governor, the Speaker of the Oklahoma House, and the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate. Currently, the Governor appoints all six members.
The bill also prohibits members of the OTA from voting on issues in which they have direct financial interest. It will officially go into effect later this year.
Oklahoma lawmakers voted to override Gov. Kevin Stitt's veto on a bill to protect tribal regalia at graduation ceremonies.
The new law approved Thrusday would allow Native American students to wear eagle feathers, beaded caps and other forms of tribal regalia at public school ceremonies.
An overwhelming majority of House and Senate lawmakers voted in favor of Senate Bill 429.
The law is set to take effect July 1.
The OKC-County Health Department says mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus are back in central Oklahoma for the summer.
This is right when the virus tends to show up in central Oklahoma — the OKC-County Health Department says West Nile season usually runs from May through November. Now that the Department has detected the virus in mosquitoes, it’s encouraging residents to drain standing water and protect themselves with insect repellent and high-coverage clothing.
Last year, the state recorded two cases where people came down with West Nile — one in Oklahoma County and the other in Seminole County. Those patients both had serious, neuroinvasive symptoms that only occur in about 1 of every 150 people who get the virus.
The OKC-County Health Department runs a “Skeeter Meter” where they monitor the latest local buzz. Visit it at their website.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is lifting the lockdown on facilities except the Dick Conner Correctional Center following a stabbing incident last week.
The department said Thursday all correctional facilities except the Hominy facility will return to normal operation. The DOC is allowing structured movement of inmates, and visitation will return to all other Oklahoma correctional facilities.
Correctional centers across the state went on lockdown last Friday after an inmate died from a stabbing at the Dick Conner Correctional Center.
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