Charter School Debate

A recent hot topic of debate at the House of Representatives has centered around the creation of charter schools. Currently there are 13 in Oklahoma. All are in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Consider one example of a successful charter school. Six years ago the F.D. Moon Academy in Oklahoma City was the lowest-performing school in the state. Five years later, in the very same building, students of KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Charter School produced some of the highest tests scores in Oklahoma, despite tremendous social and economic challenges.

KIPP eighth-grade students dominated the 2006 Oklahoma Core Curriculum Test (OCCT), with 100 percent passing both the state math and writing tests and 97 percent of KIPP students passing the state reading test. This compares to the statewide average of 72 percent of eighth graders passing the math test and 59 percent of Oklahoma City students passing it. The average Academic Performance Index (API) score for all Oklahoma students is 1180. The average score for Oklahoma City students is 1006. Students attending KIPP averaged 1393 out of 1500, which surpassed even Oklahoma City’s Classen School of Advanced Studies, the 17th best high school in the country according to Newsweek. Records indicate that 73 percent of those who enter KIPP at the fifth grade level read at a third-grade level or less, but by the time students reach eighth grade, 97 percent are passing the state reading test.

KIPP students attend school from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and twice-monthly on Saturdays. As a college preparatory school, KIPP's focus is not simply on graduating students from 12th grade, but on ensuring they graduate from college.

In a recent Oklahoman story, a KIPP student was quoted as saying, “Before, my dream was basketball or something like that. Now, I want to be a businessman, and KIPP helped me set my goal.”

Nationwide, fifty KIPP academies have been established. Charter schools such as these represent an exciting trend toward reversing the failures of inner city common education.

Considering the phenomenal track record of this, who would oppose such schooling? Early this year, in an obvious attempt to end such success, the Tulsa School Board took action to declare a moratorium on the establishment of any new charter schools.

In response, Democrat State Representative Jabar Shumate, who represents an impoverished part of Tulsa, submitted legislation that would permit higher education institutions and city councils in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties to allow charter schools in those counties. This would prevent local boards of education which are hostile to alternative forms of education from stopping creation of charter schools.

After much questioning and debate, Shumate’s bill passed the House by a one vote margin. Shumate was the only Democrat to vote for the bill and it took the support of fifty Republicans to ensure passage.

The narrow vote demonstrates how that even in light of overwhelming evidence that charter schools are successful, defenders of the status quo will fight hard to oppose reforms designed to improve the learning conditions of Oklahoma’s children.

I admire Representative Shumate’s commitment to doing the right thing for Oklahoma children and was honored to support such legislation.

Saturday Session Demonstrates Need For Televised Legislature

On Saturday, April 21, the Oklahoma House of Representatives plans to meet for a rare Saturday session in order to provide greater access to the public.

State Representative Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) says the Saturday session demonstrates the need for the legislature to approve House Bill 1039 which starts the process of creating C-SPAN style televised coverage of legislative meetings.

"I think a Saturday legislative session is a fantastic idea. However, it would be an unnecessary idea if we televised legislative proceedings. Instead of requiring constituents to make the trip to Oklahoma City to view their government in action, we could allow them to track it from the comfort of home," Murphey said.

Murphey’s legislation requires telecast content to be made available to the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) and all Oklahoma licensed television operators. He believes that with the additional delivery capacity provided to telecasters by digital service, a large number of Oklahoma homes will have access to coverage.

Murphey modeled his legislation on what other states have done to broadcast government proceedings. "I think it is important for Oklahomans to have the same access to their state government,” he said.

Murphey said that many members of his district will be unable to attend the special Saturday session because they will be attending the 89ers Parade, the largest celebration of the 1889 land run which is held in Guthrie in April of each year. "If HB 1039 were to be adopted, those who could not attend the session would likely be able to watch a replay of legislative proceedings on television," Murphey said.

HB 1039 awaits consideration from the House General Government and Transportation Committee.

Oklahoma Taxpayers Should Not Be Financing Iran

Oklahoma Taxpayers Should Not Be Financing Iran April 20, 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY - Stating that millions in Oklahoma taxpayers' funds have been invested in European companies supporting Iran and other terrorist-sponsoring nations, State Representative Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie) announced the introduction of House Resolution 1022, to encourage the divestment of Oklahoma's pension funds from those companies.

