The Decline of Indoctrination in Oklahoma Classrooms

There was a time in Oklahoma when political indoctrination in public school classrooms was a systemic problem. This was a time when particular political ideologies were seen as part and parcel of the educational goals of the entire U.S. public school system. It was a time when students were not given the opportunity to question …

I Was the Ideal Beneficiary of School Choice Policies

I grew up poor and white in the American South in the 1980’s. My dad pastored numerous small rural churches in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. We moved on average every 3-4 years throughout my childhood. In December of 1991, we moved from Star City, Arkansas, population 2,000, to Nashville, Tennessee, where I began the …

Guess Who? – Oklahoma Legislative Edition

Spoon Vision Industries (not a real company) is proud to present "Guess Who? - Oklahoma Legislative Edition," the board game that helps you know the difference between a Dustin Roberts and a Ron Sharp! Whether played with a friend or used as interactive flash cards, "Guess Who? - Oklahoma Legislative Edition" will prepare you to …

White Privilege and School Choice Critique

The School Choice Movement undeniably forms the centerpiece legacy of the program of “massive resistance” to school desegregation in the United States in the late 1950s. Any white person advocating for school choice policies today is 1.) ignorant of this history, 2.) acting on implicit and explicit racial bias, 3.) openly taking advantage of the …

U.S. Public School Policies and Practices Support Open Borders

Arguably the most valuable words in the U.S. Constitution are found in the Fourteenth Amendment, often referred to collectively as the “Equal Protection Clause.” No state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Since the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in 1868, the Equal Protection Clause has been invoked …

A New Day (poem for #oklaed)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFuzic841mU&feature=youtu.be Do you want to know what it’s like to be a teacher? It's like any other desk job really, minus the actual sitting at a desk. Seven hours of daily meetings arranged the previous evening You want to know what it’s like to be a teacher in Oklahoma? It’s the hardest job with (almost) …

Trauma Informed Schools: The New ‘New Paternalism’

In 1997, New York University professor, Lawrence M. Mead, edited a book entitled “The New Paternalism: Supervisory Approaches to Poverty.” Mead’s work, spanning more than 30 years, has been highly influential in the implementation of draconian and ineffective work requirements for government assistance programs. “The New Paternalism” directly inspired noted education reformer, David Whitman, to …

The Schemers, Accomplices, and Pawns of Every Charter School

Charter schools are destined to be viewed by future generations as having been on “the wrong side of history.” But like other current education reforms, on the surface at least, charter schools seem like a good idea to a variety of people. Proponents of charter schools range from conservatives to progressives and from corporations to …

Public Schools Are Not ‘Government Schools,’ Not Yet

A favorite talking point of school privatizers and education reformers is to refer to public schools as “government schools.” When free market ideologues and politicians do this, they are primarily appealing to the libertarian tendencies of middle and upper class white evangelicals and Catholics. Right wing politicians rarely use the word “government” positively as an …

#BuskingTeacher

(A selection of original working song parodies for the 2018 Oklahoma Walkout) "Which Side Are You On?" (original by Florence Reece) Which side are you on? (x4) They say in Oklahoma There are no neutrals there. You'll either with the walkout Or the Council of Public Affairs Which side are you on? (x4) My daughter may be …