If you think the Oklahoma Legislature took a giant step toward solving public education’s chronic funding problems three years ago when it approved the state’s first tax increase in a quarter century, think again.

Sadly, Oklahoma’s K-12 schools again are on the precipice financially – victimized by the perfect storm of a raging pandemic, penny-wise and pound-foolish fiscal policy and partisan ideologues railing against what they attack as “government schools” and championing school privatization, especially vouchers.

With less than a month to go before lawmakers return to session on Feb. 1, Tulsa state Rep. Melissa Provenzano joins us for the first Observercast of 2021 to discuss the state of Oklahoma public education – and how school privatizers, who long dreamed of replacing public education with for-profit or religious-based schools, might attempt to exploit this perfect storm.

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