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Oklahoma state employees learned that their retirement plans will take a $9.7 million hit due to a state law passed last year banning the state from investing in companies perceived to be adversarial to the fossil fuel industry.

The federal government put a hold on a $4.5 million family planning grant to the state because Oklahoma laws may not allow women to know all their reproductive options, including that Kansas is the nearest state for abortion services.

Dr. Chris McNeil joins the podcast this week to explain that, in his opinion, because of a poor medical recruiting system, we are losing lives, talent and time. McNeil is the only Black male resident emergency physician in Tulsa, and starting July 1, he'll be the only one in the state. He has ideas on how and why that needs to change.

A lawsuit is coming against the Oklahoma Virtual Charter School Board, which willingly ignored the Oklahoma Constitution, the state charter school law and the nations laws by approving a Catholic Church request to pay for its new religious school. One new board member who cast a vote may not have been eligible to do so.

State Attorney General Gentner Drummond advised against approval, saying the fallout will be costly for Oklahoma.

The approval is meant to provide a test case, meaning Oklahoma gets to be someone elses guinea pig in a lawsuit.

Last summer, a development officer with the Tulsa Regional Chamber told Tulsa city councilors that the states anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion laws and rhetoric are making it harder to recruit businesses to the state.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters accused public schools of distributing pornography and indoctrinating children, called teachers unions terrorists and released a propaganda-laced video using racist tropes, all of which contribute to the states already severe educator shortage. His firing of workers for sharing memos, which are open records, has drawn lawsuits.

The state needs at least 4,100 more certified teachers. Feeling respected by the states top education official and other state leaders would help in recruitment.

Oklahomas new culture wars are just starting, and theyre going to get expensive.

Frustratingly, these divisive public policies arent originating from Oklahomans but rather are imported from national ideologues who are hellbent on creating their version of a utopia in their likeness.

The culture wars dont reflect actual challenges facing Oklahomans. They dont embrace the states diversity. They dont improve anything.

Culture wars have been around for decades. Nothing is new in the age-old struggle for dominance over ideas. But recent years have seen it ramped it up and brought it into public governance.

Floridas Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, became a presidential hopeful after his masterful use of a complacent supermajority Legislature to push his political dogma, creating a model for right-wing conservatives. He picked on Disney for supporting LGBTQ+ people, feuded with the College Board over the content of its AP African American studies course, restricted discussion of race, gender or sexuality in schools, and popularized the overuse of the word woke.

As of December, his moral crusades have cost Florida taxpayers at least $17 million in attorney and legal costs, according to a Miami Herald investigation. That number is rising.

Texas instituted laws on Sept. 1, 2021, forbidding municipalities from contracting with banks that restrict funding of firearms companies or the oil and gas industry through ESG environmental, social and governance policies. In the first eight months, Texans paid between $300 million and $500 million more in interest on government bonds.

In January, a study published by the nonprofit Sunrise Project found that such anti-ESG laws in the the 18 states, including Oklahoma, that have enacted them could cost taxpayers more than $708 million. Oklahomas share of that is estimated to be at least $49 million.

Typically, boycotts launched by activists played out as individuals or organizations tried to change a system or business. The most famous was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.-led Birmingham bus boycott, which successfully challenged racial segregation.

Now more elected leaders and people in power are turning boycotts into public policies.

Lawmakers enjoying supermajorities are using their power over taxes and laws to codify their political leanings and in some cases their financial interests. Its a hammer the majority uses to beat down those with different ideas, opinions and ways of life.

The only people benefiting are attorneys, who happily prosper in a litigation-based society.

Oklahoma cannot afford to go down this road. The states population and gross domestic product ($191 billion) are significantly less than other red states that are taking a chance with these cultural battles. The state has three Fortune 500 companies, compared to 17 in Florida and 55 in Texas.

A bigger population provides a broader well of resources to push wedge issues. Oklahoma topped 4 million residents last year, but thats small compared to Floridas 22 million or the 30 million in Texas.

When Texas ($1.9 trillion GPD) or Florida ($1 trillion GDP) loses out on recruiting a major company or adds millions to its bond or investment costs, it can survive. For Oklahoma, that can be a major setback.

Oklahoma operates on a slimmer margin, and missteps have bigger consequences.

Thats just the financial bill; there is also a human toll.

Recently, Oklahoma parents of transgender children have been on social media usually only within their close network raising money and making plans to get health care out of state. If a bill had passed that would have prosecuted parents for obtaining such care, that would have forced them to move away from Oklahoma.

Those who dont care for these families and want them gone are cruel and dangerous. Our laws shouldnt harm people.

Yet some wedge issues are costing lives.

Gun safety has only worsened as the number of firearms grows. Guns are the No. 1 killer of U.S. children, and the regularity of mass shootings is a national and international embarrassment. Nothing changes.