Murphey cites a report by The Center for Security Policy which details that 18% of the Oklahoma Teachers' Retirement System and 14% of the Oklahoma Public Employees' Retirement System has been invested in foreign companies having an estimated 71 billion dollars worth of projects invested in terrorist-sponsoring nations, with a large number investing in Iran.

Murphey explains that it is basically illegal for businesses based in the United State to do business with the government of the terrorist sponsoring nation of Iran. However, because European companies are outside the jurisdiction of the United States, they can ignore the US policy prohibiting individuals from helping the government of Iran rebuild their aging infrastructure. Murphey states that the revenue generated by this infrastructure can be used by Iran and other terrorist-supporting nations to arm and train Hezbollah terrorists, shelter members of Al Qaeda, build Shehab 3 ballistic missiles and even piece together nuclear bombs.

"I don't believe the average state employee, teacher and taxpayer is fully aware that their retirement funds have been used in such a manner," Murphey said. "If they were made aware of this, I feel lawmakers would have little option but to enact a change of policy."

Murphey said that the aging oil supply infrastructure in Iran will make it more difficult for the Iranian government to continue their policy of financing terrorist organizations. Oil revenue is estimated to account for as much as 50% of Iran's revenue. However, several European companies, including those in which Oklahoma funds are invested, have snubbed their noses at US policy and are working to help Iran rehabilitate infrastructure. "Without the threat of divestment, these companies will continue to support our enemies," Murphey said.

Murphey said that in addition to the passage of House Resolution 1022, he intends to work for a statutory solution to the problem and will ask the Speaker of the House to approve an interim study to develop appropriate statutory language.

Individuals wishing to obtain a copy of the Center for Security Policy Report may do so by visiting www.housedistrict31.com.

Following is a description of companies with which Oklahoma has investments.

Total SA, headquartered in France, is among the leading energy investors in Iran. Its ties to Iran include ownership and development stakes in oil and gas fields that have generated significant revenues for Iran. Through close cooperation with Iran's state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, Total is involved in joint research projects for the development of numerous onshore and offshore oil fields in Iran. In 1997, Total became the first company to openly ignore the U.S. Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. That law was specifically designed to ensure that Iran and Libya were unable to realize substantial energy-related revenues that could be used to advance those countries' sponsorship of terrorism. Once Total ignored the law, a flood of foreign companies entered the energy market of those countries. Total is one of the most widely held foreign stocks of public pension funds.

Technip Coflexip a French engineering and construction company extensively involved in the Iranian energy sector. Technip's ties to Iran include multiple contracts for the construction of large petrochemical plants. For at least one of these contracts, the company is reported to be providing a variety of equipment and technology. Technip's business ties to Iran have been investigated by the U.S. government due to allegations that specialty pumps provided to Iran by Technip may have contributed to that country's covert nuclear weapons programs. According to published reports, the company may have transferred "cryogenic fluid transfer pumps" designed to be "submersible and used to transfer extremely cold fluids" -- pumps that may have ended up in the cooling system of one Iran's nuclear reactors rather than a petrochemical complex.

UBS AG a giant Swiss bank company has been fined by U.S. regulators for violating a contract barring it from transferring dollar notes totaling $5 billion to Iran, Libya and other U.S.-sanctioned countries. Hard currency like the dollar facilitates terror sponsors' funding of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction programs. A UBS subsidiary has also been fined by U.S. regulators on charges that it violated U.S. sanctions on Iraq in 2001.

Stateoil ASA's operations in Iran are focused on the country's $2.6 billion South Pars gas field. In coordination with Iran's Petropars, Statoil is developing offshore Phases 6-8 of the South Pars field and holds a 40 percent stake in those projects. The company reportedly plans to invest as much as $300 million in the $2.6 billion South Pars gas field. Of greater concern is Statoil's agreement to pay Horton Investments, an Iranian investment firm, $15.2 million as part of an effort to advance its business interests in Iran. In 2003, this agreement became the source of an intense government investigation that led to a raid on Statoil's offices. The basis for the controversy was Horton's ties to Mehdi Hashemi, son of former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who works at the National Iranian Oil Company. Statoil was investigated for potential bribery and corruption charges. Although the contract was eventually canceled (after $5.2 million had already been transferred to Horton, however), the scandal led to the resignation of Statoil's CEO and other senior officials.

