Education: Oklahoma Sees it Right, Pun Intended!

By Rich Kozlovich

For some reason I'm on the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs list....addressed to my son. Neither of us have any idea why, so how all that happened is a mystery, but, I've stayed on the list because there's some really good stuff there. 

As an example, let's take their views on the importance of stable communities, and stable communities start with stable families.   Oklahoma's Republican Governor, Kevin Stitt declared November as ‘Family Month’ saying:

“Families are, really, the bedrock of our communities,”......They shape our values. They nurture our dreams. They stand by us through thick and thin. We all have great memories of our grandparents and our parents and all the life lessons they taught us. Families really are the foundation that we build our lives (upon), and it’s so important for young people to have role models and people that they can look up to, whether it’s your biological family or it’s someone that takes that role and helps shape your life.”............“Families, working together, are lifting themselves out of poverty,”

The article goes on to point out that "less than 5 percent of households headed by a married father and mother live in poverty."  The devastation caused by Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" programs neither created greatness, or even stability, in fact has been the bedrock for the massively unstable society we see destroying America today. 

Stitt went on to quote statistics wherein:

"2005 only 50 percent of men between ages 25 and 35 were married. Today, just 28 percent are married. Nationally, one in four children live without a father in the home."  

Let's understand neither laws, regulations, or government mandates can fix all this.  This is now a fix that can only be achieved via solid and stable families functioning under the stable moral foundation of

Judaic/Christian ethics that made America great. 

Stable families, create stable societies, and stable societies will invariably demand quality education, which brings me to their plans on education.  Brandon Dutcher wrote, Oklahoma educators should teach the success sequence, saying:

....the state Department of Education “could be directed to require that state education incorporates a family life standard into curriculum standards that would teach that:

• A high school graduation, full-time work, and having children after marriage are linked to less poverty and greater prosperity for adults.
• Sequencing marriage before parenthood is associated with greater family (and thus financial) stability.
• A stable, married family is linked to better educational, social, and emotional outcomes for parents and children, many of which are associated with more positive financial outcomes.

“It could also include basic facts about fertility, work-life balance, home economics, happiness, and human flourishing. These topics could be incorporated into its health and safety high school graduation requirements or supplement its required units of career-focused electives. And informing students in high school about fetal development, such as when a heartbeat is detectable or when a fetus’ fingerprints form, could help underscore the state’s commitment to protecting the value of every human life.................

While all of this shows they recognize the dangers, and they're to be commended for presenting solutions, it gives one pause because it wasn't all that long ago these things didn't need to be taught in schools, it was taught a home, and was the societal paradigm in America.  That's what needs fixing, and that needs to be addressed nationally, and it needs to be addressed by the nations religious leaders.  

Will that happen? No,  it won't be!

They've now been so heavily infested with leftist dogma, they're part of the problem, and in no way will they be part of the solution.  In short, they're heretics, even calling abortion, the murder of the unborn, "health care".   Society can only address that by choosing those religious leaders who've not faltered in their mission, and that must be a personal mission of discovery. 

Now this should be disturbing to everyone, because this isn't an isolated situation.   Oklahoma's students are so far behind in their reading ability, Oklahoma hopes to catch up to Mississippi, which on the surface is shocking since:

....in 2011, nearly 80% of Mississippi fourth graders scored below proficient on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading exam."..............

However:

Mississippi implemented a law that prevented students from being socially promoted out of third grade if they are not reading at a specific level. Those policies have had a dramatic impact over time. From 2011 to 2019, Mississippi’s fourth-grade reading score on the NAEP exam increased the equivalent of a full grade level. Mississippi has moved from ranking 49th in the nation for student literacy in 2013 to 21st in 2022.

In Oklahoma that was all watered down by leftists who devastated their system of education to the point:

"Oklahoma’s fourth grade NAEP reading score declined significantly. The 14-point decline in Oklahoma’s NAEP reading score indicates that fourth-grade students in 2022 had nearly one-and-a-half years less learning than their counterparts in 2015. Today, Oklahoma’s fourth-grade reading NAEP score outranks only three states and the District of Columbia."...... “When students aren’t able to read by third grade, they are four times more likely to leave high school without a diploma,”

The question that needs answering is this: How in the world is it possible that so many children are incapable of reading at third grade standards, in fourth grade?  Simple.  Teachers aren't doing their jobs, and their unions are a major part of that problem.  

It's clear that for so many years so many young minds were been wasted by leftists and their so-called  "education" programs, and there's no easy fix, but Oklahoma is willing to pay what's needed to fix this!  But they want results, which so often never happens. While teachers keep getting more money, students keep getting dumber.   The people of Oklahoma want to be able to see what they're paying for is worth it and are demanding A-F grades to provide that transparency, and the reason why? 

Because they are easily understood. Everyone knows a D or F school is not acceptable..........The response to a low grade, whether for students or schools, is not to get rid of grading. The proper response is to reassess and work to improve your grades. Students do this all the time, and many schools have received low grades only to improve them over time. Each year, Oklahoma taxpayers are asked to increase school funding by millions of dollars. They have every right to ask for measurement of the results.

Some students will always have trouble and it's up to teachers to work to fix it.  These formulaic systems in effect now are ineffective.  It may not be the teachers fault if students fail, but if teachers aren't fixing students problems, society needs to be able to ask why, and discover if it is the teacher, the student, or even the parents.  But questions need to be asked, and answers need to be given.  Grading is part of that solution.  

And finally, when I hear Oklahoma I hear these word from the move and play Oklahoma: 

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain and the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain.   

Oklahoma! Every night my honey lamb and I sit alone and talk and watch a hawk makin' lazy circles in the sky. We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand.

And when we say; Ee-ee-ow! A-yip-i-o-ee-ay! We're only sayin', you're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma, O.K.!

So, best wishes to the people of Oklahoma.  If "you belong to the land and land you belong to is grand", act accordingly and don't settle.  Don't let the left destroy the land, and the children of this land.