Recently the Oklahoma Superintendent of Education announced her plan for Oklahoma schools to have several days added to their school year and an additional hour tacked onto the school day. In her presentation, Superintendent Sandy Garrett referenced the success of the Charter School KIPP Academy. KIPP students attend school from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and twice-monthly on Saturdays.
Principal Tracy McDaniel of KIPP Academy pointed out that going to school for more hours is fine but it will not make a difference if core scholastic instruction is not present during those days.
This comment was backed by feedback I received from an Oklahoma teacher. His letter said in part:
"Our current layout calls for 175 days of classroom instruction and five days of staff development. I can tell you that most of our students are not in the classroom 175 days out of the year. Or even 150 for that matter.
"I am just tired of going to work 175 days a year and facing the many obstacles thrown in my path. It's not just the sports... the countless local, state, and national organizational meetings, dress up days and kids getting out of class to judge schoolmates and have pictures made (we had 10 of them last year), science fairs, speech contests, creed contests, drug meetings, sex ed meetings, homecoming practices and decorations, BETA installations, cooking and decorating for various organizational dinners and prom, class meetings, visits from class ring, athletic shoes for every sport, sr. picture, and letter jacket salespeople, weekly school meetings, people bringing flowers and balloons on Valentine's day, picture days, local, county and state stock shows, students reading for elementary children, students missing class to lifeguard at the local pool for coaches who take their elementary PE classes to swim, and on and on and on. Every minute these things are going on students are not in the classroom - it adds up quickly.
"If we had them in school, free of distraction, for 150 or 175 or 190 days a year, there are no limits to what we could achieve. Our kids are not dumb and our teachers are not inadequate. We just need to be allowed to do our job without interference.
"If the legislature adds 15 days, let them be dead weeks or blacklist weeks. Say these are 15 days where no extracurricular activities can take place, and I promise it will be the most educationally beneficial 15 days of school the State of Oklahoma has seen since the day we wandered out of our one room school houses and the first ping of a public school baseball bat echoed across the prairie."
Can you imagine being a teacher in our public school system and competing with all of those activities? When forced to deal with countless extracurricular events and government mandated political correctness it is no wonder our teachers and administrators are facing such an uphill battle.
I believe this is one of the reasons that alternative forms of education have been so successful. In the KIPP Charter School, students tend to focus on academics. 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.” The possibility of academic success is enhanced when students are allowed to focus on what is really important.
As always please continue to supply me with your feedback. It is greatly appreciated. I have placed the entire letter from the teacher on my blog, which can be accessed from www.HouseDistrict31.com.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Giving Oklahoma Students A Chance
Giving Oklahoma Students A Chance
One of the most exciting and encouraging events of my first year in the legislature occurred this week as I was privileged to visit the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) and meet with KIPP principle Tracy McDaniel. KIPP is an inner city charter school located on the second floor of the F.D. Moon Academy at 13th and Martin Luther King Blvd. in Oklahoma City.
A few years ago, I visited the F.D. Middle School to speak to the students. I remember thinking how deplorable the conditions of the school were and observed the lack of discipline in the students. The school was the lowest-performing in the state. Principle McDaniel explained that in the past, the school was handicapped by inadequate staff, making it difficult to achieve success. He indicated that of approximately 50 teachers, he believed 45 were simply not up to the task of providing a quality education. As a result, F.D. Moon remained one of the lowest performing schools in the state. That is when McDaniel took action. He spent a year out of state in training with the KIPP program and then returned to Oklahoma and the F.D. Moon school, where he now runs the KIPP Charter School.
Now, despite the same 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 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. Students are encouraged to call teachers after hours if they have problems with homework. McDaniel uses these calls as a way of reviewing the performance of teachers. If there are a large number of calls about a particular subject, then the manner in which the concept has been taught is subject to review. As such, the job performance of McDaniel's staff is consistently analyzed and improved upon.
This idea of holding the employees (teachers), responsible to the customers (students), is one that ensures the school operates according to the established principles which are successful in the private sector and are all too absent in the world of government-run schools.
The most enjoyable part of the visit was speaking to the students about their experience at KIPP. The students are able to look you in the eye and clearly articulate how KIPP has changed their lives and their goals of continuing on to academic success in both high school and college. KIPP student career plans range from medicine and law to forensic science and engineering.
A visit to KIPP will restore faith in inner city students. If these young people can succeed in the midst of some of the worst economic conditions, think of how the program would enable the students in the rest of the state!