ENI Spa, the Italian energy giant, has one of the largest footprints of any Western company in Iran. ENI's projects in Iran are estimated to be valued in the billions of dollars. ENI - and its subsidiaries, Agip and Snamprogetti Spa, have a number of significant business ties to the oil and gas industries of Iran. ENI maintains a 38% stake in Iran's Balal offshore oil field, a 60% stake in Phases 4 and 5 of the South Pars offshore gas field, and a 45% stake in the Gulf Dorood oil field. According to reports, ENI's contract for the South Pars gas field alone totaled some $3.8 billion. ENI has also been awarded construction and upgrade contracts for several large Iranian petrochemical complexes. The company is reportedly also bidding on contracts to develop additional phases of the South Pars deal.

Alcatel, headquartered in France, has significant operations in Iran. Among its activities in Iran that have relevance to Tehran's military and terrorism-related activities are contracts signed with state-controlled Iranian companies to provide data transmission and switching network capabilities. These contracts have reportedly included the provision of hardware, software, technologies and training to Iranian companies. It likewise is installing an undersea telecommunications cable in the country. Most of its activities in Iran are undertaken with state-owned partners.

Most company descriptions provided by the Family Security Foundation.

Stopping Our Tax Dollars From Financing Terrorists

Stopping Our Tax Dollars From Financing Terrorists

As your State Representative it is my goal to work hard in advocating
for the concerns of House District 31 constituents.

The most frequent requests I receive are for a change in the law or
advocacy for a new piece of legislation. Over the first few months in
office, I fielded a number of suggestions and developed a long list of
potential legislation. I believe it is important to give every
constituent's proposal due and fair consideration.

Such was the case earlier in the year when a citizen contacted me with
a request to investigate whether or not Oklahoma pension funds were
being used to invest in foreign companies doing business in the
terrorist-sponsoring countries of Iran, Syria, North Korea and Sudan.

This type of information is rather hard to come by, but after some
research, I obtained a 2004 report developed by The Center for
Security Policy, showing several startling facts.

Nearly 18% of the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement Fund and 14% of the
Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement Fund are invested in foreign
companies who do business in terrorist sponsoring nations. This
represents an investment of about 1.2 billion of our teachers', state
employees' and taxpayers' funds. Worse still, this figure only
accounts for the investments of two of Oklahoma's seven retirement
systems.

You might ask why it is a problem for us to invest monies in these
countries such as Iran?

It is basically illegal for businesses based in the United States to
do business with the government of Iran. However, because foreign
companies are outside the jurisdiction of the United States, they can
ignore the US policy of not allowing businesses to work for the
government of Iran in rebuilding the aging infrastructure of this
terrorist nation. The revenue generated by rebuilt infrastructure and
the technology provided by these companies can be used by Iran to arm
and train Hezbollah terrorists, shelter members of Al Qaeda, build
Shehab 3 ballistic missiles, and even piece together nuclear bombs.

I do not believe that the average state employee, teacher and taxpayer
is fully aware that their retirement funds have been used to help
finance the enemy. If they were made aware of this, I feel lawmakers
would have little option but to enact a change of policy.

This change of policy would help stop the rehabilitation of aging oil
supply infrastructure in Iran and make it more difficult for the
Iranian government to continue their policy of financing terrorists
organizations. Oil revenue is estimated to account for a large
percentage of Iran's revenue. However, several European companies,
including those in which Oklahoma funds are invested, have snubbed
their nose at US policy and are working to help Iran. Without the
threat of divestment, these I believe companies will continue to
support our enemies.

Legislation is being offered in several other states to start the
divestment process. Foreign companies stand to loose billions of
dollars of American pension funds if they continue to support terror.

Very soon I plan to introduce a resolution on the House floor to call
for Oklahoma retirement systems to start the disinvestment process. I
will ask the speaker to impanel an interim study so we can begin the
process of writing appropriate statutory language to make sure our
money will not be invested in companies which help develop
infrastructure in terrorist states.

In short, it is vital that we dry up the money which funds our
enemies.

A copy of the 2004 report showing Oklahoma's investment in these
companies can be obtained online at www.HouseDistrict31.com.

