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Stop Nibbling Around the Edges of School Choice
Parent Power Index, a website comparing state policies based on how much power a parent has to get their child a good education, gives Oklahoma a C overall, but a D on school choice. We can do better. Since last March, Tulsa and Oklahoma City public schools have barred their doors to the kids they are charged with educating, shirking the duty for which they were created, and depriving kids of the education they deserve. During that time, Epic Charter was the subject of a witch hunt by public education insiders and still saw its enrollment grow to the point where it serves more students than any traditional public school district in the state. Sixty-one percent of Oklahoma voters indicate they favor full school choice where the money follows the child - and 72 percent of Republicans support such a policy. There is a Republican supermajority in both houses and a governor who strongly supports school choice. Yet to date, the most impactful school choice bills filed in the legislature still barely nibble around the edges. One bill would expand the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship program to include military families. Two more bills would create similar programs for victims of...
COVID-19 Illuminates Why Collective Bargaining with Government Employees Should Be Illegal
By one recent ranking of the fifty states and the District of Columbia, Oklahoma’s public schools come in 48th in terms of quality, a mere three spots from the very bottom. Only Arizona, Louisiana, and New Mexico have lower-quality schools than we do. The schools in perennially last-by-every-measure Mississippi even rank five spots ahead of Oklahoma’s in quality. Arizona’s first excuse is always the number of non-citizens in their system. Texas is big and diverse, but it has its own immigration issues. Nevertheless, it manages to rank 30th, ahead of Missouri (32nd), and Arkansas (39th), but behind Oklahoma’s other neighbors Kansas (27th) and Colorado (17th). To be sure, demographics, culture, and other issues outside of schools’ direct control play a part in the rankings. Nevertheless, whether we like it or not, and whether we want to accept it or not, they do say something about Oklahoma and its public schools, and it’s not good. Our schools were not doing what they needed to do even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Things have only gotten worse. Since the pandemic resulted in Oklahoma’s schools closing in March 2020, Oklahoma’s public schools have, by any reasonable judgment,...
Disorder Is an Attack on Liberty, Regardless Where It Erupts
The riots we have seen over the past year indicate a pervasive deterioration of law and order. As a people, we must attain greater internal, moral order and return to a greater civil order founded on the rights and liberties enshrined in and protected by the United States Constitution. Recently, I was reading portions of Russel Kirk’s book The Roots of American Order. Kirk gives primacy to “order,” asserting: Order is the first need of the soul. It is not possible to love what one ought to love, unless we recognize some principles of order by which to govern ourselves. Order is the first need of the commonwealth. It is not possible for us to live in peace with one another, unless we recognize some principle of order by which to do justice. In this context, order is more than the organization of people and things in relation to each other. It is distinct from the tomes of laws and regulations that purport to govern our behavior. It is comprised of higher principles that guide and direct individual and collective actions. The functioning of America is contingent upon maintaining a higher moral and social order through which life, liberty, and property are protected. Simone Weil, a...
False Alarm: Climate Change is Not Going to Kill Us All
In recent years, apocalyptic predictions of climate change have been popular. As politicians and activists push their preferred policies to supposedly prevent climate change, their claims of what will happen if we do not adopt them grow more severe. One politician claimed, “The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change.” I remember hearing similar predictions while growing up in the early 2000s about the ozone layer and polar ice caps. But their fearmongering overstates the dangers posed by a changing climate, and their solutions are unlikely to fix the problem. Indeed, their solutions will likely cause even more problems, especially for states where fossil fuels are a staple of their economy. One of the more radical proposals to fight climate change involves making the United States carbon neutral by a specific year, such as 2030 or 2050. To do this, activists want to transition to an electrical grid that runs on renewable sources of energy. Such a process would be expensive, costing nearly $6 trillion. Beyond the dollar cost, such an act would require massive amounts of land. According to an analysis by the Brookings Institute, wind and solar...
Plumber Licensing: Another Monopoly That Fails the Smell Test
Why must aspiring plumber contractors’ complete multiple years of education, multiple years of lower level work, and pay a hefty annual fee just to obtain a license? What justification does the state provide for these requirements? According to the Construction Industries Board (CIB), which oversees plumber contractor licensing, these requirements are in place to “protect life and property,” to “provide a fair and healthy market environment for the contractor business,” and to show Oklahomans that plumber contractors meet a “minimum standard of competency.” My recent addition to the 1889 Institute’s Occupational Licensing Directory discusses the 1955 Plumber License Law and the licensing regime that developed pursuant to it, finds it totally unnecessary, and recommends a simple solution. First, the services plumber contractors provide on a daily basis pose no real danger to life or property. Think about it: fixing sinks, faucets, toilets, sewer lines, etc. is relatively straightforward stuff. In addition, for large jobs or those that require more skill or expertise, inspection and permitting requirements of both the state and municipalities mitigate most of the risk. The real...
