Oklahoma Watch

Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters awarded nearly $600,000 in end-of-year bonuses to Department of Education staff in 2024.

While its effort to buy Bibles for classrooms is tied up in court, the Oklahoma Department of Education initiated a new vendor search to purchase materials containing Bible-infused character lessons for elementary-aged students.

While corrections officials promise cost savings and better food quality, other states have had issues with outside food vendors.

Oklahoma’s parole grant rate increased in 2024 after years of decline, an Oklahoma Watch analysis found.

The state’s new behavioral health center for central Oklahoma faces a massive cost overrun because the project’s initial estimate didn’t include furniture and equipment and bathrooms must be redesigned from hallways to individual rooms.

With little explanation, the Oklahoma Department of Education canceled its search for a vendor to supply 55,000 Bibles for public school classrooms.

Oklahoma City public housing this year received an unusually low inspection score of 7% as HUD rolls out NSPIRE, a new inspection protocol that some Oklahoma housing professionals see as an unfunded mandate.

Backers of an amendment to authorize municipal public infrastructure districts say the funding mechanism could spur more affordable-housing construction, but critics question the potential burden on taxpayers.

Oklahoma is one of only six states in the nation where it is legal for landlords to retaliate against tenants who complain about uninhabitable conditions.

A political nonprofit connected to a conservative think tank is embarking on an advertising blitz to convince Oklahoma voters not to retain three of the four justices on the Oklahoma Supreme Court appointed by Democratic governors.