In 1971, the Legislature enacted laws authorizing public school district employees to collectively bargain. The power of employee unions in the district has grown incrementally ever since, including a teachers’ strike that shut down the district in 1979. Although the American Federation of Teachers recently has acknowledged the need for more teacher training and accountability, […]
education
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School daze
The revelation comes amid allegations by some former Douglass teachers and administrators that former Principal Brian Staples altered student grades and attendance records to make it appear that the beleaguered school was improving. At a heated news conference yesterday, Oklahoma City Public School officials blamed the mess on violations of policy and procedures, but declined […]
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Douglass needs help
The National Oklahoma City Douglass High School Alumni Association has existed in its present form, to support the growth and development our school and its students, for 26 years. We have existed through a litany of school administrators. The history of Douglass High School now stretches over 122 years. It has produced giants of leaders, […]
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A tale of email
Credit: Mark Hancock The hundreds of emails were obtained through an Oklahoma Gazette open records request submitted June 4. They were not released until October because of technical problems with the email system, according to Tierney Tinnin, a school district spokeswoman. Staples resigned after the conclusion of a district investigation into allegations of altering grades […]
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Report-card reaction
Belle Isle EnterpriseMiddle School Credit: Mark Hancock Those expecting high marks received them. Those who anticipated the worst saw their fears realized. As part of the state’s new evaluation system, all public schools were issued a grade from A to F based on a list of newly developed criteria. In Oklahoma City Public Schools, the […]
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School shakeup
Karl Springer and Brian Staples visitedwith Jesse Jackson at Douglass earlierthis year. Credit: Shannon Cornman District officials did not disclose details of that probe, but said the results were being turned over to the Oklahoma County District Attorney, the state Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education. As Oklahoma Gazette first reported in […]
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A taxing question
Fred Mogran Credit: Shannon Cornman A coalition of business groups headed by the State Chamber of Oklahoma support passage of SQ 766, which is on ballot Tuesday, asserting that its failure could spur a vast expansion of state taxes on items as varied as retirement benefits, professional licenses, hunting leases, and even copyrighted song lyrics […]
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Incomplete ‘grade’
If presented within context, my message is that “for some students within the lowest quartile of test takers who have serious handicapping conditions, ‘it is just about too much to ask” that they be held to the standard — the numerical gradient of growth — expected of the general population of students. Given the severe […]
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Degrading the grade
Most districts have opted not to release the grades until the State Board of Education certifies them at its Oct. 25 meeting. Board members voted last week to halt its issuance so agency officials could review the evaluation system, which many district superintendents claim is flawed. The one exception in the metro, Putnam City Schools, […]
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The principal’s office
Fired Douglass teachers who raised the allegations, however, contend the district officials had ignored their complaints for three years. Oklahoma Gazette first reported the allegations in June, when district officials launched the probe at the request of former teachers and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Sandra Park, […]