Sunday, November 4, 2018

VOTE YES FOR DR. JOHN COX SUPERINTENDENT TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH - AND OTHER VOTER INFORMATION

November 04, 2018 at 05:25PM -
After a decade of supporting Republican candidates for State Superintendent, Reclaim Oklahoma Parent Empowerment (formerly Restore Oklahoma Public Education) is advocating a vote for Democrat Dr. John Cox for State Superintendent.Read more »This blog originates from ROPE2: https://ift.tt/2jto7JJ

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Monday, June 25, 2018

One Two Three, What Are We Voting For?

June 24, 2018 at 09:25PM -
After spending nearly a decade heavily involved in politics, it's quite a departure for me to admit I can't name all the candidates running for Lt. Governor off the top of my head. I'll be honest...I'm not even sure I can name all 27 - or however many - gubernatorial candidates. Sadly, I'm not dying about it. Why? I'm still plugged in enough to know who to go to for...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

What On Earth Could Be Wrong With Student Activism?

May 06, 2018 at 05:08PM -
Though it definitely frustrated me to see teachers leave their classrooms and picket the legislature for more taxpayer funding of public education - shutting down some schools for as many as two full weeks - the level of activism displayed by high school students on this issue bothered me more. Read more »This blog originates from ROPE2: https://ift.tt/2jto7JJ

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Parent Guest Post: What I Learned From The 2018 Teacher's Strike

April 17, 2018 at 10:09AM -
Attribution: ABC news This post was sent to me by "Elizabeth": I have never thought of myself as any kind of activist. I have never marched in protest or in support of anything that I can remember. It isn’t that I don’t have opinions – I definitely have them. There are often facets to issues or politics that I don’t understand or, more likely, haven’t taken the time to research. But...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Can A School Force Your Child To Take State Tests?

April 14, 2018 at 06:28PM -
Today I received a communication from a ROPE reader. She told me she had received a letter from her Assistant Principal in response to her request to opt her child/children out of state testing. The letter said, in part: As guided by the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), indicating laws and rules set by our legislature, we are required to assess all enrolled students who are present...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Monday, April 9, 2018

No, The Independent Audit Commission is NOT Tasked With Auditing The OSDE

April 09, 2018 at 05:45PM -
Last week, ROPE created a website with a petition to AUDIT THE OSDE. Two things: 1. NO, we are NOT collecting signatures for a referendum vote on the taxes passed during this session by our legislature. Yes, there is a group to do that - Oklahoma Taxpayers Unite. Have we shared their information? YES. But here's the kicker - if we wanted you to sign their referendum petition, we'd ASK YOU TO...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Information on Opting Out Of Standardized Testing in Oklahoma

April 09, 2018 at 02:57PM -
With many Oklahoma teachers out of their classrooms during the testing window for administration of Oklahoma standardized tests, there have been questions from parents who now wish to simply opt their child out of testing altogether. page 24The first and most important thing to say is that guidelines for federal testing DO NOT APPLY TO PARENTS they only apply to the state because the...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Sunday, April 8, 2018

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED - Help Stop Wind Tax Credits And Put That Money Back Into The Budget For Education And Other Needs

April 08, 2018 at 08:28PM -
While some are asking where money can be found to fund core government needs in Oklahoma, one simple answer is ending corporate welfare to the Corporate Wind Industry! If we don't do something truly meaningful this session, another $70 million dollars is going to LITERALLY be "Gone with the Wind" when it could have, instead, gone to meet other state needs. Read more »This blog...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

ACT NOW - Oklahoma Wind Energy Tax Credits Could Be Used To Supplement the Oklahoma Public Education Budget: Guest Post by Oklahoma Senator Josh Brecheen

April 08, 2018 at 07:50PM -
While some are asking where money can be found to fund core government needs in Oklahoma, one simple answer is ending corporate welfare to the Corporate Wind Industry! If we don't do something truly meaningful this session, another $70 million dollars is going to LITERALLY be Gone with the Wind when that it could have instead gone to meet the needs inside Oklahoma classrooms.  Read more »This...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

OEA Makes Oklahoma Public Education Funding A Moving Target With No End In Sight

April 08, 2018 at 06:36PM -
Photo from NewsOK story: also pictured, Randy Weingarten and Ed Allen As the teacher's walkout in Oklahoma continues into its second week for many schools in the state, the questions which really need to be asked at this point are "Why?" and "What exactly do teachers want?" 2018 EDUCATION FUNDING LEGISLATIVE HISTORY February 12 - After a plan presented by a large number...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Friday, April 6, 2018

The Public Education Funding Mess Is The Fault Of EVERY Citizen - So How Do We Fix It?

April 06, 2018 at 05:01PM -
Since the beginning of this legislative session here in Oklahoma, teachers have been demanding raises. In March, the Oklahoma legislature passed an unprecedented tax to fund teacher raises and other educational needs, raising oil and gas production taxes to 5%, adding a $1 increase per pack on cigarettes, 6 cents on diesel/3 cents gas increases and a $5 tax on hotel motel tax (later repealed)....

