Talking Education in Oklahoma: Three Bills Senate Passed

Oklahoma State Senate

Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Senate District 1

March 18, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Senator Micheal Bergstrom
State Capitol: (405) 521-5561

Email: bergstrom@oksenate.gov          

Capitol Considerations by Senator Micheal Bergstrom

Talking Education

Since education is a top priority of mine and the Senate Republican caucus, I thought I would review some of the bills recently passed off the Senate floor.

Senate Bill (SB) 148 deals with the ability of students to enroll and dis-enroll from virtual (online) charter schools. This has been a serious problem for brick and mortar schools with students coming and going throughout the year. The bill limits enrollment in virtual schools to June 1 to September 1 and January 1 to January 30 with some common sense exceptions like illness or if the student is in need of drop-out recovery.

Classroom time is critical to student success. Currently, students in public school classrooms across the nation average 185 days a year. Some 4-day districts in Oklahoma are in class for as few as 135 days. This is hurting us as we try to recruit business to Oklahoma.

SB 441 strives to fix this while allowing local input on specific district needs by giving school officials the choice in what school calendar option they wish to use. There are three options:

* 180 days of classroom time

* 1,080 hours with a minimum of 165 days of classroom time

* 1,080 hours with no minimum of days of classroom time if districts are able to meet the minimum guidelines for school performance and cost savings. In other words, the students must be succeeding and the district actually saving money or they must choose one of the first two options. Oklahoma State Department of Education will promulgate rules for exemptions and the legislature must approve those rules.

Some computer classes across our state have been criticized for not teaching much-needed skills for the present and future workforce. SB 593 requires the development of a system for computer science programs in elementary, middle and high schools to serve as a guide to schools for implementing quality computer science programs. It also calls for $1 million in funding to provide training for teachers in this area.

Providing Oklahoma children a quality education, putting students first, is a top priority of mine. I think these bills help move us in the right direction.

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