Only parents can truly know what’s best for each of their individual children and only parents have the vested interest necessary to raise children with the education each will need to become productive Oklahomans and Americans. Every child has the right to an education best suited to them, and every parent has the right – and duty – to provide such an education. ROPE 2.0 seeks to help equip parents with the information necessary to best champion their child’s educational needs.
Oklahoma House Rep Sherrie Conley talks about her bill (HB3958), which makes it a punishable offense for school employees to communicate with students one-on-one through any phone or computer apps without express parental permission.
While doing research for the bill, Sherrie found an indication of the number of people in Oklahoma who have lost their teaching licenses due to confirmed allegations of child predation.
Truly, when one thinks about the number of children each predator averages before they are caught by a system, this is simply a tragic circumstance for our children in public schools. This has to stop.
Please support HB3958 and help prevent as many cases of child predation as possible.
Though we all want to be able to believe there is a job for us when we need/want one, economic development today has begun to put the needs of the 'community' above the needs of the individual.
Often we hear economic developers talk about the importance of 'public investment' for private enterprises because these will have impacts for the community.
Take, for example, the public, tax-dollar 'investment' that went into electric car manufacturer Canoo so that people in Pryor, OK, could have jobs. Yes, of course we want employed citizens - they contribute to those things the government SHOULD be funding, like roads (not busses or street cars) and public safety - and employed citizens often feel more fulfilled when they have jobs - but what happens when taxpayer dollars are used to help a private company provide jobs in an area of the state where taxed payers may not even live?
This private company now has an advantage over the other private companies that did NOT receive government assistance and taxpayers lost part of the fruits of their labors to a community where they don't even live.
This has to stop. Government should be protecting the rights of individuals, not the rights of companies, or communities - not even to provide jobs.
Wednesday morning (4.10.23), Julianne, Jenni and Michael talked about how American society is moving from a rights-based society - where the government protects our rights as described in the Constitution - to a values-based society - where the government is more interested in taxing the property of citizens to provide entertainment and establishing public/private partnerships to create jobs, than protecting our property and private businesses.
Though Klaus Schwab never actually said, "You'll own nothing and be happy", the World Economic Forum (WEF) has stated enough of their goals for the "Great Reset" to make any genuine thinker nervous about that kind of idea. All one has to do is make note of a giant amusement park in little Vinita, Oklahoma, and the fact that people were displaced from their property (annexed) on little more than an estimation that the city will receive in excess of 70 million in tax revenue thanks to the park.
Then consider the Oklahoma City MAPS tax that built a stadium (The Ford Center/Paycom Center) which is now no longer considered big enough so that Oklahoma City tax payers were propagandized into voting for yet another tax to build yet another new stadium.
Isn't it the government's job to protect the 'fruits of our labor', so that we may use it how we see fit, not provide us endless entertainment opportunities that only enrich the owners while charging those who can, often, ill-afford the price of tickets?
Isn't it the job of PRIVATE owners and developers to take on the risk - as well as the reward - of creating large entertainment/business projects? How did that become the taxpayers burden to bear?
We must decide; do we want to own nothing (via excessive taxation) and be endlessly entertained, or do we want to privately own those things we have privately worked to own?
What happens when you go to a meeting and you look at the agenda, but you know that SOMETHING that's either been said or done by the Board you're following ISN'T ON THE AGENDA?
Unfortunately, it happens more often than the public might want to believe. This type of activity is against the Oklahoma Open Meeting Law, but what do you do?
Municipal attorney Beth Anne Childs explains that - especially if the neglected item is a contract - the public can confront the Board with a Qui Tam action. Ms. Childs explains that here.
Kendal, Michael and Jenni talk about the CONFUSING part of school bonds - sinking funds, millage rates - so that you can understand how government schools purposefully keep your property tax rates high so that they can continue to bring in as much money as possible each year.
When will this stop? Can our property taxes ever go down? You might be surprised at the answer!
Find out what these things are and what is the Excise Board? How do are they involved in school bonds and property taxes? What about the County Assessor?
And don't forget, because of property taxes Oklahomans DON'T OWN THEIR OWN PROPERTY - the state does, so they can fund government schools.