Consensus shows Americans want and need more access to mental health care. But extremists have taken aim at social-emotional learning, which gets at the heart of healthy mental health development. People in mental health distress still get their hands on firearms.

Abortion positions, for and against, are a political litmus test. But some anti-abortion laws may be putting pregnant women and rape victims into deadly situations.

Even vaccines are politicized, not just those for COVID-19 but of generations-old inoculations that have all but eradicated diseases such as polio, measles, rubella and whooping cough. Lawmakers are making it easier to ignore immunizations.

A states actions budget priorities, laws, policies reflect upon its residents. Those who do not live here will make judgments based on words our leaders say and the decisions they make.

As a lifelong Oklahoman with five generations of roots here, I know this state has unique selling points. Tulsa and Oklahoma City have transformed themselves into dynamic cities with distinctive personalities. Rural areas have vast natural resources and playgrounds.

All of that can quickly be undermined by battles waged by ideologues who are more interested in a national profile than local progress. Oklahoma cannot afford a culture war.

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Ginnie Graham: Cost of the culture war too high and unnecessary for ... - Tulsa World

Summer is upon us, and parents, children and teachers are winding down from what has been an exhausting and fully operational school yearthe first since the devastating pandemic. The long-lasting impact of COVID-19 has affected our students and families well-being and ignited the politics surrounding public schools. All signs point to the coming school year unfolding with the same sound and fury, and if extremist culture warriors have their way, being even more divisive and stressful.

The cause? The far rights assault on public education, which theyre waging by attacking teachers and their students and trying to pit parents against us. Legislators in 45 states have proposed hundreds of laws to ban books in classrooms and school librariesfrom the illustrated adaption of Anne Franks The Diary of a Young Girl to Amanda Gormans poem The Hill We Climb, restrict what can be taught about our countrys history, and promote school vouchers that drain money from public schools. This agenda does nothing to support kids learning. It does nothing to address learning loss, rein in social media and bullying, stop gun violence, or support the record number of children struggling with mental health challenges. In Florida, for example, the latest state budget takes $4 billion in funding away from these efforts and funnels it into a voucher program.

But it turns out, book banning, educational censorship and defunding public schools are wildly unpopular. While extremists say their effort is about parents rights, national polling shows theyve overreached, because voters, including parents, say they do not want to see their kids teachers attacked and their schools politicized. A recent NPR/Ipsos poll found that most Americans (65 percent), including Republicans, oppose book bans; a majority (80 percent) support teaching race as part of our history; and 70 percent approve of their local public school teachers. Another recent poll done by the parents group Moms Rising found even higher support among moms, with 94 percent of mothers supporting teaching honest history and 78 percent opposing book bans.

Most parents want what we all want: for our children to do well in the basics like reading, math and science. They want to ensure all children, regardless of background, develop critical-thinking and practical life skills and are prepared to succeed in the future. And by an 80 percent to 20 percent margin, voters and parents want legislators to focus on improving education in public schools rather than promoting divisive political issues or expanding school choice programs that take resources out of public school classrooms.

Educators want that toobigtime. Its why we are expanding community schools that are built on partnerships to make schools hubs for providing needed services, from academic supports to legal aid to nutrition and health, helping students focus on learning.

And its why were investing in experiential learning, which helps students develop lifelong skills, using their minds and hands to learn everything from welding and auto repair to nursing, graphic design, computer science, culinary skills and plumbing.

Its also why were focusing on literacy and creating joyful, confident readers with the AFTs Reading Opens the World program, which has handed out more than 1.5 million books to students and their families and helps teachers access reading instruction support.

These foundational approaches change lives and, developed in close partnership with parents, will equip our kids with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need for college, career and life. Culture wars do the opposite.

If our extremist opponents think their attacks will slow down Americas educators or disrupt our efforts to organize and improve the lives of workers, theyre mistaken. Good things continue to happen in schools, and parents, workers and communities continue to come together to support our pro-student, pro-family, pro-worker agenda.

For example, United Teachers Los Angeles negotiated an innovative contract that provides an additional $250,000 for each community school and lets educators partner on a virtual learning platform that keeps students connected to their classrooms. The United Federation of Teachers in New York City also broke ground with its new contract, securing retention bonuses to keep teachers in their jobs and expandinga pilot remote learning projectthat allowed small schools to offer virtual coursessuch as Advanced Placement Chemistrythat they otherwise couldnt because of staffing issues. The Florida Education Association has signed up 5,000 new members despite Gov. Ron DeSantis anti-education and anti-union policies. And the Chicago Teachers Union helped elect one of their own, Brandon Johnson, as mayor, despite the money spent by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her cronies to defeat him.

So, the other side can keep waging their political attacks. And we will keep problem-solving. We are bringing communities together and strengthening and improving public education. Our opponents should never underestimate the creativity or commitment of teachers, and all those who work in schools, when it comes to improving the lives of the kids we teach and their families.

