Articles
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Higher Education
OU student: No intent to cause controversy with essay
University of Oklahoma junior Samantha Fulnecky says she was blindsided when her reaction essay—arguing that gender is binary and grounding her view in Christian convictions—earned a zero. She says she didn’t know her online instructor identified as transgender and wasn’t trying to provoke anyone.Ray Carter | December 3, 2025
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Law & Principles
Eric Swalwell touted as open-primary success
Activists pushing State Question 836 claim a California-style “top two” primary will give Oklahoma more moderate candidates, yet their own flagship report praising that system held up one of Congress’s most aggressively partisan Democrats—Eric Swalwell—as a model success.Ray Carter | December 2, 2025
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Higher Education
OU probes claim of religious discrimination after student given zero
A University of Oklahoma instructor has been placed on administrative leave while officials investigate a junior student’s allegation that she was discriminated against for expressing Christian beliefs in an assigned “reaction paper” on gender.Ray Carter | December 1, 2025
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Education
Momentum builds to revive Mississippi-style reading reform in Oklahoma
The State Chamber is urging lawmakers to revive the Mississippi-style early literacy law that once helped Oklahoma make major gains but was later gutted, triggering a steep decline in reading outcomes.Jonathan Small | December 1, 2025
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Higher Education
Pattern of anti-Christian bias? OU hit with new complaint
A new discrimination complaint at the University of Oklahoma is reigniting long-running concerns about hostility toward Christian or conservative viewpoints on campus.Ray Carter | November 25, 2025
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Economy
Inflation-indexed minimum wages: Washington’s cautionary tale
Over the past 25 years, Washington state raised its minimum wage by 150 percent and, in 2021, locked in automatic annual hikes—just like those proposed under Oklahoma’s State Question 832. The results have been predictable.Curtis Shelton | November 24, 2025
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Education
Experts: Oklahoma can restore reading gains without massive new spending
Without massive spending increases, Mississippi soared into the nation’s top 10 in reading. Oklahoma, meanwhile, watched its reading scores collapse even as school revenue climbed to record highs.Ray Carter | November 24, 2025
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Economy
Market wages are already rising; SQ 832 would cause real harm
Although Oklahoma’s statutory minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009, the true starting wage in the real labor market is already higher. After all, employers must pay what attracts workers—not what a law dictates. State Question 832 would force wages to skyrocket far beyond what local businesses can sustain.Jonathan Small | November 24, 2025
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Law & Principles
A flawed election system, or flawed ideas?
SQ 836 isn’t real reform—it’s a scheme that would limit voter choice, favor liberal outcomes, and let activists rig the system when their ideas can’t win.Michael Wright | November 20, 2025
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Education
Charter schools outperform OKCPS despite similar poverty levels
Newly released state test results show that Oklahoma City–area charter schools are outperforming the traditional Oklahoma City Public Schools district by a wide margin, with charter students testing proficient at more than twice the rate of their district peers.Ray Carter | November 20, 2025