Food. For kids.
As a principal, the overwhelming number of children who relied totally on school for breakfast and lunch astounded me. We sent backpacks full of food home each Friday so those children would have something to eat over the weekend. 1/
Despite one of every five Oklahoma children living through food insecurity, the state won't participate in a new federal summer food program for children, reports
@denwalt
If we do not trust teachers to pick the books our children read, we don't get to demand they take up arms. We don't get to taunt them with insults and call them "woke" from afar (that’s what cowards do) when they step in front of bullets for our children. 1/
As a principal in Oklahoma, we invited the OK Office of Homeland Security to come into the school and examine its safety needs, top to bottom. They did this for free. 1/
Starting today, diagnostic mammograms are fully covered by insurance. I am thankful to all who helped me get this law across the line! Early detection saves lives.
Informative. We are receiving more federal Title 1 dollars for 2 reasons.
1. We have more students living in poverty (allocation has increased every year for the last 4 years.). It’s a formula: more in poverty = more dollars. 1/
Please.
No reason to tie teacher raises to vouchers for those already paying for private. Go read Hb2775 and Hb1935.
Let’s pass a clean teacher pay raise-no caveats or big tax breaks. Why would we subsidize tuition to schools not all kids can get into?
Several private schools in Oklahoma have raised their tuition by the exact amount of state vouchers. Are we witnessing a failure of state-funded programs with no fiscal accountability?
It’s not about private schools, but about demanding better outcomes and responsible
I heard many things yesterday during the inaugural speech. Some gave me hope. Others left me heartbroken. I heard a celebration of how we "opened up faster than any other state" during the pandemic. No recognition of the lives lost. Today, I honor them. I hope you will join me.
I am deeply concerned and it is time for bold action by the legislature. We’ve repeatedly asked for evidence of the work on federal grant acquisition. Now we know why details have been absent.
“The public has a right to know about his lies. If he’s going to lie about federal grants, he’s going to lie about anything," claims the writer of $106 million in grants since 2017.
#oklaed
Our Governor has stacked this board with people who do his personal bidding rather than serving the families of Oklahoma. Kudos to Supt. Hofmeister and 2 other members for standing up to say "This is not ok." They need our help, though. 1/
These are formula-based grants. Not competitive. Title 1 dollars are awarded based on how many students we have who fall below the poverty line. We've known the state allocation for some time. Schools know how much they will receive-usually. School starts next month.
‼️State Supt. Walters says the state will be receiving “historic funding” for the upcoming school year. In a letter to the Speaker and President Pro Tem, he says we will receive $224M in Title I funds this year.
Today I filed to run for reelection.
A few more grey hairs and a few more wrinkles, but I am still honored to serve Tulsa at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
I’ll always believe common sense and compromise triumph over extremism, no matter the party. We owe Oklahomans that much.
This is embarrassing. This has zero to do with HB1775 and everything to with corrupt politicians trying to land or keep their jobs. I for one am tired of seeing our public school children used as pawns in this game.
NEW: The Oklahoma State Board of Education voted 4-2 to demote Tulsa Public Schools standing to accredited with warning for violating House Bill 1775. This is a more serious penalty than
@oksde
recommended.
These are state dollars designated for school safety. Let us not forget the $1.4 million in awarded federal school safety grants that were *also* lost because “the person managing that grant left.”
“Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, introduced House Bill 3945 in February. The bill aimed to prevent schools participating in the program from raising their tuition *as a result of implementing this voucher*. It was never heard in committee.
Provenzano pursued the bill after 1/
The responsibility of selecting a superintendent is held by our local school board, who are elected by the people of Tulsa to do this very job.
So- are we for local control, or are we not? 1/
NEW FRIDAY: State Superintendent Ryan Walters is now trying to insert himself into the hiring of a superintendent at Tulsa Public Schools, insisting a national search be conducted.
#oklaed
If you get called “the loudest voice in the room” for standing up for Oklahoma children, I’m in.
These rules are geared to decimate our schools. I’ll stand up again and again.
