Education

Another voice for choice

August 31, 2009

Brandon Dutcher

KXII, the CBS affiliate in southern Oklahoma, reported last week that "many Oklahoma students say they're unprepared for college," a claim which seemed to find vindication a few days later when the Tulsa World reported that "more than a third of first-time college freshmen in Oklahoma needed some type of remedial course work last year." Though those two articles are troubling, a piece in the Edmond Sun is encouraging: University of Central Oklahoma economist Mickey Hepner makes "the case for educational choice scholarships." Dr. Hepner isn't what you'd call a movement conservative -- indeed, he strongly supported Barack Obama in the 2008 election -- but like other Obama fans (state Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre, for example, and state Rep. Jabar Shumate) he recognizes that school choice is a matter of fairness.