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On Friday, Governor Brad Henry approved $11.5 million in emergency funding for Oklahoma public schools, but added that K-12 education will need additional supplemental funding to help address a funding shortfall this fiscal year:
As I said last week, this is only a first step to addressing the immediate funding needs of our public schools. There is no question that K-12 education needs additional money, and I will be working with legislative leaders to provide that as quickly as possible.
The governor and state lawmakers are trying to fill a revenue shortfall in the House Bill 1017 fund, an account that supplements the K-12 schools’ budget.
Senate Bill 1354 by Sen. Mike Johnson and Rep. Ken Miller provides $10 million to cover part of the shortfall and another $1.5 million to address needs in the Academic Achievement Award program.
The emergency funding ensures that schools will receive their full funding allocation for the month of April, but additional appropriations will be needed for the remaining two months of the fiscal year.
When Gov. Henry and legislative leaders agreed to the $11.5 million appropriation last week, they made clear their commitment to provide additional supplemental funding to schools to fill the rest of the 1017 fund shortfall. State officials are awaiting final revenue collection numbers to determine how large an appropriation is necessary. Governor Henry:
We will keep the commitment we made to fill the education shortfall. The schools need this money to end their school year in an orderly manner.
On Friday, Gov. Henry also signed Senate Bill 1294 by Sen. Mike Johnson and Rep. Ken Miller. The legislation provides $3.1 million to the Corporation Commission to address delayed federal funding.
Oklahoma requested a compliance extension on the 2005 RealID legislation effective March 31st. Judd Morse of the Ada Evening News, quotes Paul Sund, communications director for Paul Sund:
The compliance from Oklahoma was authorized to ensure that no sanctions would be made against Oklahomans, said Paul Sund, Henry’s communications director. “We still have concerns about the act, and we have not promised to comply.
But we thought it was going to be best for Oklahoma, particularly those people that travel a lot, businesses and so forth, to get an extension.” Sund said Henry’s office still plans to protest the Act, and that the extension was made in order to ensure that Oklahomans would not fall victim to any restrictions in May.
Wasn’t the lottery supposed to fix our education system?
The Tulsa World reported earlier this week:
Tulsa has been ranked the 12th-worst among the country’s 50 largest cities in the disparity of graduation rates between its inner-city school district and suburban counterparts…[and] Oklahoma City ranked as the 10th-worst in the graduation rate gap.
The dissatisfaction among education officials, according to the report is over the method used to calculate the drop-out rate, rather than on the fact that we have so many ninth-graders that are unlikely to finish high school.
The Muskogee Phoenix quotes Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, founding chair of America’s Promise Alliance, an organization dedicated to preparing students for college and the work force:
When more than 1 million students a year drop out of high school, it’s more than a problem, it’s a catastrophe.
Superindendent Sandy Garrett and Governor Brad Henry are conspiring to ruin the summer vacations of students all across Oklahoma..bwahahahaah!!
No, not really, but they are seeking to bring the attendance up to the national average of 180 days, rather than the current 175 days per school year. The cost of adding these five days to the school year would be approximately $90M, according to a report in yesterday’s Joplin Globe.
Legislators promoting the change cite the need for students to be able to compete the global economy. The inspiration for wanting to increase the amount of time the government monopolizes of our children’s days? Communist China. Rep. Tad Jones (R-Claremore) said:
If we’re trying to compete with China, then we have to deal with a large-scale expansion of time…But we’ve got to make sure it’s a quality education, not just a quantity.
The Norman Transcript added the Jones wants to actually lengthen the school day, and have children attend school on only four days per week, to save the state money. No word on where those kids would go on the their days off from school while their parents are at work.
KSWO in Lawton is reporting that the Kaw and Otoe-Missouria tribes are suing Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry for improperly terminated their tobacco compacts, and are alleging that the governor’s office wants a higher cut from the sales.
The Tulsa World writes,
Filed in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, the suits say the tribes received notice of the compact termination a few days later than required. The 10-year compacts were signed in 1998 and require either side to give at least six months’ notice of termination.Each tribe’s compact gave the state 25 percent of all applicable taxes, but Gerald Adams, Henry’s chief of staff, terminated the contracts in order to renegotiate a higher percentage.
Brad Henry is waiting until an audit can be completed to comment.
Stigler Publics Schools Valorie Lewis has been “named one of the top 20 teachers in the United States and a member of the USA Today’s ALL USA TEACHER TEAM for 2007. Mrs. Lewis received a large trophy, $500 dollars for herself, and $2000 for the Stigler School District. Mrs. Lewis was nominated by Rita Echelle, former school counselor and parent of 2 of her students.”
In his state of the State speech, Gov. Brad Henry said,
Among our ranks of great teachers is Valorie Lewis, a third-grade teacher in Stigler. Her story is truly inspirational. Raised in utter poverty, Valorie and her family struggled simply to survive — homeless and not knowing when their next meal would come.
Valorie knows all too well the challenges of an at-risk childhood. That experience is what drove her to become a teacher. And her success in the classroom has been extraordinary. In fact, USA Today recently named her one of the top 20 teachers in the entire nation.
Valorie is committed to the children of Oklahoma, and we must keep our commitment to her and raise teacher pay to the regional average. Please help me honor Valorie Lewis, who is with us in the gallery today.
