August 25, 2007
OUR ANNUAL EDUCATION ISSUE
On The Cover
The College Syndrome: GOP Lege Ignores CareerTech
By Frosty Troy
Despite having the nation’s finest CareerTech program, business and industry continue to cry out for people with high-tech skills while the Legislature looks the other way.
What’s Inside
Frosty’s Notebook: S.O.S.
By Frosty Troy
S.O.S. – Save Our Schools! This is no false alarm. Public education is under withering extremist attack in Oklahoma and across the nation.
Sooner ACT Increase Beats U.S. Average
There is good news from state Superintendent Sandy Garrett and State Higher Education Chancellor Glen D. Johnson – the average ACT composite score in Oklahoma has risen from 20.5 to 20.7.
Cargill Pushes Ruse To Punish Teachers
Obviously still fuming over teachers supporting Gov. Brad Henry’s veto of the sorry Republican budget in the 2007 Legislature, Speaker Lance Cargill decided it was payback time.
Oklahoma Ranking Versus Other States
Among those grading public education is the Institute For America’s Future. Their statistics are accurate but they tell only part of the story.
Task Force Studies School Financing
At last a legislative task force has been authorized to examine how state funds are distributed to Oklahoma public schools – that’s after Gov. Brad Henry signed Senate Bill 925 into law.
Underage Drinking A State Epidemic
There is no better time than today to remind adults of the consequences of providing or allowing underage drinking in their houses or on their property.
Books
Bill Bradley’s Rx For What Ails America
By Alvena Bieri
Renaissance man Bill Bradley is a person of so many talents they are hard to count.
Getting Your Kicks On … The Lincoln
By Mike Nobles
Quick, what do you get when you combine Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Michael S. Williamson and the ultimate Oklahoma road trip author Michael Wallis?
Public Forum
GOP’s Double-Talk On Taxes, Spending
By Brent Wilcox
I’ll try to keep this short and to the point. Republicans really irritate me.
‘No Damn Summer Camp To Help Kids’
By Karen Webb
My grand nephew has decided to join the military. His mother was yelling at him Christmas that if he didn’t join she was putting him out on his own. He didn’t even graduate high school until May.
Thank Sandra Day O’Connor For This Mess
By Barbara Santee
I was aghast with disbelief at Sandra Day O’Connor’s comments in Tulsa recently that our constitutional liberties are at risk, and judges should make “fair and impartial decisions.” She bristled at the suggestion that judges can be “activists,” saying, “We still have a Bill of Rights …”
Observations
Henry Bellmon
The Tulsa World’s reporter Randy Krehbiel produced a wonderful tribute to Henry Bellmon, former two-term Republican governor and two-term U.S. senator.
Contrary Mary
Shame on Mary Fallin. She’s went to Washington as a Republican member of Congress, totally buying into the Bush war and tax cuts for the rich agenda.
Merit Pay
Oklahoma already has one superb form of merit pay for teachers – 282 teachers achieved National Board Certification in 2006. Oklahoma ranks seventh in the nation.
Censor Dies
Her name may be unfamiliar, but Norma Gabler led more rightwing censorship of public school textbooks since Germany rewrote textbooks in the ‘30s.
Exhibitions
While public school students sat for standardized tests and final exams at the end of last school year, a number of schools across the country were using oral presentations – or exhibitions – to determine students’ readiness to move on to the next grade, or to graduate.