Lets’s hear it for my Capitol colleagues
@proven4oklahoma
&
@swope4ok
for speaking truths regarding Supt. Walter’s wrongheaded State Dept. of Ed rules. The rule that attaches state test scores to school accreditation is most egregious & could really harm our rural communities. 😐
This past week we learned that 1.4 million dollars in grants to OK schools for safety and security lapsed unspent by the OSDE.
In other news, the State Department of Education has installed new metal detector ahead of today's state school board meeting. 1/
Watch carefully what is going on here. Pitting teachers against parents is not good for Oklahoma. I love that we may get teachers moved up on the vaccine calendar. All essential workers should be. Let's ask ourselves why this is happening. It's not for the reasons we think.
One of our Governor’s staff, attacking a public school district for taking measures to keep students and families safe based on recommendations from local health officials that has kept our death rate 20% lower than other parts of the state. Disappointing.
@alexanderrusso
Surely this is a typo. Tulsa? Is there another Tulsa somewhere, or are we talking about the one in Oklahoma that was weeks behind everyone else and is hemorrhaging students?
I am truly saddened by the ugliness some state officials feel comfortable sharing from their official government accounts. We are better than this. It’s time to grow up and leave the hate speech behind.
As the legislature intended, school security fund dollars need to get into the hands of school districts.
The game of “hold onto the money” by the OSDE has to stop.
Thankful to the Attorney General for this ruling.
Now do Title 1, inhalers for kids, and maternity leave.
Ryan Walters jetted to Washington D.C. for media appearances and policy meetings, hobnobbed with conservative pundits at a movie premiere in Texas and spoke at conferences in Philadelphia and Denver — all while billing Oklahoma for his travel.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled today against allowing what would have been the nation’s first taxpayer-funded, state-sponsored religious public charter school.
We learned today that all our Superintendent has is rhetoric. No tangible answers for the issues our schools and teachers face. It was so disappointing how underwhelming and ill-informed today’s presentation was.
"I don't care if people are triggered by what I say ... My job is to speak truth and find solutions to problems," the state superintendent tells a packed meeting room.
Hot air balloon rides? Travel expenses for employees who don't even appear to live in Oklahoma?
“We have called repeatedly for an investigative audit on how these dollars are being spent and if they’re appropriate,” State Rep. Melissa Provenzano (D-Tulsa) told News 4. 1/
Inhalers. For kids.
Required reading, from the first sentence to the last.
I am pleased to see Senator Hall’s efforts to get inhalers into the hands of our schools, despite the OSDE semantics.
JUST IN: Several Oklahoma legislators call for
@Okla_OAG
to begin a formal investigation into Matt Langston’s employment at OSDE.
The letter, written by
@RepMarkMcBride
, asks AG Drummond to determine if Langston is a “ghost employee.”
More soon.
@kfor
*Mabel, a 94 year-old Republican woman "figures she'll be voting for all women" this go around.
Then she gave me a butterscotch.
This woman was a lift I needed today. She gets it. People over politics. Let's do this!
*Name changed to protect Mabel, because she is awesome.
I am pleased the State Board of Education has voted to maintain accredited status of Tulsa Public Schools, and I was pleased to hear so many board members want to dig into the details right there in the meeting. I know that when they show up to help, as they offered to do, 1/
The Governor has not spoken about Covid even today at the Tulsa Chamber State of the State. Even today, when an 8th grader passed away overnight in OKC.
Even today when we recorded 4152 new cases. But today, Tulsa PS became one of a growing list of schools requiring masks....
We have roughly 4 million people living in Oklahoma.
As of today:
1 in 20.5 Oklahomans have been infected with Covid-19.
1 in 125.6 Oklahomans are currently infected.
1,736 have passed away.
So far.
/1
Imagine receiving a big bonus. You pay off debt or use it as a down payment on a house or a car. Months later, you’re told you have to pay it back, including thousands of dollars in taxes you never even had. These teachers are living that nightmare.
