Oklahoma Education Board Advances Rule Requiring Schools Check Citizenship Documentation
The State Board of Education unanimously advanced an administrative rule change that would require schools to collect citizenship or legal immigration documentation from parents at enrollment.
The rule would require districts to record the number of students who did not provide proof of citizenship or legal immigration status and submit that number to the State Department of Education, excluding personally identifiable information.
Walters says the rule is intended to help make decisions about resource allocations.
"Despite the gaslighting from the media, despite the stoking of fear and hatred that they continue to promote, look at the language of the rule. Look at the object of the rule. And look at what’s best for Oklahomans and the taxpayers of our state," Walters said.
The slate of proposed rule changes now heads to the legislature, where it can choose to take a vote or pass it to the governor’s desk without a vote.
Oklahoma Educators, Students Protest New Rule Requiring Schools to Collect Immigration Status
As the State Board of Education approved a new rule Tuesday requiring public schools to collect immigration status of students and their parents upon enrollment, teachers, students and their supporters were gathered nearby in protest.
Hundreds of immigrant Latinos and their supporters gathered outside the Oliver Hodge Building.
They were there in opposition to the state education board’s commitment to help count and deport public school students and their parents.
Local educators and activists organized the protest. Fernando Baquera is a teacher in the OKC metro area. He says the protest was meant for public school students to safely express their stance on the new rule…many are scared and confused.
"I’ve had one student tell me, hey, I’m gonna be gone for a month. I as an educator just have to say I understand," said Baquera.
The sense of panic, Baquera says, comes from alleged ICE operations reported in the city, the education rules and proposed pieces of legislation targeting immigrants.
Oklahoma Medicaid Agency Addresses Concerns Over Federal Grant Funding Freeze
Oklahoma’s Medicaid Agency is addressing confusion over a federal freeze of grant funding that was announced in a White House memo. Member and provider portals are currently operating as normal.
An Oklahoma Health Care Authority spokesperson says the Payment Management Services portal, which is used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to process federal grant payments, was temporarily unavailable to state Medicaid programs nationwide. The spokesperson says it is now accessible by the agency.
They say the agency is evaluating the impact of the order and doesn’t expect significant changes to eligibility or benefits based on recent guidance from the White House.
OHCA will communicate with members and providers if changes arise.
The federal memo said the pause would start Tuesday afternoon, but a judge issued an injunction that temporarily blocked the pause just minutes before it was supposed to go into effect.
Oklahoma Files Another Lawsuit Related To 2021 Winter Storm Uri
Utility rates soared during 2021’s Winter Storm Uri, and litigation over the prices is ongoing.
The state attorney general filed a new lawsuit this month against natural gas companies.
The latest document names more than 10 companies like Chevron and BP, claiming the entities reached record profits by using their market power to drive up natural gas prices.
As first reported by The Oklahoman newspaper, Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed two related lawsuits in Osage County last year.
Freezing temperatures during the 2021 winter storm caused a dramatic increase in demand for electricity and heating fuel.
The latest filing expands the number of companies involved, stating they knew the weather was coming more than a month before it arrived.
The document says the average daily price of natural gas sold on Feb. 11, 2021 was just under $9. It states the next day, Oklahoma declared a state of emergency and those prices shot up to about $76, peaking on Feb. 18 at around $1,230.
Drummond’s office declined a request for comment.
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