Walters Speaks Inaccurately To Congress
State Superintendent Ryan Walters testified earlier this month to Congress on the issue of Tulsa Public Schools’ contract with a Chinese language program. The district says the contract was canceled nearly a month before his testimony.
Walters put the national spotlight on TPS for participating in the Chinese language program Confucius Classrooms, which has indirect ties to the Chinese government.
But even though Walters testified on September 19th the district maintains an active connection with the Chinese government through the program, TPS says it ended its contract nearly a month before. When asked, Walters said the district had stymied his requests for more info, and he hadn’t yet been told about the contract termination when he testified:
"We did not get information from them in the time that we requested. We continue to ask for all information available and we continued to see roadblocks from the district," Walters said.
But according to an email correspondence obtained by StateImpact between TPS and the department of education, the district made the department aware of the contract termination the week before Walters testified otherwise. His office has not yet returned our request for a response.
EV-Equipped Neighborhood In Northwest Oklahoma City
Eco-friendly real estate development Village Verde is working with OG&E to build an entirely electric vehicle-ready subdivision in Northwest Oklahoma City.
Many houses don’t come equipped to provide the juice needed for electric vehicle charging. Homeowners who want to install a charging port often have to upgrade their electrical panels and their service drops. Village Verde general manager Kelly Parker says if a whole neighborhood needed that extra power, it might take souped-up utility infrastructure.
"It's one thing to do one house, but when you do 62 houses, that's a big deal. That's all of a sudden, 'I need bigger wire,'" said Parker.
So Village Verde is working with OG&E to bake EV-ready electrical infrastructure into its next subdivision, and it plans to do the same for all future home construction.
Traveling Veterans Memorial Wall
A traveling memorial is in town. A replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. is on display in El Reno through Saturday.
The American Veterans Traveling Tribute Wall stands eight feet tall and is 360 feet long. It bears the names of 58,000 servicemen who were killed in the Vietnam War, including 990 Oklahomans.
Oklahoma Medicaid Unwinding Grant To Support Mothers and Families
The Oklahoma State Department of Health received about $170,000 to support new mothers and their families during the Medicaid unwinding process.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services invested almost $90 million nationwide to improve maternal health access by expanding the workforce, strengthening supports for mothers and advancing research. Part of this grant includes $6 million to support mothers during the Medicaid unwinding, and Oklahoma was one of thirty five awardees.
An estimated 300,000 Oklahomans will be disenrolled from SoonerCare as the state resumes its eligibility reviews after the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ended. Nationally, 15 million are expected to lose Medicaid access.
The grant aligns with a Biden-Harris administration strategy to improve infant and maternal health while combating maternal mortality — especially in underserved communities.
_________________
For additional news throughout the day visit our website, KGOU.org and follow us on social media.
We also invite you to subscribe to the KGOU PM NewsBrief.