TPS-The District of (Limited) Choice

This smiling group of elected volunteers, continues to perpetuate the myth that is public education in Tulsa Oklahoma.

Having made good on their previous threat to challenge the constitutionality of the Oklahoma Charter School Act, existing charter schools are fighting for their lives and new charter school initiatives have been stifled, while the taxpayers and citizens of Tulsa continue to get the raw end of the deal.

Hopefully this lawsuit will not languish in the courts, but will soon see the light of day. The Oklahoma Charter School Act states, if you care to read it, that it is a pilot program. The initial idea was to see how this reform would fly and then perhaps, if successful, there would be a broader application to the rest of the state. Well enough time has passed. And the charter schools have performed in a vastly superior academic way than its same-city counterparts.

Ken Neal of the Tulsa World predicted in an editorial last April, that passage of the amendments to the Oklahoma Charter School Act would mean a proliferation of new charter schools. Well, have we seen one new charter school since the amendments took effect last summer? NO! And this TPS lawsuit has stymied any such initiative. What higher education board in its right mind would take on the sponsorship of a charter school with this lawsuit still pending?

Its high time to do something. Contact your state legislators and communicate your support for charter schools, school choice in general, and vouchers specifically.