The Sequoya Times interviewed Lewis, who described some of her innovative teaching techniques:
And Lewis passes that inspiration, along with empathy and understanding, to her students through creative teaching that makes children want to come to school.
Those teaching methods include using chocolate to teach geometry. Lewis said the children learn about where cocoa comes from, learn how it is processed on Hershey’s Web site on the Internet, and they use M&Ms and Hershey bars for their math and geometry lessons. Chocolate Day is always in March, and she is preparing for that lesson now.
She also uses “Morning Munchers” to teach math, “Brain Olympics” to combine math and physical education, a “Wrangler of the Week” poster to build students’ self esteem, as well as international correspondence to teach geography, and role-playing to teach interpersonal skills.
Lewis said about teaching:
I really do love it. I’m just enough of a kid that I love it. I try to make it fun for the children, which makes it fun for me.
Mike Reynolds (R-OKC), has asked Governor Brad Henry, “to appoint an independent special counsel to examine some campaign contributions made by the attorney general the past several years,” reports KOCO, which also quoted Edmondson’s response that the request is:
…A blatant and pathetic attempt to give cover to his political cronies, Brent Rinehart and Tim Pope [who were charged with criminal felony counts of laundering campaign money and conspiracy last year].
KSWO News in Lawton writes that Paul Sund, a spokesman for Governor Henry, says that, “the state Ethics Commission regulates the issue in question and no outside prosecutor is needed.”
Michael McNutt, of The Oklahoman gives some background on the case:
Edmondson in April reimbursed $2,750 to his campaign from his personal funds that he used to pay for tickets to campaign functions, which is not an approved campaign expense.
A state candidate cannot use campaign funds to donate to another state candidate’s campaign, according to Ethics Commission rules.
Edmondson said in April he thought buying tickets to an event that served a political campaign purpose was an allowed expense, and reimbursed his campaign when Reynolds questioned the donations.
KOCO5 in Oklahoma City is reporting:
Gov. Brad Henry is telling a national audience that Oklahoma’s future is in biofuels…the grass takes less work to grow than corn does. Corn has to be farmed every year.
Another benefit of swithgrass over corn is that it is not consumed by humans, and may not have a similar detrimental impact on third-world nations. Former U.S. Representative (R-OK) Ernest Istook wrote in WorldNetDaily this weekend:
Drought. War. Poverty.
These are leading causes of hunger, according to the United Nations. Soon we may add another.
Ethanol.
Across the globe, people are discovering it’s a new contributor to world hunger. Led by the United States, governments are paying companies billions to make ethanol from corn and other crops. The result: these crops are diverted from the food supply, creating artificial shortages and higher prices.
Even record harvests haven’t suppressed food prices. Instead, prices are soaring to all-time highs…(more)
Not all scientists are convinced that the use of biofuels is good for the environment. In Minneapolis, the StarTribune is reporting:
A pair of agriculture groups has temporarily suspended about $1.5 million in grants to the University of Minnesota to protest a controversial study by U scientists earlier this month about biofuels and global warming.
[...]
The study, by University of Minnesota ecologist David Tilman and others, said that dedicating huge amounts of land to grow corn, soybeans, sugarcane and other food crops for fuel could drastically change the landscape and worsen global warming. Farmers in the U.S., Brazil, Indonesia and other countries will need to clear forests, grasslands and peat lands on a massive scale to grow more of those crops, according to the research, unleashing far more carbon dioxide from natural vegetation than is saved by the lower emissions of the biofuels.
Ethanol industry officials criticized the study as a simplistic analysis that doesn’t include the economic benefits for those who grow biofuel crops or the environmental cost of continuing to rely on petroleum.
A couple of years ago, scientists at the University of Berekely also were reported by Science Daily to have found that in terms of energy output compared with energy input for ethanol production:
But Governor Henry points out that switchgrass is native to Oklahoma, and:
Congress is considering a bill that would provide incentives for growing switchgrass.
Governor Brad Henry has been busy making emergency plans to day, in case any satellite debri lands in Oklahoma.
KJRH, in Tulsa reports:
Gov. Brad Henry huddled Wednesday with homeland security and emergency officials to coordinate response efforts under federal guidelines if satellite debris lands in the state.
Henry says the chances of fallout in Oklahoma are remote, but the state needs to be prepared just in case.
According to the A.P., the plans to shoot down the satellite may be delayed:
The aim is not just to hit the bus-sized satellite — which would burn up upon re-entering the atmosphere anyway — but to obliterate a tank onboard that is carrying 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, a toxic fuel. The fuel, unused because the satellite died shortly after reaching orbit in December 2006 — could be hazardous if it landed in a populated area.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health bulletin saying that the health risk from satellite debris was considered to be low.
KOCO in Oklahoma City writes:
The federal government hopes to use a missile to destroy the U.S. spy satellite before it re-enters earth’s atmosphere and crashes. The missile launch could occur as early as today, depending on weather conditions and other factors…Federal authorities are urging the general public to stay away from any satellite fragments and are asking state first responders to help locate and hold debris until federal assistance teams arrive.
The most important thing to remember, is DON’T TOUCH IT! Whatever you do, don’t act like this man, in the Ferrero Rocher commercial, who sees something that falls from the sky, and pops it into his mouth!