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Right Thinking: Sensible compromises lead to layup budget Andrew C. Spiropoulos A layup may seem like a guaranteed basket, but, as basketball fans know, even professional players sometimes miss the easiest of shots. The game of government also has its layups, and, like in basketball, you shouldn’t take making them for granted. From the look of last week’s announced budget agreement, state Republican political leaders made their shot, earning some cheers. Republican leaders possess enormous structural advantages. Given their overwhelming majorities in both houses, party legislative leaders...

Right Thinking: OU’s hard turn collides with politics Andrew C. Spiropoulos If our political and intellectual culture were healthy, it is likely that state legislative leaders would never even have considered interfering in the operation of state universities or how university students are oriented or counseled. The foundation of university education is intellectual freedom – the freedom to study, teach, discuss, and write about any idea, no matter how offensive or dangerous some may think it. There is no doubt that it is both appropriate and important to expose students to critical theor...

You can’t inflate your way to real wealth – you have to produce it.

Right Thinking: So much more for legislators to learn Andrew C. Spiropoulos Some state legislators think they and their colleagues should be trained in the meaning and importance of diversity and inclusion. This is a serious idea that should be given careful consideration. And there are other important subjects in which legislators should receive training. I would dearly love for legislators to be trained in the meaning of our nation’s constitutional principles. I would like them, for example, to learn, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, the cherished statement of our society’s...

Right Thinking: OKC schools in crisis well before pandemic Andrew C. Spiropoulos We just held school board elections in Oklahoma City and you couldn’t tell by who ran for office or the campaign discussions that the school district is mired in a historic crisis, and if dramatic changes aren’t made, the damage may be irreparable. Even before the coronavirus landed, the district, in the previous five years, lost 5,000 students, a decline of almost 13%. In the same period, enrollment increased, often significantly so, in the Edmond, Deer Creek, Mustang, Moore, Norman, Piedmont and Bethany dis...