StateImpact Oklahoma

At least 150 of Shawnee's 30,000 residents are homeless. And because of an ordinance enacted this month, life might be getting a little more difficult for some of the community’s most vulnerable residents.

No district in Oklahoma is under the State Board of Education’s microscope quite like Tulsa Public Schools. StateImpact’s Beth Wallis and OPMX’s Max Bryan have this update on how TPS’ state-mandated improvement plan is going so far and the work that lies ahead.

2023 is coming to a close, and it’s been an eventful year for StateImpact Oklahoma’s reporters. Managing editor Logan Layden talks with the team about highlights of this year and what to expect in 2024.

Over 300-thousand Oklahomans have lost SoonerCare coverage as state agencies remove ineligible people after a pandemic pause. StateImpact’s Jillian Taylor has more on how confusion around the Medicaid unwinding process is affecting members.

Severe weather damaged thousands of trees in the Tulsa area earlier this year. A million cubic yards of green waste was collected, and many trees were bent or broken. StateImpact’s Britny Cordera reports on how the community is coming together to regow the city’s uban tree canopy. 

The new Killers of the Flower Moon movie is sparking a conversation about Oklahoma’s difficult history. But those conversations in schools are complicated by Oklahoma’s law limiting lessons that make students feel uncomfortable about their race or sex.

The science of reading is returning to the limelight, and Oklahoma schools and universities are using those techniques to teach literacy to the next generation.

Some Oklahoma churches are providing comprehensive sex ed to fill gaps in a state that doesn’t require it in schools.

A local non-profit is hosting rap battles and other events to advocate for mental health awareness in Oklahoma. The organization called SoulBody Cyphers is working to destigmatize conversations around mental health and cultivate a community of MC’s.

This month, millions of Americans will have to make student loan payments after a three-year pandemic era pause. But since 2020, there have been some big changes made to the repayment system, and StateImpact’s Beth Wallis is here to break it down.

After its  recent FDA approval , the  CDC recommended  everyone six months and older get an updated COVID vaccine. But getting it hasn’t been easy for some Oklahomans, with appointments canceled day of due to insurance snags and issues finding a place that carries it.

Monarch butterflies, like many insects and birds, migrate twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, before the weather gets cold,  monarchs travel over two thousand miles  from North America to central Mexico to hibernate.

Earlier this month, State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced a partnership with conservative nonprofit media group, PragerU.  Existing PragerU Kids content now populates the state’s social studies website, and Walters says PragerU and the State Department of Education are collaborating on an Oklahoma-specific curriculum. So what is PragerU? StateImpact spoke with parents, teachers, legisla...

A bill in Oklahoma banning all forms of gender-affirming care for trans youth was paused by Oklahoma’s attorney general amid litigation from the ACLU of Oklahoma. Now, trans youth and providers are coping with all the uncertainty.

More than 250 volunteers collected temperature and air quality data around Oklahoma City through a community science project in August to study urban heat islands. StateImpact’s Britny Cordera reports the NOAA funded project could help the city prepare for extreme heat.

Faced with the dangers of excessive heat, educators around the state are getting creative to keep kids safe and cool while still providing recreational opportunities.

StateImpact Oklahoma’s health coverage informed listeners through the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s voter-mandated expansion of Medicaid, and the opioid epidemic. StateImpact managing editor Logan Layden introduces us to Jillian Taylor, the new reporter continuing the work to tell health stories that impact you, your community and the entire state.

Tulsa’s North Peoria Church of Christ used to call Greenwood home. That was before I-244 displaced it and cut through historic Black Wall Street.  StateImpact’s Britny Cordera talked with State Rep. Regina Goodwin, who represents the area and attends the church, about its legacy and a planning grant to study the removal of the expressway.

Next Thursday, the State Board of Education will consider changing the accreditation status of the state’s largest school district, Tulsa Public Schools. This comes after over a year of remarks from State Superintendent Ryan Walters targeting the district. StateImpact’s Beth Wallis and Public Radio Tulsa's Max Bryan break down what’s behind the battle for TPS.

Rebecca Jim owns a mile and a half acreage just north of Vinita, Oklahoma, at the northern edge of the Cherokee Nation. She inherited this land from her family who used to ranch cattle here. She said her land is longer than it is wide, perfect for bringing back prairie chickens. She is turning two fields on the land into prairies to bring back prairie chickens.

Signing bonuses of as much as $50,000 are what Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said is needed to attract new and retired teachers to the classroom. That’s also what makes his new bonus plan a risky policy. StateImpact's Beth Wallis teamed up with Oklahoma Watch education reporter Jennifer Palmer for this story.

StateImpact’s Logan Layden sat down with education reporter Beth Wallis for a breakdown of what education measures Oklahomans are going to get for their money after a contentious 2023 legislative session.

Walters repeatedly emphasized his focus on open communication with superintendents around the state. But when StateImpact sent out a survey to those superintendents, a much more complex picture emerged.

The Oklahoma legislature has been deadlocked for weeks as it hashes out a plan for education funding. StateImpact’s Beth Wallis sat down with Oklahoman newspaper education reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel to talk about the events at the Capitol that led up to this moment.

The governor and the Legislature have been at odds over the state’s Medicaid agency, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. That fight came to a head last week, when the Senate booted the agency director from his Secretary of Health position. StateImpact’s Catherine Sweeney talks with Tres Savage, the editor of nonprofit outlet NonDoc, about what led lawmakers to reject Secretary Kevin Corbett's re-i...