New Move In Education Funding Debacle
On Tuesday, the National Day of Teacher Appreciation, the Oklahoma House of Representatives rejected a hefty teacher pay raise proposal and passed a voucher-like tax credit program — sort of. Here's the newest legislative chess move and what that could mean for education funding.
House Bill 1934 would give public dollars to families to use for private school or homeschool tuition and expenses.
The issue has spawned weeks of back-and-forth at the Capitol, with the most recent iteration including a few guardrails the House doesn’t love, but appears to be stomaching. But it’s not hitting the governor’s desk just yet.
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to serve notice that on some future legislative date, I might like to reconsider the vote whereby House Bill 1934 passed," said House Speaker Charles McCall.
That's House Speaker using the rare procedural move of capturing a bill.
That gives the House some leverage to negotiate on the Senate’s newly amended version of the other big education bill — House Bill 2672.
That includes teacher raises, school employee stipends and new school funding. But House leaders claim the measures aren’t fully funded, and the bill lacks the House’s Oklahoma Student Fund, which gives smaller districts disproportionately more money per student than large districts.
Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat says the House is trying to force the Senate’s hand to revisit the funding bill, or else the House will kill the tax credit bill. He calls for state leaders to hold a public meeting with all plans on the table, to “let the public see what we continue to argue about.”
Gov. Stitt Vetoed Tribal Regalia Bill
Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill that would have strengthened protections for Indigenous students who want to wear tribal regalia in Oklahoma.
Senate Bill 429, otherwise known as the tribal regalia bill, had bipartisan support in both the Oklahoma state House and Senate. Only one person voted against it in the House.
Tribal leaders like Choctaw Chief Gary Batton, Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill and Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. are calling on Oklahoma lawmakers to override the governor's veto.
"This is a popular, common-sense measure with no costs for the state or schools," Batton wrote in a press release. "We hope the House and the Senate will quickly override the veto to provide more freedom for Oklahoma students who want to honor their heritage."
That's something Senator John Montgomery, R-Lawton, one of the bill's authors, is considering.
"It's certainly an avenue that I'm looking at to try to figure out, 'do we have the votes for it?,'" the Lawton Republican said. "I'm inclined in my reading on it is most likely I do."
In a statement explaining his veto, Stitt said there isn't anything on the books that prevents a school from allowing Native students from wearing tribal regalia at graduation.
In 2021, then state Attorney General Mike Hunter sent a letter to the Secretary of Education and State Superintendent of Public Instruction saying students should be allowed to wear such things as eagle feathers on their caps or other items in line with the students’ religious or cultural practice.
Montgomery says SB 429 would just strengthen what’s already on the books. The bill, in his mind, is a clarifying action.
"This is something that should be allowed," said Montgomery. "[It clarifies] that students know what they're able to do here for these graduation ceremonies."
Cindy Nguyen from the ACLU of Oklahoma agrees, and says she's heard from Native students that have been denied the right to wear tribal regalia in their district. The ACLU has been advocating for this bill to pass.
"It costs nothing to implement, it doesn't hurt anybody. So it makes no sense for the governor to veto it," Nguyen said.
Indigenous citizens in Oklahoma and others are reacting to the veto with outrage over what they see as a basic right. Sarah Adams, a Choctaw citizen who has also advocated for the bill, sees the denial by certain school districts as a violation of the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act.
"I think it's just another oppression tactic by our state, the leader of our state, our governor, who will continue to oppress communities of color, queer communities, and especially for some and some reason specifically attacking children this legislative session," said Adams, who is also on the board of the ACLU of Oklahoma.
She said graduations are joyous occasions.
"If you've been to any graduations in the last decade that allows students to be able to express themselves or wear what they want, you will see that these graduations are not divisive — they're celebratory," said Adams.
Stitt's veto has drawn criticism from national organizations as well.
Diana Cournoyer, executive director of the National Indian Education Association, said that Stitt has, "has failed to uphold his duty to the over 130,000 Native students in public schools in Oklahoma."
Stitt’s position is that any decision like this needs to ultimately be decided by local school districts — not the state government, and that this bill would allow anyone to go over the heads of local superintendents to wear what they want.
It's unclear if the veto is part of the Governor's fight with the Senate over education funding bills having to do with spending and school vouchers.
A bill similar to SB429 to prevent public and charter schools from denying Native students from Tribal regalia was introduced in 2021, but failed.
Oklahoma County Jail Trust Selects Brandi Gardner As New CEO
The Oklahoma County Jail Trust has selected a new CEO.
Brandi Gardner, who has served as the jail trust’s interim CEO since last December, was chosen to take on the position permanently earlier this week.
She succeeds Greg Williams, who resigned in December amid safety and health concerns about the Oklahoma County Jail, including many inmate deaths at the facility.
Forty-three inmates have died since the trust took control of the jail in 2020 - seven of which died since Gardner became interim CEO.
This comes after a multi-county grand jury released a report in March which cited issues with the administration as the main causes of inmate deaths.
The report also recommended the jail trust dissolve and return control of the jail to the county sheriff.
OU Bids Farewell To Longtime Dorm
The University of Oklahoma plans to demolish Adams Center, a dormitory that has been a home for OU students for nearly 60 years.
A farewell ceremony will be held in front of the building at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
Demolition of Adams Center will officially begin May 15.
The demolition will make way for construction of Phase one of the university’s first-year housing project, in which two new residence halls will be built in its place.
OU also plans to demolish and replace Walker and Couch Centers in future phases of the housing master plan.
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