Enjoy your summer, and Happy Fathers Day.

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Smears vs. solutions - American Federation of Teachers

UNITED STATES

It is no secret that the United States has grown increasingly partisan over the past few years as the political landscape has become more fraught. Institutions of higher education tend to mirror the broader political landscape in the country. In other words, as states (through local policy) become more categorised into blue versus red, so too do the institutions in those states.

Historically, higher education institutions have navigated more liberal leanings within the complicated campus culture wars, and critics of higher education argue that liberal biases indoctrinate students. The effects of political interference in higher education trickle down to students, impacting their college experiences and even their decisions on where to study.

For the future of our countrys democracy, we must work to break the vicious cycle of partisan influence in higher education and encourage students to engage in healthy political discourse in the classroom and on campus.

The power of perceptions

Generally speaking, Republicans and Democrats differ in their perception of the value of higher education. For example, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center survey, over three quarters (79%) of Republicans, compared to 17% of Democrats, say that a major reason higher education is going in the wrong direction is due to professors bringing their political and social views into the classroom. This is often referred to as the liberal bias in higher education.

Conservative media outlets and politicians argue that higher education is overrun by liberals who force their political agenda onto students.

However, this is not the full picture. College represents a time for students to explore their political ideology and affiliation. Out of the 47% of students who changed their political leanings during college, 17% said they became more conservative.

Therefore, it is important to note that perceptions can differ from reality, but they matter nonetheless, as public opinion influences the way government operates.

Increased polarisation?

The political divide within higher education has implications for students experiences and their considerations in the college admissions process. Regardless of political views, research reveals that, according to students, state politics plays a role in where they decide to go to college. Many worry this impact on the student decision-making process will further the partisan divide and polarisation in the country, which has dangerous implications.

There are ways for institutions to address these challenges by teaching students how to engage with political discourse responsibly. In order to cultivate learning environments that encourage students to openly share their views (regardless of political ideology), faculty must work to foster safety and inclusivity in the classroom.

Unfortunately, this is often not the case.

A recent poll shows 59% of students expressed fear in sharing their political beliefs in class, and 31% of students admitted to having been ridiculed for expressing different political opinions.

Even so, students are not deterred by raising challenging topics, participating in healthy debate and engaging in politics. A survey conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute reported that 71% of students strongly or somewhat agree that dissent is an important part of the political process.

Todays college students are actually some of the most politically active individuals our country has seen in modern history. In fact, according to findings from the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, 66% of college students who were registered to vote cast their ballots in the 2020 election, representing a 14% increase from the 2016 election.

Including students in policy debates

Knowing that todays college students are engaged in politics and willing to have challenging conversations regarding differences in political ideology, why are students often overlooked as stakeholders in higher education policy? Why are students often left out of conversations related to university policies that will ultimately impact their college experiences?

In order to begin to address these issues, higher education faculty and staff should prioritise the students role within shared governance and encourage students to engage in political conversations and debates.

In other words, we must strive to accomplish an environment in higher education institutions in which assumptions are not made regarding students political affiliations and values. Rather, students need to have the agency to decide on their political beliefs and the freedom to learn, grow and potentially change their minds in a safe environment and throughout their college experiences.

There is no denying that students and university leaders are different stakeholders who often have different goals. However, we should strive for an environment in which these two stakeholders are able to come together and discuss policies and sensitive issues.

For example, this could be as simple as inviting student government representatives to board meetings when important decisions are going to be discussed. If the goal of higher education is to foster student development and scholarship, students not only deserve, but are entitled to a seat at the table.

We owe it to our country's future leaders to allow for a world in which disagreement and political discourse are not only allowed, but also encouraged on college campuses. The future of higher education depends on it.

Rachel B Gorosh is a masters student in higher education administration and policy at Northwestern University, USA.

See original here:
Students are entitled to a seat at the governance table - University World News

Some questions for the Los Angeles Dodgers:

What happens next year if a group and out-of-state senator complain that the team is even acknowledging the LGBTQ+ community with a Pride Night? Will they cancel the event altogether?

What happens in two or three years if a group and an out-of-state senator complain that the team acknowledges the pioneering Jackie Robinson and highlights the racism he experienced while playing, alleging that it is "critical race theory"? Will the Dodgers stop recognizing Robinson?

The Dodgers folded like a house of cards in a light breeze this week when conservative politicalCatholic groups and an opportunistic Florida politician complained that the baseball team was honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for decades of good deeds. What's to stop the next odious group from getting the organization to abandon its decisions?

The Dodgers have opened the door for anyone to step up, make a minor fuss and get their stance supported, no matter how disgraceful or faulty the reason. They can't now be surprised if a clown car's worth of crying zealots comes rolling through.