This year in the legislature I was able to see firsthand how advocates of a government-dominated monopoly on common education tried hard to limit the ability of these types of schools to expand. Now I understand why it is so important to them that the KIPP success story is not repeated in the future. The success of outside-the-box projects like KIPP is no doubt one of the greatest threats to the education status-quo which imprisons many inner city students in a system of government-run failure, dooming them to a life of economic blight.
As lawmakers, we owe it to future generations to enable students access to charter schools, private schools and homeschool programs which will contribute to their success.
One of the most exciting and encouraging events of my first year in the legislature occurred this week as I was privileged to visit the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) and meet with KIPP principle Tracy McDaniel. KIPP is an inner city charter school located on the second floor of the F.D. Moon Academy at 13th and Martin Luther King Blvd. in Oklahoma City.
A few years ago, I visited the F.D. Middle School to speak to the students. I remember thinking how deplorable the conditions of the school were and observed the lack of discipline in the students. The school was the lowest-performing in the state. Principle McDaniel explained that in the past, the school was handicapped by inadequate staff, making it difficult to achieve success. He indicated that of approximately 50 teachers, he believed 45 were simply not up to the task of providing a quality education. As a result, F.D. Moon remained one of the lowest performing schools in the state. That is when McDaniel took action. He spent a year out of state in training with the KIPP program and then returned to Oklahoma and the F.D. Moon school, where he now runs the KIPP Charter School.
Now, despite the same 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 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. Students are encouraged to call teachers after hours if they have problems with homework. McDaniel uses these calls as a way of reviewing the performance of teachers. If there are a large number of calls about a particular subject, then the manner in which the concept has been taught is subject to review. As such, the job performance of McDaniel's staff is consistently analyzed and improved upon.
This idea of holding the employees (teachers), responsible to the customers (students), is one that ensures the school operates according to the established principles which are successful in the private sector and are all too absent in the world of government-run schools.
The most enjoyable part of the visit was speaking to the students about their experience at KIPP. The students are able to look you in the eye and clearly articulate how KIPP has changed their lives and their goals of continuing on to academic success in both high school and college. KIPP student career plans range from medicine and law to forensic science and engineering.
A visit to KIPP will restore faith in inner city students. If these young people can succeed in the midst of some of the worst economic conditions, think of how the program would enable the students in the rest of the state!
This year in the legislature I was able to see firsthand how advocates of a government-dominated monopoly on common education tried hard to limit the ability of these types of schools to expand. Now I understand why it is so important to them that the KIPP success story is not repeated in the future. The success of outside-the-box projects like KIPP is no doubt one of the greatest threats to the education status-quo which imprisons many inner city students in a system of government-run failure, dooming them to a life of economic blight.
As lawmakers, we owe it to future generations to enable students access to charter schools, private schools and homeschool programs which will contribute to their success.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Courts To Decide Illegal Immigration Issue
Courts To Decide Illegal Immigration Issue
Perhaps the bill approved during this legislative session with some of the most far reaching consequences was House Bill 1804. House Bill 1804 is reportedly the most stringent immigration reform bill in the nation and takes a number of dramatic steps to crack down on the illegal immigration problem.
HB 1804 is designed to stop illegals from getting both jobs and public benefits. It also contains a requirements that local law enforcement enforce federal immigration law and includes punishments for people who knowingly harbor or transport undocumented aliens.
The passage of House Bill 1804 represented the culmination of two years of work by State Representative Randy Terrill (R-Moore). The bill passed a number of hurdles including a last minute public decision by Governor Brad Henry to not veto the law. Now, the law faces what may be it's toughest challenge yet.
A group known as "The United Front Task Force" has formed as a response to House Bill 1804 and kicked off their opposition to bill by launching a public-awareness campaign, including a billboard going up in the Tulsa area. The billboard asks the question "Is if Ok ... for Oklahoma to have a law that promotes hate among people?"
Perhaps the group's most effective tool against the law is their plan to file a lawsuit before the law takes effect.
Their effort gained momentum when a federal judge in Pennsylvania struck down an illegal immigration reform law that had been passed by the small Pennsylvania town of Hazelton. The judge asserted that the town's law was pre-empted by federal law and would breach due-process rights. "Hazleton, in its zeal to control the presence of a group deemed undesirable, violated the rights of such people, as well as others within the community," he said in his opinion.
One of the attorneys who is a member of this task force is publicly soliciting for illegal immigrants to serve as plaintiffs as part of the strategy of filing lawsuits. In his solicitation attorney Russel Abbott makes the following statement. "Undocumented workers are not criminals who are here to do us harm, they are simply poor people trying to survive, and to provide for their families. Some people in Oklahoma openly hate immigrants, but I believe they are only a minority, albeit with a tendency to be extremely vocal about their beliefs. I think most Oklahomans have compassion for the less fortunate, even those who do not speak English. I believe most Oklahomans do not wish to deploy their law enforcement officers in an unnecessary and racist effort to police the American border with Mexico...National organizations, including the ACLU and MALDEF, are getting involved to help with the court case."
