Unofficial results from the Oklahoma County Election Board show that Hardin, a former development officer for the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, received 51 percent of the vote, or 3,376 total votes. An entrepreneur and founder of Friends of Northwest Classen High School Foundation, Hardin had outraised Monson by a nearly 5-to-1 margin in […]
education
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School choice is the answer
You say these schools serve intense concentrations of poverty and trauma. A primary cause of such concentrations of poverty and trauma has been our public city schools. That is what happens when generation after generation of caring parents escape to the suburbs as fast as possible because well-intentioned liberals like yourself refuse them the choice […]
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Civics lesson
Angela Monson Credit: Shannon Cornman Incumbent board chairwoman Angela Monson, an employee of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and a former state senator, faces challenger Lynne Hardin. First elected four years ago, Monson said she chose to run the first time because, in part, she saw bright children, including her own daughter, “not […]
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Who our schoolchildren need
Since most of us in Oklahoma City are no doubt disgusted with the generally dismal performance of our school district, our inclination may be to conclude that our votes make little difference. Hopefully, however, they might make a difference for thousands of young people grossly underserved with the education provided to them by the district. […]
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School struggles
Instead, a credit check exposed the high number of underperforming students. OKCPS Superintendent Karl Springer and board president Angela Monson noted on Nov. 29, 2012, that the last audit of Douglass had been in 2009. The remarks came as they declined to blame the crisis on Brian Staples, the former Douglass principal who had resigned […]
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Bills of goods, the sequel
Credit: Brad Gregg Well, wouldn’t yah know, we couldn’t get to ’em all. So here are more. Several bills seek to prohibit the use of “foreign” (read: Sharia) law in court. Speaking of foreigners, a proposal by Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma, House Bill 1866, would require that a charter school’s board members and top administrators […]
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A failed philosophy
I agree with Bleakley that we do have some well-meaning board members, educators and civic leaders who have made sincere attempts to address the ever-growing problems with our schools. I also agree these attempts have resulted in failures, except for some successful efforts in specific schools. It is these “specific, successful schools” I would like […]
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School pride
Credit: Brad Gregg In many cases, a main factor behind selection is affordability. While the national economy inches toward recovery, families are still tasked with finding the all-around best college for their pride and joy, as well as for their pocketbooks. According to kiplinger.com, Oklahomans need not look far, with three schools in the […]
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The fallacy of test-driven school reform
Credit: Mark Hancock I have taught in the inner city for 19 years, have served on the MAPS for Kids Steering Committee and have been intimately involved in local education reform. MAPS promised policies based on our best social science and the collaborative exchange of evidence. We promised high-quality early education, intensive instruction of reading […]
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Sober school
Janet Oden and Mike Maddox Credit: Mark Hancock Now in its seventh year, Mission Academy is a project of Teen Recovery Solutions, formerly known as the Oklahoma Outreach Foundation. The fully accredited, private high school is designed for teens emerging from treatment for drug and alcohol abuse. “Some concerned citizens discovered that kids who came […]