Great job. Really.

As part of this year's annual Pride Night on June 16, the Dodgers were set to honor the Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for its years of community service. The Sisters are a 44-year-old satirical group that dresses in nun's habits as they minister to, in the group's own words, "those on the edges" of society. They first appeared in San Francisco in 1979 and began caring for gay men with HIV/AIDS at a time when very few would. Since then, SPI chapters across the country and around the world have continued to work throughout their communities to help those most in need. They are about inclusion and spreading campy joy wherever they go.

The Dodgers are scheduled to hold a Pride Night on June 16 at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) must have felt like he needed to grab the sectarian spotlight back from others in his partywho have been fighting culture wars against the LGBTQ+ community. Rubio and the group CatholicVote the president of which called the Sisters a "hate group," which is objectively false denounced the Dodgers for honoring the Sisters. In a letter to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, Rubio said he opposed the group because it "mocks Christians through diabolical parodies of our faith."

The team caved to those howls and is rescinding the Sisters' award, audaciously using the phrase "spirit of unity" and saying "we are removing [the Sisters] from this year's group of honorees" in the same pathetic social media statement.

And now that there is an outcry about the Dodgers' embarrassing capitulation, with multiple LGBTQ+ groups saying they won't attend the team's Pride Night due to its treatment of the Sisters, the Dodgers are scrambling, reportedly trying to find a compromise.

Compromise how? You cannot be tolerant of the intolerant, and the team already failed that test.

The Dodgers can't reinvite the Sisters after this. Well, they could try, but if the Sisters' response were to lift the hems of their habits and show the Dodgers their behinds, no one could really blame them.

Some of us are terrified by the speed at which human rights are being stripped away from Americans who are just trying to live, whether at a drag brunch or as a drag performer, or for pregnant people who do not want to be pregnant for whatever their personal reasons, or for Black or Muslim or Native American people who want their children to be able to read books with characters who look like them and tell the stories of their ancestors.

A big part of the reason these things are happening so quickly is because of organizations like the Dodgers giving in at the slightest sign of complaint or discomfort and prioritizing the objections of the intolerant over standing in support of the oppressed.

What is the point of having a Pride Night if you aren't going to go all-in? Its very essence is supposed to be inclusion, creating a welcoming atmosphere or at least the illusion of one; looking at you, myriad NHL teams for those who far too often have been told they don't belong.

The Dodgers want credit for celebrating Pride, but this week they showed that they aren't committed to the cause of uplifting the LGBTQ+ community, which chooses a rainbow as its symbol for a reason: because members of the community come in many metaphorical colors.

You cannot say you want to celebrate Pride and then pick and choose which LGBTQ+ groups are acceptable.

Or, as the San Francisco Sisters wrote in condemning the Dodgers' decision, "Do not let people who hate us all decide that some parts of our community are more tolerable than others, that some shall be seated at the table while others are locked out."

Here is the original post:
Dodgers lost meaning, purpose of Pride Night in caving to culture war pressure - Yahoo Sports

Ron DeSantis doesnt just want to run for the presidency, the Florida governor seems to already have declared himself president as he tries to wrest clear federal responsibilities away from the U.S. government with a new Florida law that heavily penalizes employment of undocumented immigrants, gives state officials more authority to investigate potential immigration violations and forces hospitals to collect immigration status, among other things.

Almost 150 years ago, in 1875s Chy Lung vs. Freeman, the Supreme Court established that regulating immigration was exclusively the domain of the national government, not states. That hasnt stopped plenty of states from trying it anyway. Thirteen years ago, Arizona set off the modern wave of immigration organizing in enacting the disastrous SB 1070, most of which was eventually struck down by the Supreme Court as a violation of the Supremacy Clause.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

More recently, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has taken it upon himself to appear tough on the border, sending National Guardsmen to an ill-fated and ultimately pointless deployment, almost setting off an international incident with Mexico over truck inspections, and of course busing migrants here and elsewhere without any coordination or notice.

Apparently envious of the havoc Abbott was wreaking, DeSantis joined the clown show, using a shadowy former Army counterintelligence agent to trick migrants into boarding planes bound for Marthas Vineyard, paid for by a dedicated state fund that this law has now expanded. DeSantis seems wholly indifferent or apathetic to the fact that the consequences of his culture war are being suffered by his own state.

Since the law was enacted, there have been reports of employees fearful of returning to work in a variety of industries, and even attempting to arrange boycotts. The short-term impacts are still uncertain, but it seems clear that in the long run, Florida will lose out on the contributions of an important population, just as it will face a brain drain from DeSantis heavy-handed crackdown on academia and anti-business war with Disney. The governor doesnt care; his eyes are set northwards, to Washington..

Originally posted here:
Going the Ron way: DeSantis' new immigration law and culture wars will backfire - New York Daily News