Representative Terrill has responded by asking the group to declare who it is that will be financing the planned lawsuits. "The failure to disclose donors prevents media scrutiny and keeps the public from knowing the real agenda of those who are promoting the judicial equivalent of a ballot measure," Terrill said. "This group is trying to use the judiciary to indirectly accomplish a goal they cannot achieve through the political process," he added.
I certainly concur with Terrill's remarks. I believe this will be a significant test of state's rights. Hopefully the federal court system will do the right thing and uphold the people of Oklahoma's right to make laws discouraging illegal immigration.
Perhaps the bill approved during this legislative session with some of the most far reaching consequences was House Bill 1804. House Bill 1804 is reportedly the most stringent immigration reform bill in the nation and takes a number of dramatic steps to crack down on the illegal immigration problem.
HB 1804 is designed to stop illegals from getting both jobs and public benefits. It also contains a requirements that local law enforcement enforce federal immigration law and includes punishments for people who knowingly harbor or transport undocumented aliens.
The passage of House Bill 1804 represented the culmination of two years of work by State Representative Randy Terrill (R-Moore). The bill passed a number of hurdles including a last minute public decision by Governor Brad Henry to not veto the law. Now, the law faces what may be it's toughest challenge yet.
A group known as "The United Front Task Force" has formed as a response to House Bill 1804 and kicked off their opposition to bill by launching a public-awareness campaign, including a billboard going up in the Tulsa area. The billboard asks the question "Is if Ok ... for Oklahoma to have a law that promotes hate among people?"
Perhaps the group's most effective tool against the law is their plan to file a lawsuit before the law takes effect.
Their effort gained momentum when a federal judge in Pennsylvania struck down an illegal immigration reform law that had been passed by the small Pennsylvania town of Hazelton. The judge asserted that the town's law was pre-empted by federal law and would breach due-process rights. "Hazleton, in its zeal to control the presence of a group deemed undesirable, violated the rights of such people, as well as others within the community," he said in his opinion.
One of the attorneys who is a member of this task force is publicly soliciting for illegal immigrants to serve as plaintiffs as part of the strategy of filing lawsuits. In his solicitation attorney Russel Abbott makes the following statement. "Undocumented workers are not criminals who are here to do us harm, they are simply poor people trying to survive, and to provide for their families. Some people in Oklahoma openly hate immigrants, but I believe they are only a minority, albeit with a tendency to be extremely vocal about their beliefs. I think most Oklahomans have compassion for the less fortunate, even those who do not speak English. I believe most Oklahomans do not wish to deploy their law enforcement officers in an unnecessary and racist effort to police the American border with Mexico...National organizations, including the ACLU and MALDEF, are getting involved to help with the court case."
Representative Terrill has responded by asking the group to declare who it is that will be financing the planned lawsuits. "The failure to disclose donors prevents media scrutiny and keeps the public from knowing the real agenda of those who are promoting the judicial equivalent of a ballot measure," Terrill said. "This group is trying to use the judiciary to indirectly accomplish a goal they cannot achieve through the political process," he added.
I certainly concur with Terrill's remarks. I believe this will be a significant test of state's rights. Hopefully the federal court system will do the right thing and uphold the people of Oklahoma's right to make laws discouraging illegal immigration.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Taxpayers Should Not Be Funding Child Abusers
Last Thursday the House Human Services committee held a public hearing as part of an interim study looking into procedures by which the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) licenses child care centers.
In all of the committee meetings I have attended as a member, I have never been part of one that produced the level of public interest as this one has. Our committee room was filled to capacity as interested parties sought to view the hearing.
The interest was due to the proposal of reforms to the system by which child care centers are licensed. These reforms are in response to a tragic incident which occurred in May at a Tulsa area home day care center.
Known as the "Noah's Ark Child Care Home," the day care center received its license to operate in January 2003. Policy dictates that DHS perform three site inspections at day care centers each year. From 2003-2007, these inspections documented a number of care and safety deficiencies at the child care home. During this time, a total of eight referrals alleging various forms of physical abuse or neglect were received by DHS. The referrals were serious enough that DHS requested the center to "voluntarily" cease operations on four different occasions while the referrals were investigated. Each time the owner of the home refused the request.
