Governor Kevin Stitt wanted to use a managed care approach to handle Oklahoma's Medicaid program, SoonerCare, with expansion of Medicaid mandated by a vote
The tug-of-war over charter school funding in Oklahoma has intensified as the state Board of Education is meeting with a game-changing item to consider.In March, the state school board made the surprise decision to settle a 2017 lawsuit. The decision essentially would have sought to equalize funding between charter schools, including virtual ones, and traditional public schools.The move surprised a lot of people, including lawmakers, because it really would have upended the entire funding system.On Monday, the Oklahoma House of Representatives sent a bill to the governor s desk that would put the brakes on the board of education s decision. Instead, it would use medical marijuana money to boost building funds for smaller school districts and physical charter schools but not virtual charter schools. What would happen if we don t pass this bill is those dependent school districts and independent public school districts throughout the state would start sending checks every month to
By News Director Jared Atha
A bill that passed through the Oklahoma House of Representatives recently should help local brick-and-mortar public schools says District 57 Rep. Anthony Moore, R-Clinton.
Moore says Senate Bill 229, or better known as the Redbud School Funding Act, proposes using medical marijuana taxes and the Common School Building Equalization Fund to provide annual per-student funding grants to eligible school districts and charter schools.
He says the act, if signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, could be a big boost for local schools in western Oklahoma.
Currently more than 100 schools in the state that have joined together to file a lawsuit against the state school board for their decision made in March, requiring property taxes to be split evenly between public and charter schools.
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill this week that would be a short-term fix to address Oklahoma s teacher shortage by continuing to allow districts to bring back retired teachers.It s a law that already exists, but Senate Bill 267 would allow teachers who have been retired for at least one year to return to Oklahoma classrooms with full pay for three more years. This is a positive step to help mitigate any teacher shortage issues that we re having, said Katherine Bishop, vice president of the Oklahoma Education Association.Bishop told KOCO 5 that there are retirees willing to come back as the state s teacher shortage continues. They know the standards. They know the curriculum, she said. It helps provide that consistency that our students need. It s so beneficial to have that stability instead of bringing in a long-term substitute for our students. But Bishop said Oklahoma still has a long way to go to address the teacher shortage, saying it ll take having more competitive salari
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