Oklahoma Charter School Legislation

For all interested parties, here is a list of legislation being considered in both the House and Senate in Oklahoma for '05-'06 dealing with charter schools:
1.
hb1788_int.rtf


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2.
sb501_int.rtf


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3.
hb1943_int.rtf


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4.
sb937_int.rtf


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5.
sb762_int.rtf


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6.
sb937_scr.rtf


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7.
sb436_int.rtf


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8.
hb1959_int.rtf


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9.
hb1456_int.rtf


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10.
hb2033_int.rtf


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11.
hb1020_int.rtf


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12.
sb670_int.rtf


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13.
sb792_int.rtf


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-->There is no doubt that the Oklahoma Charter School Act needs to be tweaked. Principally in two areas. The first is the type of potential sponsors of charters. This needs to be expanded at a minimum to include the Oklahoma State Department of Education and hopefully also institutions of higher education (they have a vested interest in quality "feeder" schools). The second in the way charter schools are funded. My opinion is that either the State Department of Education handles the finances and funding for all charter schools, or that they receive a distinct funding during budget time, much like the ballyhooed OSSM (Oklahoma School for Science & Mathematics) http://www.ossm.edu/.

Can HMS Tulsa Public Schools patch its hull?

If you have wondered whether our public school system can reform itself, or for that matter, if it even needs to be reformed, here is one man's opinion:

Is it moral to continue to ask taxpayers to fund a sinking system with ever increasing tax dollars, when it lacks the ability to reform itself? No, indeed, I think that it is immoral!

TPS schools a sinking ship?

From the outset, let me say that I have nothing, absolutely nothing personal against Dr. David E. Sawyer, the Superintendent of TPS. He is a friendly, articulate, and intelligent man. Heck, he even plays a banjo! The position he holds is a public one and as such open to public scrutiny. I have personally met Dr. Sawyer on several occasions and he seems to be open to ideas and truly trying to steer a course for his ship (TPS) that has and is taking on water and is sinking fast.

On the yellow school buses that traverse T-Town during the weekdays, they proudly declare TPS as the "district of choice". Here is an interesting article about Dr. David E. Sawyer
http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/1999_06/profile.htm during his days as "super" of Brevard County, Florida Schools. He embraced choice in public education.

In 2000, he came to Tulsa and brought his ideas with him. To his credit, he has embraced school choice, as long as it was his choice. One of those choices were charter schools. Before he got settled into his new position, three charter schools opened in Tulsa. They are: Deborah Brown Community School, Dove Science Academy, and Tulsa School of Arts and Science. In the interim, several other charters tried to gain sponsorship. One had its charter revoked and another denied by the TPS district, both gained a lot of negative publicity for the district.

My problem is that now Dr. Sawyer and the TPS Board will not sponsor any more charter schools. This flies in the face of his public rhetoric about supporting "choice". The three current charter schools have had amazing performance, far outstripping the traditional schools in the district. A majority of the middle schools, a super-majority of the high schools, and a number of elementary schools are on the "needs improvement" list as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act. Here is a link http://www.tulsaschools.org/supt/state2005.htm to Dr. Sawyer's comments. By stark contrast, the three charter schools not only not make the list, but have consistently far out performed their counterparts in the district. No doubt, for a variety of reasons. More on that later....

Scroll down to the "needs improvement" schools section. It's not too far down the page. Also, check here http://www.tulsaschools.org/district.shtm for a snapshot of the total number of schools in the district. You do the math, regarding the traditional public schools, 7 of 9 high schools (77.8%), 9 of 15 middle schools (60%) and 21 of 57 elementary schools (36.8%) are on the needs improvement list. Overall, 58.7% of the district's schools are on the list. That's deplorable! And the number are growing. Remember, it takes two years of underperformance to make the list. And I hear absolutely no public outcry! There are no squeaking rats, or cries from the helpless crew and passengers from this sinking ship. I will speak the the morality of the situation in a later blog.

Maiden Voyage

Well here goes. My truly first maiden voyage in Blogging. Nothing to brag about really and its about time I got started.

Let me explain about chiggers for the uninformed. Being a native Tulsan and having to seasonally deal with these little buggers for my entire life, I really had no idea that they were a southern phenomenon. Chiggers are also called red bugs and are a larvae that literally gets under your skin, causing red bumps that itch like crazy! You only have to deal with them during the warmer parts of the year, so everyone gets a break during the wintertime. Let me tell you a true story.....

I had a roommate in college from Columbus, Ohio. He went to a local lake one weekend and by Monday he was crawling with chiggers, red bumps all over and itching like crazy. He had no idea what was wrong with himelf and really thought he had some bad type of contagious disease. I laughed so hard! There aren't any chiggers in Columbus apparently. Even when I told him it was chiggers, he still thought that was a type of terminal illness. Anyway, he seemed somewhat relieved when I explained it to him, and then I used the tried and true remedy of painting clear fingernail polish over the bumps. This generally takes care of the problem in a day or two. I've always wondered where they go afterwards. My guess is that they are simply absorbed into your skin eventually.

Well, chiggers seems to be a good fit for some of the issues that seemingly arise in the Tulsa community all too often. One that I would like to comment on from time to time is the state of public education in Tulsa. It is something I can speak to with some authority. I helped establish a charter school in Tulsa that is wildly successful. It was through that experience that I learned so much about Tulsa's educational establichment. The only way I can see to improve it is to raise the level of awareness of others and through a grass roots effort, take a stand and roll up our sleeves to turn the tide.