In November of 2005, not only was the alleged inappropriate behavior substantiated, but the person committing the offense was caught trying to cover it up. In April of 2007, a police investigator noted eight one-half inch slash marks on the upper back of one of the children. The owner of the day care center admitted to committing the abuse. Despite this admission, DHS made the decision not to seek the closure of the center until charges were filed by the police. This decision would have tragic consequences, as one month later, a two-year-old child died after the owner of the day care center bound his hands and covered his mouth with masking tap. Incredibly, on May 17th, after this incident, the owner of the day care again refused to "voluntarily" close her day care center. DHS closed the home day care on May 18th.
In reaction to this case, DHS is proposing a series of reforms. One of these proposed reforms would streamline the process by which emergency closure orders can be issued. Another reform would require day care centers to allow immediate access to parents of recent DHS findings concerning the center in question. Some of this information will also be placed online for parents to access.
The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth (OCCY) Office of Juvenile System Oversight, the watchdog agency for DHS, submitted to our committee a detailed report containing details of the failures of DHS and recommendations for changes. The report and work of OCCY confirms the need for the important role OCCY plays in providing an oversight role of DHS. OCCY's role was recently strengthened as a result of reforms following the Kelsey Smith-Briggs case. I feel their role needs to continue to be strengthened in the future.
I also believe that DHS should develop a policy of revoking state subsidized day care payments to those who are committing acts of abuse. One of the most frustrating facts of this case is the number of the children in this center that appear to have been subsidized by the taxpayers. This made the center little more than an extension of state government, meaning that you and I were providing the income for this person to commit these acts. I do not want my money to be used to provide an income for child abusers. Had state payments been cut off when the first case of inappropriate conduct was documented in 2005, the center may have closed. As of now, DHS shows very little inclination to address the issue of cutting off taxpayer funding for dangerous day care centers.
I remain committed to advocating for Human Services reform, but I need your help. Please continue to call me with your experiences and suggestions about Human Services issues. I can be reached at 557-7350 or online at www.HouseDistrict31.com.
In all of the committee meetings I have attended as a member, I have never been part of one that produced the level of public interest as this one has. Our committee room was filled to capacity as interested parties sought to view the hearing.
The interest was due to the proposal of reforms to the system by which child care centers are licensed. These reforms are in response to a tragic incident which occurred in May at a Tulsa area home day care center.
Known as the "Noah's Ark Child Care Home," the day care center received its license to operate in January 2003. Policy dictates that DHS perform three site inspections at day care centers each year. From 2003-2007, these inspections documented a number of care and safety deficiencies at the child care home. During this time, a total of eight referrals alleging various forms of physical abuse or neglect were received by DHS. The referrals were serious enough that DHS requested the center to "voluntarily" cease operations on four different occasions while the referrals were investigated. Each time the owner of the home refused the request.
In November of 2005, not only was the alleged inappropriate behavior substantiated, but the person committing the offense was caught trying to cover it up. In April of 2007, a police investigator noted eight one-half inch slash marks on the upper back of one of the children. The owner of the day care center admitted to committing the abuse. Despite this admission, DHS made the decision not to seek the closure of the center until charges were filed by the police. This decision would have tragic consequences, as one month later, a two-year-old child died after the owner of the day care center bound his hands and covered his mouth with masking tap. Incredibly, on May 17th, after this incident, the owner of the day care again refused to "voluntarily" close her day care center. DHS closed the home day care on May 18th.
In reaction to this case, DHS is proposing a series of reforms. One of these proposed reforms would streamline the process by which emergency closure orders can be issued. Another reform would require day care centers to allow immediate access to parents of recent DHS findings concerning the center in question. Some of this information will also be placed online for parents to access.
The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth (OCCY) Office of Juvenile System Oversight, the watchdog agency for DHS, submitted to our committee a detailed report containing details of the failures of DHS and recommendations for changes. The report and work of OCCY confirms the need for the important role OCCY plays in providing an oversight role of DHS. OCCY's role was recently strengthened as a result of reforms following the Kelsey Smith-Briggs case. I feel their role needs to continue to be strengthened in the future.
I also believe that DHS should develop a policy of revoking state subsidized day care payments to those who are committing acts of abuse. One of the most frustrating facts of this case is the number of the children in this center that appear to have been subsidized by the taxpayers. This made the center little more than an extension of state government, meaning that you and I were providing the income for this person to commit these acts. I do not want my money to be used to provide an income for child abusers. Had state payments been cut off when the first case of inappropriate conduct was documented in 2005, the center may have closed. As of now, DHS shows very little inclination to address the issue of cutting off taxpayer funding for dangerous day care centers.
I remain committed to advocating for Human Services reform, but I need your help. Please continue to call me with your experiences and suggestions about Human Services issues. I can be reached at 557-7350 or online at www.HouseDistrict31.com.
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