- Oklahoma School Closures Part of Statewide Picture of Enrollment Decline
OKLAHOMA CITY — Amid the largest single-year decline in decades for Oklahoma public school enrollment, the state’s largest district announced the potential closure of 17 schools as it grapples with a long-term trend of...
- Evicted Students Miss Class and Fall Behind. Tulsa Schools Want to Change That
This article was published with The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics, policy and power. Tulsa, Oklahoma With her long, wavy hair pulled back in a ponytail, the young mom sat alone outside courtroom 6...
- Federal Appeals Court Upholds Oklahoma HB 1775 But Narrows Its Meaning
OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal appeals court has upheld and limited the interpretation of a controversial Oklahoma law impacting public school teaching on race and gender. In a split decision Wednesday, the Tenth Circuit...
- Veteran Educator Robert Franklin Wins GOP Runoff for Oklahoma Ed Chief
Robert Franklin, a retired Oklahoma educator, was enjoying life as a grandfather and giving lectures on the politics of education when he decided to become a candidate himself.  Now he’s likely to be the next state...
- Oklahoma Students Head Back to School With Focus on Literacy
OKLAHOMA CITY — Hundreds of thousands of Oklahoma children returned to school this week for their first academic year under strict new literacy laws. It will be their final school year before reading scores carry even...
- Oklahoma Jewish Charter Case Heads to Court as Debate Spreads to Other States
The founders of a proposed Jewish charter school in Oklahoma will appear in federal court Wednesday to argue that the school should be able to open even though the state charter board turned down its application. The...
- Oklahoma Data Shows Lack of Fully Trained Teachers Entering the Classroom
OKLAHOMA CITY — State leaders say they’re still pursuing solutions to reverse a yearslong decline in traditionally trained teachers entering the classroom, all while emergency certified educators continue to fill...
- A $40,000-per-year AI school with no teachers is opening in Oklahoma this August
An AI-powered, billionaire-backed chain of private schools intends to educate students with two hours of virtual learning a day and entrepreneurship workshops.
The post A $40,000-per-year AI school with no teachers is...
- Splitting Up Special Ed and Civil Rights Will Dilute Services, Experts Say
As a special education advocate in Oklahoma, Lucia Frohling handles about 40 cases per year in which schools reduce class time for students with disabilities, often for behavior issues or serious medical conditions. ...
- Mississippi Governor Says Oklahoma Can Achieve His State’s Reading ‘Miracle’
OKLAHOMA CITY — Touting his state’s soaring literacy scores, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves urged Oklahoma leaders to commit to tough reading policies. This year, Oklahoma enacted similar literacy laws as Mississippi,...
- Tulsa Charter Network Begins to Bounce Back From Pandemic Decline
In the first years after Tulsa Honor Academy opened in 2015, founder Elsie Urueta Pollock visited almost every student’s home herself, promising parents that she would help their children be successful. Like them, she’s...
- Aquatic Robots, Drones and Power Tools: STEM Spans All Grades in Oklahoma School
Tulsa, Oklahoma, STEM teacher Jacqueline Lanning had long had her eye on the Dove Schools. The public charter network incorporated science, technology, engineering and math in every grade, and its students received a...
- Opinion: How the ‘Southern Surge’ Passed Oklahoma By
In poorer states like Oklahoma, we’ve often heard a sardonic refrain whenever the conversation turns to bad news about health or education: “Thank God for Mississippi.” I grew up hearing that line. However bad things...
- Oklahoma Teachers Just Got a Raise, but the State Still a ‘Lap Behind’
On a Sunday afternoon in late May, Nancy Jarvis, an Oklahoma kindergarten teacher, was working in her classroom, preparing for an end-of-the-year awards ceremony and making a slideshow for parents.  The routine...
- Opinion: First-Generation Student’s Journey From ‘Stain on the Carpet’ to Honors Grad
This story is part of our SPOTLIGHT series focusing on the state of education in Oklahoma. Read all our coverage and essays here. “Blah blah blah.” That’s all I heard during story time, sitting on a colorful...
- Oklahoma Eases School Penalties for Chronic Student Absences
“Taylor dropped a new album.” “Resting up from my vacay.” “Netflix binge last night.” Those were among the “lame excuses” for missing school that Oklahoma’s Union Public Schools featured during the 2024-25 school year,...
- Oklahoma Student Performance Is Declining. Charter Schools Are an Exception
A recent report from the University of Oklahoma documented the Sooner State’s “Fall to 48th” place on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Its slide down the rankings from the middle of the pack in the 1990s...
- ‘A Game of Catch-Up’: How This Oklahoma School Gets Kids Reading at Grade Level
Each August in rural southwestern Oklahoma, more than half of Frederick Elementary School’s incoming third graders begin their school year in a literacy intervention program because they’re behind in reading...
- Could This Dead Shopping Mall Become America’s Largest Family Service Center?
Oklahoma City’s Crossroads Mall officially shuttered to shoppers in 2017. But over the past decade, local leaders have launched a groundbreaking effort to revitalize the complex as America’s largest community school,...
- Oklahoma’s Schools Are Some of the Worst in the Nation. Can They Recover?
When Oklahoma’s education rankings make headlines, it’s usually not a good thing. Last year, WalletHub, a personal finance website, ranked the state 50th — just above New Mexico — on a mix of criteria including test...
- AI Education Policy Tracker: 52 Bills Across 25 States
FutureEd is tracking 52 state-level bills addressing AI in classrooms. South Carolina's H.B. 5253 would require written parental consent for AI tools; Oklahoma's bill would require districts to adopt written AI policies before 2027-28.