Present Reforms to Keep the Ghost of State Questions Past from Creating Future Headaches
Oklahoma, like many western states, allows its citizens to directly participate in the democratic process through citizen initiatives and referendums. In a referendum, the legislature directs a question to the people — usually to modify the state constitution, since the legislature can change statutes itself. An initiative requires no legislative involvement, but is initiated by the people via signature gathering, and can be used to modify statute or amend the constitution. Collectively, the initiatives and referendums that make it onto the ballot are known as State Questions. Recently, there have been calls to make it more difficult to amend the constitution. At least two proposals are being discussed. One would diversify the signature requirement by demanding that a proportional amount of signatures come from each region of the state. The other would require a sixty percent majority to adopt a constitutional amendment rather than the fifty percent plus one currently in place. Both of these proposals come from a good place. The constitution is inherently higher than statute; that is to say, when a statute and a constitutional provision conflict, the constitution always carries...
The True Spirit of Christmas
I think the movie, Elf, is pretty hilarious. Will Ferrell’s “Buddy” character marching off to New York from the North Pole, enjoying syrup (actually whiskey) in coffee, eating cotton balls, outing a fake Santa, and sleeping in a store’s window display carry a lot of laughs. It’s no wonder it’s become a Christmas staple. But there’s something that has always bothered me about that movie. We find out that Santa’s sleigh requires a jet engine in order to fly because Christmas spirit, once the sole motive power for Santa’s sleigh and reindeer, is on a low ebb. Christmas spirit is restored by Buddy’s half-brother reading Santa’s gift list, with the receivers of the gifts-to-be evidently getting warm Christmas spirit fuzzies on learning they will receive what they want. In other words, Elf turns Christmas into the Season of Receiving rather than its classic meaning, which is the Season of Giving. This is nothing new, really. Miracle on 34th Street, a constantly remade Christmas classic, tells the story of a self-absorbed little girl with a self-absorbed mother who discover a kind old man calling himself Kris Kringle who manages to make sure people get what they want. The mom and girl...
Licensing Boards Might Violate Federal Law: Regardless, They Are Terrible Policy
Competition is as American as baseball and apple pie. “May the best man win” is a sentiment so old it doesn’t care about your pronouns. The beneficial effects of competition on economic markets are well documented. So why do we let powerful business interests change the rules of the game when they tire of competing in the free market? Most of the time when an occupational license is enacted, it is the members of the regulated industry who push hardest in favor of the license. Honest competition may be fundamentally American, but thwarting that competition through licensing seems to be fundamentally Oklahoman. Oklahoma doesn’t have the most occupational licenses, but when they do license an occupation, the requirements tend to be more onerous than the same license in other states. But what if, instead of merely breaking the rules of fair play to keep out would-be competition, Oklahoma licensing boards are also breaking the law? Normally a concerted effort to lock out competition would violate federal antitrust law; but there is an exception for anticompetitive state policies. As 1889’s latest paper argues, there is good reason to think Oklahoma's licensing boards do not qualify...
When It Comes to the Cox Center, “What if I Get to Meet a Movie Star?” Isn’t Good Enough
In a recent post, 1889 Institute expounded on the fiduciary duty of elected officials “to act in the best interest of the people of the state as a whole,” a “high duty, executed as a public trust … wherein one puts the people’s interest above one’s own.” This fiduciary duty must not stop with elected officials. Once an elected body or an elected official – the legislature, a city council, the governor, or a mayor – has taken final action, the faithful implementation of each enacted law, policy, or program falls to an army of bureaucrats. Thus, a fiduciary duty to execute laws and policies with diligence and integrity, tantamount to that of elected officials, must extend to government employees. Recently, I had a few moments to sit down and watch a show with my children. Unsurprisingly, my son picked a series entitled “The Stinky and Dirty Show.” I was naturally skeptical that the show would yield any real value. However, as I watched, I found myself pleasantly surprised. Each episode is formulaic. Stinky, a jovial garbage truck, and Dirty, a thoughtful backhoe loader, must confront an obstacle or a challenging problem. Together they must be creative and resourceful to solve the...
Official Statement of 1889 Institute: Open Oklahoma’s Schools
Byron Schlomach, director of the 1889 Institute, issued the following statement today regarding the ongoing school closures throughout Oklahoma as a result of the Oklahoma State Board of Education’s response to the COVID-19 virus: Way back in March, the 1889 Institute first protested school closings based on then-existing evidence that school-age children are not prone to the disease, evidence confirmed in intervening months. This evidence, combined with the failure of school districts to provide a rigorous online education and the hardship on two-earner families created by distance learning, makes it clear that closing the schools has, indeed, been a policy error of epic proportions. To that end, 1889 Institute is calling on the Board of Education to rescind its current guidance that recommends such closures and reopen traditional brick and mortar schools immediately following the upcoming Christmas break. Not doing so is a disservice to both students and parents and will have a lasting impact on the educational achievements of an entire generation of Oklahoma students. Background: On March 24 of this year (2020), the 1889 Institute released an official statement opposing the...
