Researchers contend that crushing poverty is more significant than failing public schools or bad teachers. Two years ago, a Stanford University study documented the new “income achievement gap.” The report showed family income is the “biggest determining factor in a student’s academic achievement.” The same year, writer Joanna Barkan published a report in Dissent Magazine […]
Tim Farley
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Shelter battle
A lawsuit filed at the Oklahoma Supreme Court alleges Pruitt accepted donations from political action committees and influential businessmen connected to the State Chamber of Commerce, which formally opposes the state’s franchise tax and wants it abolished. The franchise tax would be used to repay $500 million in state bonds if the petition drive is […]
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Taxing debate
House Bill 1875 likely will be heard in the early part of the 2014 legislative session, which begins Feb. 2. The bill is one of four legislative priorities the Oklahoma City Council will push forward next year. The council’s state and federal legislative agendas were approved at the Nov. 5 council meeting. The priorities were […]
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Dotted line
Fallin hasn’t directly opposed the initiative petition drive, but she doesn’t plan to endorse it either, according to her spokesman, Alex Weintz. Instead, the governor has commented that money used for storm shelters will reduce funding for other educational needs. “She’s just trying to inject some form of realism here,” Weintz said. However, storm shelter […]
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No raises?
Oklahoma City Council voted 7-0 last Tuesday to defer potential pay hikes for the trio until Dec. 17, but no reason was given for the delay. City councilmen discussed the issue in executive session, which is not open to the public. Couch, Municipal Counselor Kenneth Jordan and City Auditor Jim Williamson were scheduled to receive […]
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Budding prospects
Recent survey data from SoonerPoll.com shows 71 percent of likely Oklahoma voters support amending the law to allow for physician-authorized patients to consume cannabis for therapeutic reasons. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have enacted similar measures since 1996. Other survey results show 57 percent prefer treating minor marijuana violations as noncriminal, fine-only offenses. […]
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Take a hike?
Mitchell, a regular rider on Metro Link, recently told the Oklahoma City Council that a plan to raise transit fares will hurt her and others who depend solely on daily bus service. Mitchell lives in northeast OKC and does not own a car, so she takes public transportation across town to her job at a […]
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Fire department gets ‘cost-of-living’ adjustment
The wage hike averaged 2.6 percent across the board depending on a firefighter’s rank, said Phil Sipe, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 157 in OKC. “This was basically a cost-of-living adjustment,” he said. “I think the new contract is reasonable. The city is happy with it and we’re happy with it. As […]
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Popularity contest
Although voters won’t head to the polls for another four months (the primary is March 4), mayoral candidate and Ward 2 Councilman Ed Shadid received unanimous backing from the OKC police and fire unions. None of Oklahoma City’s neighborhood associations have publicly endorsed Mayor Mick Cornett in his re-election bid. However, more than 700 Oklahoma […]
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Tear it up
The work centers on a new portion of Project 180 streetscape projects that will begin Oct. 24 and focus on a two-block area, as opposed to numerous street closings and detours that occurred with the initial phase in 2010 and 2011. Specifically, crews will begin work on Dean A. McGee Avenue extending from Robinson to […]