“The groundwork is being laid here in OK. There is a theme ― one which loads the accreditation process with traps and pitfalls for public schools. These new rules are part of a larger effort: one we must stand up to if we wish to protect our children from the coming chaos.” -MP
Why did OSDE leave $1.4M on the table that would have made our schools safer?
Todd Loftin, Chief of Academic Affairs, speaking on behalf of OSDE, explains to
@proven4oklahoma
and to us exactly what happened.
NEW IN OSDE: A former
@oksde
employee says this a pre-screening questionnaire HR has applicants fill out before interviews. First few questions look normal, but look at questions 5-7. What do you think?
@kfor
🧵
#BREAKING
-A subpoena has been issued to State Supt. Ryan Walters by Rep. Mark McBride. "We have tried to work with the Superintendent, like we do with all state agencies, but have been met with a lack of transparency and increasingly unprofessional conduct." Read more⬇️
@kfor
Women are on the BALLOT in November and the energy is taking my breath away. 💙
For those that don’t think your single vote counts- my last two races have been won by 500+ votes.
Every one of these women is working their tail off. There’s a LOT of sweat equity, every day. 1/
Trying to paint our public schools like the villain because they can’t continue to move ridiculous mountains built for them to climb, while you actively work to discredit and defund them is some next level gaslighting. 3/
In 2020, 2,489 Oklahoma lives were lost to Covid-19. Please take a moment today to remember and honor them.
We also honor those on the front lines fighting this battle on our behalf, essential workers and families forever changed by the loss of a loved one to this horrible virus
.
@proven4oklahoma
just attempted to pass a moratorium on the state gas tax until December 2023 to provide Oklahomans immediate relief at the pump, her effort was blocked by the majority.
This is perhaps the most beautiful and apt message of hope for our public schools I’ve heard. Thank you to the Senators, both D and R, who kept this voucher bill at bay in the we hours of the night.
Come on. Admin have been covering classes for months. Schools are trying to stay open, but the crush of current cases is overwhelming nationwide. Schools need resources and local leeway to manage this. Your office fought hard against doing that last year. Save the stump.
The first reaction should not be to shut schools down. It is the last resort. Parents are tired and children suffer when administrators act out of fear and not in the best interests of their kids and their future. (1/2)
We delivered education freedom for all students in Oklahoma.
Parents now have the opportunity to send their child to a school that best fits their needs— regardless of zip code, background, or economic status.
And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, you don’t get to do this, then cut their funding to line the pockets of special interest and privatizers with public tax dollars. 4/
Millions of taxpayer dollars are unaccounted for. The time to let Oklahomans know how their dollars have been spent is not after the statute of limitations has run out.
NEW: Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor's office said he will keep an investigative audit into the State Health Department secret.
The audit was sent to the AG's office on May 21, five days before then-AG Mike Hunter resigned. (fixed)
More than half of Oklahoma counties are considered "maternity care deserts," meaning they lack access to birthing facilities or maternal care providers.
I come from a line of small business owners on both sides of my family here in Oklahoma.
Below : Duncan Station in Colcord, OK. That's my grandpa Woodrow Duncan on the far left. 1/
#supportsmallbusiness
At the June 20th LOFT Oversight Commission meeting, we learned that $1.4M in awarded federal school safety grant dollars was lost by the OSDE, because "the person working on that grant left. See finding 2. 3/
@dylantbrown
@RyanWaltersSupt
@BixbyPSSupt
On June 20, 2024
@proven4oklahoma
specifically asked about Title I funding amounts for schools and was told by Walters’ team that schools knew.
That was a lie then & it’s a lie today.
I believe
@BixbyPSSupt
on this one.
Schools still don’t know their Title I allocations.
Teachers have been asking for relief from an ever-growing list of training requirements, taking considerable time away from preparing for class. Capping required hours balances that load, and reducing the frequency of repetitive trainings eliminates unnecessary redundancy.
The Tulsa school board moved forward with making Ebony Johnson superintendent late Monday despite State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ takeover threats and insistence on a nationwide search for other candidates. Click 🔽 for full story.