COVID Inspires Tyranny for the “Good” of Its Victims
The Christian philosopher, C.S. Lewis, once said, "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies." The moral busybodies C.S Lewis warns of reminds me of those who would have Americans give up their liberty to combat COVID-19. A recent Oklahoman op-ed compared COVID-19 to World War II, stating that the number of deaths from COVID-19 is approaching the number that died fighting for this country and the freedoms it protects. This comparison is, of course, nonsense. This suggests that a virus with a high survivability rate is an equivalent threat to the Nazi and Japanese regimes that brutally murdered millions. The piece uses wartime rationing of meat and cheese, a sacrifice necessary to ensure men on the front lines had adequate nutrition, to justify Americans accepting counterproductive lockdowns in exchange for additional stimulus checks and another eviction freeze. Those that support lockdowns say that liberties are luxuries provided to us by society. In truth, individual liberty enables a free society. This freedom comes at a high and...
I Abstain: Why I Refuse to Vote in Judicial Retention Elections
Over a million Oklahomans voted in the recent November 3rd election. For most, the presidential race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is what drove them to the polls. However, some were likely confused when they reached the bottom portion of their ballot marked “Judicial Retention Elections.” What are judicial retention elections? Every two years, certain judges are placed on the ballot for a simple yes/no retention vote. These elections stem from Oklahoma’s judicial selection method, and ask voters whether they want to keep, or retain, certain judges. Elections are staggered so judges only face retention every six years. Many claim that the merit selection method is a more sophisticated, apolitical judicial selection method than the federal model or the partisan election model, but in reality it is much worse than either of the two. In essence, the retention vote was a patronizing attempt to make “merit” selection more palatable to voters back in the 1960s. Unfortunately, due to a bribery scandal that involved a supreme court justice, it worked. Oklahomans voted to institute the so-called merit selection model. Predictably, not a single judge has been voted out via retention...
Zoning Offense: Attacks on Free Speech
Among its proponents, zoning (where government dictates how we can use our property) is credited with accomplishing a multitude of good for the public. However, there is a dark side to governmental control of land use. Throughout its history, zoning has been deployed to categorically discriminate against and exclude whoever might be the chosen pariah of the day. Whether the target was a religious or racial minority or a member of lower economic classes, zoning was a tool to exclude certain individuals from protected neighborhoods. An early American land-use ordinance passed in San Francisco in the late 19th century provides us with a clear example of weaponized land use control. In a subtle attempt to discriminate against Chinese launderers, San Francisco passed an ordinance that seemed neutral on its face. Essentially, it was impermissible to operate a laundry in a wood building. At the time, 75% of laundries were run by Chinese owners, and every single one was located in a wood building. In an act of blatant discrimination, the city denied all applications for a variance submitted by Chinese owners while granting all white-owned operations permission to continue operations. The...
The High Duty of Elected Officials and Ways They Fall Short
With an election just completed (the alleged voting, anyway), a legislative session coming up, constant talk of spending to offset the impacts of COVID-19, and elected officials trying to mandate our way out of a disease, the duty of elected officials in their official positions is worth considering. The 1889 Institute recently published a booklet for state lawmakers that discusses various issues and possible solutions. Included in that booklet is a short discussion of the central duty of elected officials, which is expanded here. What is the central, over-arching duty of an individual after having been elected to public office? Public oaths of office give a strong hint, and the Oklahoma Constitution is a good place to start. Article XV includes the oath of office, which states that an Oklahoma public official swears to “support, obey, and defend” the constitutions of the nation and the state, that the official will not take bribes, and that the official will discharge duties as best he or she can. The Oklahoma County oath of office adds that the official “will faithfully discharge the duties of my office with fidelity.” The state and county oaths of office do not clash. The...
Public Unions and Obscure Election Dates Create a Perfect Storm
Wouldn’t it be great to pick your boss? I don’t mean choose between two competing job offers based on which boss you prefer. I mean that you and your coworkers get together and pick a boss based on who is going to be the easiest to work for: someone who won’t interfere with your work, won’t call you out when you’re acting against the interest of your customers, someone who will sing your praises to the public, and let you work for another organization on company time. Public sector unions everywhere wield undue power over the elected officials charged with overseeing them. In many states unions dominate every aspect of politics. Right to work laws, and the state culture that created them, are meant to shield Oklahoma from this fate. But when public employees are able to band together and withhold essential services, especially those services they have fully monopolized by virtue of the fact that only government provides them, elected officials have little choice but to cave. This is the central theme of 1889’s latest paper, which not only identifies the problem, but also suggests a solution. But there is more to it than our paper reveals. Oklahoma’s ridiculous number of...
