Historian and teacher John Thompson reports on the progress of privatization in Oklahoma.
The state naively accepted the Gates compact, which obliged districts to welcome charter schools.
Thompson writes:
“The previous blockbuster discovery for Oklahoma City and Tulsa schools was S.B. 68, the “under-the-radar” bill to authorize cities to compete with school systems in sponsoring charter schools. The Tulsa World’s Andrea Eger, in “Change in State Law Sought for Tulsa Public Schools Would Allow Outsourcing of Instruction,” reports that another charter bill, H.B. 1691, “has flown largely beneath the public’s radar during a legislative session that has seen high-profile clashes over bills seeking private school vouchers and the expansion of charter schools into rural areas.”
“Eger reports that the Tulsa Public School System is moving ahead with plans to locate its three newest charters inside traditional public school facilities. Lunch and bus service would be provided for students. All three contract charters would be run by an out-of-state charter-management organization.
“Linda Hampton, the president of the Oklahoma Education Association, opposes H.B. 1691 “[b]ecause the bill is so broad in scope, it could open the door to total privatization of public schools.” She adds, “We also want to be sure we are not turning over our public school students to organizations that are looking to make a profit.”
Tulsa’s next superintendent is Deborah Gist, previously state superintendent of Rhode Island and a member of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change.
Watch for a full-blown drive for privatization in Oklahoma.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Glad to see Bill’s shadow government and Department of Education in full swing in the OK state. Perhaps OK was not the word they should have used. Better yet, next time, the OK state should KO any thing from him and his ilk.
Gist to the rescue!!!!
OK is the reddest state in the nation. Funny thing, the average Joe there cant even spell privatization. All they know as they hate the black man in charge. And Fox News is their true religion.
If you want regulated charter schools, you better put the regulations in before you expand charter schools, because you will never, ever get regulation once lawmakers are captured.
Ohio’s charter “reform” is rapidly turning into a joke. They watered it down so far it’s meaningless.
ww.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/03/public_access_to_charter_school_spending_is_just_not_going_to_happen_says_house_education_committee_chairman.html
I saw a suggestion yesterday where the public may have to bypass the legislature and put charter reform on the ballot as a referendum.
I think a ballot measure imposing transparency and financial reporting on charter schools would pass overwhelmingly in this state.
This is ridiculous. Our lawmakers are literally too cowed by lobbyists to do their job. Go around them, and directly to a ballot measure.
Chiara — if it goes to a vote, the same people who elected all the right wing extremists will vote in favor of the ‘reform’. Any way you slice it, Minnesota looks like paradise… and Oklahoma frankly hasn’t changed much other than to get more RED. Back in the 50’s, red meant communistic. What’s the negative connotation today of red? Perhaps, a feudal system….