#oklaed
Our job is to serve all people of Oklahoma, not political party. I am working on getting folks approved for retraining after their jobs went overseas. Now federal pandemic benefits were ended early for them and their families - both R’s and D’s. True service is apolitical.
There's never been a bigger difference between red states and blue states. That starts with Republican leaders like my friend
@GovBillLee
.
We are leading the way on criminal justice reform, the economy, energy and so much more.
Thanks for having me
@CPAC
!
2. At the request of the Biden Administration, Congress approved an increased of $851 million to the Title 1 in 2023. More money was put into the formula, so states are getting more per student.
Pretty straightforward. 🤷🏻♀️
Action is long overdue. I hope we can convene a bipartisan committee to investigate the laundry list of critical issues, starting with funding, that have been created by the State Superintendent.
36k students applied.
Guess how many students currently attend private schools?
This law led to:
-Your tax $$ going to pay personal income taxes owed to the state before applying to tuition bill
-Your tax $$ going to out of state schools
1/
News 4 reached out to several Republican legislators who all voted in favor of the Tax Credit program, to see if they had thoughts on the income breakdown.
None would speak on the record.
According to a friend, “
@GovStitt
is actually busy touting his education “policies” in Paris. My friend is a VP at Airbus and in attendance at the same events. When an exec asked what Oklahoma was ranked in education he told the crowd “we’re 14th if you take out Tulsa and OKC”😡
Then ask the questions, and keep asking until you get the answers. Good grief.
Food. For children.
We had no qualms passing the school voucher program last session, despite having no idea how it would roll out. Something to consider.
The time is now for 2 things: For
@GovStitt
to declare a health emergency, and for a special session to repeal SB658. We already have the bill ready to go. HB2967 repeals the anti-mask portions of SB658.
School districts must have the autonomy to enact policies that protect our schoolchildren and staff from COVID exposure and infection. And—for schools to remain open for in-person instruction, the to-do list is clear: Get vaccinated and wear a mask.
#OklaEd
“Mr. Walters continues to create chaos with fabricated culture-war messaging to distract from the investigations of misspent federal dollars and his poor execution of effort and lack of policy knowledge inside the State Department of Education." /end
“It is well settled that an agency may only exercise the powers expressly given by statute,” Drummond said. “An agency cannot expand those powers by its own authority.”
The Oklahoma State Department of Education ordered Edmond schools to remove “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini and “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls from high school libraries.
I've heard no educator say they would not follow the law. In fact, exactly the opposite. They will stick TO the law as it exists. For grins, here it is:
1/
“Some Oklahoma educators have indicated they won’t follow the law and Oklahoma standards, so let me be clear: they will comply, and I will use every means to make sure of it.”- Supt. Walters
Some districts have said they will NOT teach the Bible, but here's new OSDE guidance⬇️
Tulsa Mayor
@gtbynum
says he requested
@TulsaHealthDept
Director Dr Bruce Dart attend today’s meeting with Dr Birx from the White House.
@GovStitt
would not allow Dart to attend, Bynum says.
House Minority Leader
@EmilyVirginOK
filed an interim study request last week to examine ending the state sales tax on groceries.
Eliminating the state portion of the tax was a key component of House Democrats' Oklahoma Focused Budget this past session.
Excuse me, WHAT?
We lost 17k lives. My father was one of them. Not once did lift a finger to honor the lives lost. Everything was always about the bottom dollar.
“Where have all these dollars gone? The total lack of transparency is ongoing and alarming,” said Representative Melissa Provenzano (D- Tulsa).
The longer we wait, the worse it gets.
The time is now to convene a bipartisan committee to investigate.
House Democrats renewed our formal request to the Speaker of the House to use his authority to create a special bipartisan House committee to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to exercise its constitutional power to impeach the State Superintendent.
I stand behind Senator Hicks in her opposition to these appointees.
I do not understand how it will make us a top state for public education when the people in power lack the experience to make knowledgeable decisions for our kids.