Taking Another Stand for States’ Rights

By Rep. Jason Murphey

This week, the Oklahoma House of Representatives once again voted to support a House Resolution authored by State Representative Charles Key which sends a message to the federal government regarding states’ rights. This is Key’s second proposal which has been necessitated by a previous version approved in the House and Senate, but vetoed by the Governor.

The resolution seeks to reassert Oklahoma’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and according to the resolution’s language, serves as “Notice and Demand to the federal government, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.”

The resolution makes a firm statement on behalf of local control. Read more…

Education is one of the policy areas in which there are clear differences among those of us in the Legislature. The focus of much of the debate this session has been on Senate Bill 834.

Euphemistically called “The School District Empowerment Act,” the measure is designed – over the next five years – to make every public school in Oklahoma a charter school. Charter schools, which today only are allowed in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties, have virtually no regulatory oversight beyond their local school boards.
Depending on to whom you talk, SB 834 either would strengthen public schools or wipe away decades of progress and begin the slow demise of Oklahoma’s public educational system. For me, the answer is clear: There has never been a greater threat to Oklahoma’s public schools than SB 834. Read more…