Happy New Year!  We are less than one month away from the start of the Legislative Session.  Our “Parents & Policymakers” Luncheon will be Friday, January 18th from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm.  This is a great opportunity to share your opinions about education issues with our elected officials.

The luncheon will begin with a topic that weighs heavily on all of our minds: the safety of our students and those who work in our schools.  We are pleased that Lt. Governor Lamb, Chairman of the Commission on School Security, will give opening remarks.  He will brief us on what the Commission is doing, and their findings to date.  Following his remarks we will continue the luncheon with our dialog with legislators.  The following legislators have confirmed they plan to attend:

Rep. Lee Denney
Rep. Katie Henke
Rep. Dennis Casey
Rep. Jason Nelson
Sen. Gary Stanislawski

Our meetings in the fall have focused on several important areas.  Additional funding for education this year is critical.  Money must be designated to fund the mandated reforms of recent years.  Additionally, increased funds must be allocated to the school funding formula, which will allow the restoration of cut programs and hiring of more teachers to lower class sizes.  We are spending a great deal of money on our state testing program, and counselors spend more time as testing coordinators, and less time counseling students.  This is troubling on very many levels.  I hope everyone is gathering data from their school administrators on the number of hours spent on testing, and the amount of instruction time which is disrupted each year.

If you are planning to attend, let your legislator know you hope they are able to join this important discussion regarding education policy.

Thanks in advance for your efforts this spring!
Melissa

Under an SOS program, parents with a reasonable apprehension for their children’s safety — including instances of bullying — could transfer them immediately to safer schools of their choice within or beyond their resident school districts, including public, charter, virtual or private schools.

State Superintendent Barresi has also endorsed this model legislation via a spokesperson.  It is strange, however, that this follows a decision not to renew our Safe Schools Helpline contract.  This service was used in my district for students to anonymously call a hotline and report anything: bullying, suicidal thoughts, violence, drugs or other criminal activity.  Beacuse my district was not made aware that the statewide contract was not renewed, the helpline number continued  to be promoted to students through magnets endorsing a safety campaign.  A Safe Schools Helpline employee notified the district we were no longer under contract after a student utilized the helpline service.  It’s puzzling to show support for a state mandated “SOS” voucher, while not renewing a student safety program.

We must expect responsible, consistent actions regarding student safety from everyone involved, including our elected officials.  Bullying is a horrible problem in our society, and the solution will involve the participation of students, parents, and educators within the district environment.

On a positive note, we had a fantastic PLAC meeting in Edmond last week.  It was great to see the number of parents eager to be involved in these important discusions, and a next meeting in the OKC area will be announced soon.  The following districts were represented:  Edmond, Piedmont, Putnam City, Bethany, Yukon, Mid-Del, Moore, Norman, Millwood, Little Axe, and Harrah.  We look forward to working with parents and educators across the state this year – thanks for your continued efforts!

Vouchers:  If you did not read the coverage of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Lindsay Nicole Henry Scholarship, here is the TW article and Editorial.  The Court did not rule on the constitutional issue merit of the case.  Rather, the Court determined school districts could not bring this suit.  It is highly likely that a new lawsuit will be filed, despite the confidence of the law’s author and the State Superintendent that the issue is now settled.

Until the constitutionality issue is addressed we will continue to see voucher legislation introduced for certain groups of students.  One such example currently being discussed in Oklahoma is a voucher for parents to immediately transfer their child to a private school, if they believe their child has been bullied.  Bullying should not be tolerated in any way, and every school district in Oklahoma is required by law to have bullying policies that are set by citizen-elected local Boards of Education.  Bullying is a terrible, societal problem which will be effectively remedied by people (specifically, students and parents), not policy.  However, as we have seen in the past- those who support funds designated for public education going to private schools will continue to make that their priority.

We are truly fortunate to live in a country which provides a public education for all students, and we are thankful for those who speak out to defend that opportunity for their own children, and others.

In addition to the comments we had time to hear, many people submitted questions on post-it notes which have been summarized by topic.  You can review those comments here, and they have been forwarded to Secretary Hudecki for her review.  I would encourage you to let Governor Fallin know we appreciated the productive time sharing feedback with her Secretary of Education.  Contact Gov. Fallin here