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Tyranny Of The Feels: How The Democratic Process is Stifled By Personal Attacks and Threats

April 04, 2018 at 04:17PM -
As Oklahoma approaches the THIRD day of teacher walkouts across the state, many citizens are finding it’s not so much the actual walkout – although this itself is hard on parents and students so close to the end of the year – it’s the behavior of some of the participants that’s most distressing. This morning I talked to a legislative assistant I know. I asked her how things were going for her at...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Money VS Results and The Socialist Nature of Public Schools

March 25, 2018 at 09:08PM -
Recently, I posted a comment on our ROPE Facebook page about the socialist nature of public school. It was in response to another comment made by someone who disagreed with an earlier post (incidentally, I wish ALL dissenters could be as polite as this commenter - we've had a great time talking back and forth and even found things to agree on over the course of numerous exchanges).   As we...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Friday, March 16, 2018

Dirty Little Education Secrets Part 4b: Teacher and Administrators Who Engage In Politics Using Taxpayer Funds

March 16, 2018 at 07:07PM -
  Read more »This blog originates from ROPE2: http://ift.tt/2jto7JJ

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Dirty Little Education Secrets Part 4a: Teacher And Administration Bullies In The Classroom

March 16, 2018 at 06:24PM -
Former University of Missouri Professor Melissa Click fired after refusing to allow a campus journalist access to a campus demonstration Bing imagesWhen I began teaching in the Oklahoma public education system, I was finishing my thesis, taking coursework to get my Alternative Certification and teaching part time at Deer Creek Public Schools outside Edmond. My daughter (I was a single mother...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Dirty Little Education Secrets Part 3: Administrative and Programming Costs Suck HUGE Amounts From Common Ed Budget

March 15, 2018 at 03:41PM -
Since teachers have begun to petition taxpayers and the state government for a raise, and since the taxpayers rejected the Step-Up planning proposal including tax increases to fund public education was soundly rejected by legislators, myself and others have been calling for an audit of the OSDE prior to an increased fund allotment to public education. After reviewing the OSDE budget request for...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Dirty Little Education Secrets Part 2: Teachers Are NOT All Leaving The Profession Over Pay

March 14, 2018 at 08:24AM -
This morning I read an awesome article by a long time teacher from Pennsylvania was explaining why teachers are leaving the profession. Never once in his treatise did he mention money. Here was one of his closing paragraphs:Read more »This blog originates from ROPE2: http://ift.tt/2jto7JJ

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Fact Checking the OEA Meme Campaign To Force Teacher Pay Raises

March 13, 2018 at 01:32PM -
  Because the OEA has spent significant time and taxpayer resources (Yes, how else do they get their funds? Teachers pay membership and teachers are paid by taxpayers.) creating this elaborate campaign to convince taxpayers it is necessary to tax the public to create a pay raise for teachers, I thought it might be a good idea just to fact check a few of their memes. Let's take the one...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

How Do We Know Teachers Need A Raise If We Don't Do Our Homework?

March 13, 2018 at 11:02AM -
In case you've been under a rock and haven't learned about the West Virginia teachers who have apparently inspired teacher walkouts in Arizona, Kentucky and Oklahoma, I thought it important to make sure anyone who wanted to do more than hear talking points and rhetoric have direct access to OSDE data. In my next few blogs, I'm going to try and hit some of the talking points pushed...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Monday, March 12, 2018

A Republish Of Our Review Of The First Annual Smart Start Oklahoma Conference from 2011

March 12, 2018 at 05:16PM -
   A Review of the First Annual Smart Start Oklahoma Conference, "Champions for Change" - How Much More than the Already-Allotted Billions of Dollars Per Year Can "Champions" Justify Spending On Unproven Early Childhood Programming In Oklahoma?    Editorial Comments: Though this was nearly 7 years ago now (it was originally posted to our SCRIBD account), while writing about...

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Social Impact Bonds to Fund Pre-School and the Price Tag of Unintended Consequences

March 12, 2018 at 02:42PM -
  A recent Hechinger Report article covers a new concept for providing revenue streams to various public programs ostensibly without tax increases. Unfortunately, Social Impact Bonds as they are called, are yet another example of how well-meaning individuals and legislators believe they can micromanage all aspects of our lives to make life fair for everyone while soaking the American taxpayer....

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Superintendents Using Public Email Systems To Endorse Step-Up Tax And Direct Teacher Advocacy

February 11, 2018 at 06:21PM -
 Yesterday, I received an email. It was a forward of an email written by Mid-Del Superintendent Rick Cobb, sent to faculty at Mid-Del Schools. It read: Read more »This blog originates from ROPE2: http://ift.tt/2jto7JJ

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via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

The Dirtiest Little Secret In Education - How the "Step Up Oklahoma" Plan Doubles Down

February 05, 2018 at 10:22PM -
Once again, it's the start of the yearly Legislative session and once again I begin my Charlie Brown-like moan mantra of, "Good grief". Read more »This blog originates from ROPE2: http://ift.tt/2jto7JJ

To read the full story, go to http://ift.tt/2jto7JJ

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J from Reclaim Oklahoma Parent Empowerment http://ift.tt/2E7GF8M
via Jenny White ,for Restore Oklahoma Parental Empowerment.