Senate Resolution Honors Oklahoma Students, Educators

Saying Oklahoma’s public schools deserve recognition for making the most out of limited resources, Senator Tom Adelson won approval Monday of a resolution thanking state educators for the classroom successes of state students.

“We often hear criticism of our education system, criticism that isn’t supported by the statistics. I think recognition that Oklahoma educators are doing an outstanding job and that our students are achieving academic excellence that exceeds the regional and national averages is well overdue,” said Adelson, D-Tulsa.

Senate Resolution 23 cited a recent report by the Manhattan Institute which showed Oklahoma’s high school graduation rate of 79 percent was far better than the national average of 71 percent and ranked well above many states which graduation rates near 50 percent.

The study also showed that the college readiness rate among Oklahoma high school graduates is 37 percent, tying state students with their counterparts from Utah for the highest readiness rate in the western region. The state average exceeds both the regional (32 percent) and national (34 percent) average.

The resolution also notes that Oklahoma’s pre-kindergarten programs ranked No. 1 in the nation in the percentage of 4-year-olds attending pre-school; the state is ninth in the number of National Board Certified Teachers; 82 percent of state students score at the satisfactory level or above in reading by the eighth grade; and that Oklahoma students taking the ACT outscore their counterparts from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas.

“We have a wealth of reasons to be proud of our students and educators in Oklahoma and I think it’s important that we officially recognize their accomplishments,” Adelson said.