As always, please feel welcome to send me your comments or concerns.
Without the involvement of a very reform minded House District 31
constituent, I would have been unaware of the need to advocate for
this important issue.

Giving You Access To See Government Spending

Murphey Legislative Update 4/11/2007

This week the House of Representatives approved what I believe to be one of the most exciting pieces of government reform legislation this year.

Indications are that a strong number of House District 31 residents believe that government is too big. They feel the scope of citizens' freedoms are reduced the more government grows and usurps power.

Thus, as your State Representative, I am committed to fulfilling the charge of working to reduce the size of government. The biggest issues we face in trying to downsize government are finding inefficiencies, inappropriate spending and corruption. Once these are exposed it will be hard for elected officials to refuse to take action.

The problem we are forced to deal with is that state government spending (almost $7,000,000,000 in state appropriations alone) is not readily exposed to the scrutiny of the people. Even many legislators rarely have direct access to the items on which taxpayer money is spent. Most of the information presented to legislators only concerns requests for new spending, with little oversight over current and past agency spending. You can only imagine the temptation for abuse of public dollars when taxpayers and their elected representatives do not have easy access to how and where money is spent. A 2006 August poll found that 64 percent of Oklahoma voters believe state government wastes between 10 cents and 59 cents of every dollar it collects.

This is about to change. SB 1, which already won approval in the Senate, cleared the House on Tuesday and should now be its way to the Governor. If the Governor approves the bill, state agencies will be required by law to post their expenditures. The website OKOpenBook.gov will be online by the end of the year and will allow taxpayers to search government expenditures. As the website evolves, it should include easy to use tools which allow taxpayers to track exactly how and where government money is spent. This will offer the average citizen much more oversight than legislators currently have.

Some of the items to be included online include grants, contracts, subcontracts, tax credits, payments to businesses under the various business incentive laws, and expenditures from the Rainy Day Fund.

This idea was proposed by state Senator Randy Brogden and State Representative Paul Wesselhoft after a similar concept was put forward by Oklahoma U.S. Senator Tom Coburn and approved at the federal level. Coburn's vision of a website where citizens can google government spending has caught on at the state level with 17 states across the nation considering or enacting similar proposals.

I believe this will be a vitally important tool as we begin the process of working to reduce the size of government in Oklahoma and I would encourage everyone to note web address www.OKOpenBook.gov for future reference.

As always, please feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance. I can be reached at 557-7350 or on the web at HouseDistrict31.com.

Murphey Legislative Update 4/4/2007

This week the legislature took action on two important measures both of which I have been privileged to co-sponsor. While the House of Representatives prepared to debate pro-life legislation (SB 719), a Senate committee was taking action on HB 1804, the immigration reform proposal.

SB 719 is a comprehensive approach to stopping the use of taxpayer funds for abortions and establishing more in-depth disclosure reporting requirements from Oklahoma's abortion industry. The bill became elevated in profile after two major Oklahoma medical groups came out in opposition to it. This unprecedented action seemed to give courage to opponents of the proposal and so debate on the floor of the House became vigorous.

Those opposed to the bill argued that by taking away the ability of people to use Medicaid for abortions, we are punishing the poor who can not afford it. Proponents debated in favor of the bill by stating that taxpayers should not be forced to provide for an action which is in such opposition to the deeply felt values held by many Oklahomans.

SB 719 passed the house by a margin of about 3-1. I appreciated the number of House District 31 residents who contacted me to encourage support for this bill. It was a privilege to represent your values on the issue.

The vote on immigration reform (HB 1804) took place in the Senate Judiciary Committee after what appears to have been considerable behind the scenes lobbying by Oklahoma Chamber members opposed to some of the provisions that sought to hold employers responsible for hiring illegal aliens.

The potential watering down of this bill was one of my greatest fears due to the nature of the opposition. However, it appears as if most of the bill's language was left in place, with the Chamber lobby agreeing to slight changes. For the most part, this bill will still encourage employers to avoid "looking the other way" in their hiring practices.

HB 1804 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a narrow 5-3 margin. Due to new Senate rules, if a bill fails a vote in committee, it is dead for the next two years. So, for now, by a slight margin, comprehensive immigration reform remains alive and heads to the full Senate for a vote.

As always, please do not hesitate to give me a call at 557-7350 or visit on the web at www.HouseDistrict31.com.