Commentary
Thank you for your generous support to bolster our legislative coverage
Dear Readers, We did it! Our first legislative fundraising campaign was a success, and we have you to thank. Your generosity will continue to allow us to grow and offer even more relentless reporting and insightful commentary. We believe every Oklahoman deserves free access to high-quality, nonpartisan reporting on critical issues. Thank you, thank you, […]
Here’s a peek at how our nonprofit news is funded
People often ask me about how sustainable Oklahoma Voice’s operations are. It’s a fair question in an ever-shifting media landscape that’s plagued by layoffs, publication closures and lots of uncertainty about the future of our industry. We’re lucky to be a part of States Newsroom. This nonprofit network has obtained sustainable, recurring funding for the […]
Oklahoma joins states with ‘release time’ laws letting kids leave school for religious lessons
Children in American public schools traditionally learned the three R’s: reading, writing and arithmetic. Today, students in more than half of the U.S. states can study a fourth R: religion. Oklahoma is the most recent state to allow school boards to implement “release time”: off-site classes with religious or moral instruction that K-12 students can […]
Your support helps us power our political coverage
Dear Readers: Can you believe Oklahoma Voice just finished covering its first legislative session? Over the past four months, our reporters sat through countless hours of budget negotiations. We covered the demise of a University of Oklahoma program that served as a women’s entry point into politics. We wrote about the implementation of the private […]
A proposed settlement on mental health is a win for all Oklahomans. But Kevin Stitt can’t see that
It’s become clear that our governor can’t recognize a good settlement offer if it bites him in the behind. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and lawyers representing indigent people who are mentally ill announced the two sides had reached a landmark settlement agreement that — if implemented properly — has a chance to reform how […]
Oklahoma needs increased investment to tackle growing problem of chronic absenteeism
About 25 years ago, the Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) combined the poorest half of John Marshall High School with the poorest half of Hoover Middle School, creating a school with staggeringly intense concentrations of extreme poverty, trauma, and, eventually, chronic absenteeism. Too many non-educators assumed that families, such as those we served in the […]
Lawmakers should be given an ‘F’ for ducking critical Oklahoma educational rule debate and vote
If Oklahoma lawmakers were being graded the way they just decided our public schools should be assessed, they would be deemed deficient. They’d either be given an incomplete for not finishing their work or a big fat “F.” Instead of giving 20 new education rules the full public debates the people of our state deserve, […]
Absurd claims like imagined plot to kill Trump would be big if true
When FBI agents converged on Mar-a-Lago in August of 2022, they did not come just to seize highly classified national-security documents that Donald Trump had taken illegally from the White House and then refused to return, in defiance of a court order. Those agents had come to kill Trump. That is, if you believe the […]
Bon appetit, Trump’s zombies
It’s been nearly four years since I wrote that the “Republican Party may not be dead yet, but it’s probably time to put it out of our misery.” GOP acolytes probably thought I was being mean-spirited. Looking back, it seems I was being generous. As it turns out, the GOP isn’t just dead, it’s now […]
Women don’t need a ‘Bill of Rights’ to define gender. We need policies that improve our outcomes.
I don’t need our government to tell me that I’m a woman. And, I shouldn’t have to prove I am one either. Yet, our Republican lawmakers want to require just that through the so-called “Women’s Bill of Rights” that the governor signed into law last week. Supporters say the bill is necessary to bring “clarity, […]
Why the U.S. government is trying to break up Live Nation — a music industry scholar explains
The U.S. Justice Department, along with 29 states and the District of Columbia, have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster. The lawsuit alleges that Live Nation “engaged in a variety of tactics to eliminate competition and monopolize markets,” which, according to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, has allowed the entertainment […]
The Voice is suing to view government records. Hopefully other Oklahomans one day won’t have to.
About a week ago, I sued someone for the first time. It’s still a little jarring to see my name listed as plaintiff in a lawsuit that potentially has high stakes for Oklahomans and their right to know why public employees are abruptly being paid with our funds to go away. It shouldn’t take litigation […]