Today’s legislators are treating lower and middle-class students and public school teachers, of every race, to the likes of, how white legislators treated African-American students and their Black pedagogues during legal segregation.
[A few weeks ago], two Black men were arrested for sitting in a Starbucks here in Philadelphia. They were waiting for a friend who arrived shortly after his friends had been handcuffed. The men were supposedly “causing a disturbance” and “refused to buy anything.”
As all of the teachers have slowly and sullenly headed back to their collective classrooms throughout the state, a large portion of the state’s elected officials — who happen to be mostly Republicans — are actively trying to undo what little progress was made through the legislative remedies as a result of the teacher walkout.
A lingering cultural construct that brands Black boys as “bad dudes” and Black girls as young “angry Black women” stems from the same dark ignorance that caused the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and decades of racist policies passed by state legislators and policy makers. The truth is, they were the architects for what are now today’s educational equality gaps
Their essays were symptomatic of my lowered expectations for my students of color.
I know this ‘read’ may appear a little harsh, but white capitalists are literally sucking the “vibranium” out of North Tulsa — our Black dollars. Why is this important? When the Black dollar leaves the community, our economic power disintegrates.
Opinion By Nehemiah D. Frank
Oklahoma students consistently perform below nearly every other state in the nation, and I imagine that this year’s test scores will be lower due to unreasonable state legislators who have seemingly sworn their loyalty to oil and gas corporations. Considering last year’s average test score ranks Oklahoma at 49th in the nation for Pre-K through 12-grade education, we can literally hear the chains clanging against the floor as the new arrivals — former students — stroll into Oklahoma prisons. Our state ranks 2nd highest in the nation for incarceration and 1st in the world for incarceration of women.
The City of Tulsa and the Community Service Council released the first annual Equality Indicators report today at Tulsa City Hall, which uses data to measure equality using a tool developed in partnership with the City University of New York Institute for State and Local Governance and The Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities network.
My pay does not reflect my educational level or experience. Each year, more and more is expected of us but with fewer resources.
Oklahomans have asked themselves the million dollar question or perhaps the billion dollar question: Why are public schools inadequately funded in Oklahoma when the state boasts natural resources that have created some of the worlds wealthiest people?
By Kojo Asamoa-Caesar Education in Oklahoma is a house on fire. Teachers finally have had enough and got organized to walkout of the building. The state government, the slumlords in this analogy, […]
Before the “Work the Contract” initiative began on March 12th, Cameron would spend time before and after school (and on weekends) making lesson plans, grading, calling parents, making copies, planning activities, organizing group work, and meeting with his coaches, principal and data team. Now the time to complete these duties is confined to his 55 minute planning period (contractual time afforded to allow teachers to attend to business outside of their classroom) each day. His regular 80/hr work week has been reduced to forty. “I am having a hard time not bringing any work home,” said Cameron. “It feels like a slap in the face that we have to prove to our legislators how much work this takes.”
Tulsa, Okla. — Hands down! Saturday was one of the best days in Tulsa history for thousands of city residents who traveled from across the district to attend the Expungement Expo at the 36 Street Event Center.
We now live in the postmodern era where people on a daily basis are combating social, political, and economic issues that plague and effect all. Though these issues require a systematic approach toward rectification, it is quite evident that the narrative behind the problem is unquestionably vital. Cultural crusading, in this case, play a role in policy change, particularly for groups interested in influencing dogmatic narratives. It can also play a role in making ourselves visible and challenging narratives at the level of culture (and popular culture in particular).
Healthy Neighborhoods Overlay vote shows that the city’s political powers are willing to listen and even vote in the interest of their constituents, voters who have often felt marginalized.
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