How Biden/Harris and Well-educated Sophisticates Are Wrong in the Age of COVID-19
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris often declared during the campaign that “We believe in science.” And judging by the tendency of the college-educated, especially among the sophisticates living on the coasts, to agree with Harris’s positions on everything from climate change to proper precautions amid COVID-19, belief in “science” seems to many a mark of knowledge and wisdom. But is it? The modern belief in “science” increasingly appears to be a religion wherein the words of certain recognized experts are received with the reverence once reserved for the Pope. A college diploma almost serves as a permission slip to suspend one’s own judgment and reason in favor of taking the word of certain experts to heart, especially if they work in government, certain universities, or gain media credence. This tendency to turn experts and the media into high priests of all knowledge is nothing new. In 1986, 60 Minutes ran a story about a phenomenon people experienced in cars with automatic transmissions called “unintended acceleration.” This occurred when someone put their car into gear (forward or reverse) and despite pressing the brake pedal with all their might, the car accelerated out of...
Follow the Science: Eliminate Social Distancing and Focus Resources to Protect the Vulnerable
As the country entered into an election year, COVID-19 reared its head and became an unusual campaign issue. Exposed to extreme politization, facts were buried in an abundance of misinformation perpetuated by the invocation of “science.” With the overly polarized rhetoric of stump speeches mercifully behind us, it is time to return to the rigor and integrity in research that public policy deserves. Now that the polls have closed, let’s move on, dig into the facts, and, indeed, follow the science. Upon the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 illness, little was known about it. Symptomatically, it was even difficult to tell whether or not one had the disease given that the list of symptoms seemed to expand continually. Despite what little information existed, there was no lack of self-proclaimed experts claiming the knowledge necessary to contain the disease. With the state's presumptive authority and dubious expertise, numerous state and local governments began imposing extreme measures to “flatten the curve” and maybe even eradicate COVID-19. Meanwhile, bona fide experts started preparing for the worst while also recognizing that our understanding of...
Be Careful What You Wish For
The state of Oklahoma has California in its sights. People and businesses seeking greater opportunity are fleeing California, and justifiably so. The most humane thing for Oklahoma to do is open our borders and offer economic asylum to the oppressed refugees of the People’s Republic of California. However, I urge caution. In an age dominated by masked faces and super-sensitivity to the spread of viral conditions, I suggest the California Condition (condition) should be met with great trepidation. What is the condition? It is the virulent spread of tyranny and oppression. Common symptoms include limited freedom and mobility accompanied by exorbitant costs of living, energy, doing business, and pretty much everything else. Those suffering under the condition often experience a diminished capacity for reason. Uncommon symptoms may include fever and fits of rage. The condition is progressive. It tends to worsen as reason diminishes and illogic consumes the mind. Many that experience life under the condition desperately seek refuge in states with a thriving environment. However, be advised that the condition is highly contagious. Absent appropriate measures, the contagion can consume...
Why We Need to Reject Equality of Outcome
The United States of America was founded on the principle of equality. This principle has guided the country throughout its history. There have been times that we have fallen short of this goal, the most obvious example being slavery. However, lately there appears to be disagreement on what really constitutes equality. For some, equality means guaranteeing a certain outcome for all, regardless of any difference in ability or effort expended. However, this is not what the founders intended when they wrote, "all men are created equal." We should be grateful for their interpretation of what equality means. The Founders were deliberate about including the concept of equality in the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” No matter the differences between people, they still all possess the same natural rights. No one, neither the elite nor the majority, is qualified to take away those natural rights. The Constitution and the government it set up are designed to...
OG&E and the Corporation Commission Aren’t Doing Their Jobs
At the time of this writing, it’s been a full week since there was power at my home. I live within OG&E’s electrical grid, so when it comes to being without power this past week, I’m nothing special. Many of OG&E’s customers had no power for days, and some will have no power for well over a week. By the time power is restored to everyone in their service area, OG&E’s own estimate is that it will have taken ten full days to repair all the damage from Oklahoma’s latest ice storm. Ice storms are bears, no doubt about it. They are very hard on trees, and if the roads ice over, they are very hard on cars. But roads, for the most part, were not an issue during Oklahoma’s “Icemageddon” of 2020. The problem was the extra weight of the ice on trees, wires and poles. And what we discovered was that Oklahoma’s electric power grid, once again, was not up to the challenge. Fact is, Oklahoma’s power grid isn’t up to much of Oklahoma’s weather. Every time the electricity goes out, which is far too often, we hear the same old thing. “The wind was hard;” “that was a lot of ice;” “a lot of rain fell, and there was lightning.” Then there are the familiar deflections: “Our crews are...