Latest news with #JointResolution22
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Oklahoma schools will not be required to track immigrant students despite Walters' proposal
A controversial administrative rule proposal that would have required schools to collect the immigration status of students and their parents has been halted after a joint resolution blocking the policy went into effect without Gov. Kevin Stitt's signature. Senate Joint Resolution 22, which also rejects an Oklahoma State Department of Education proposal to require teachers to take the U.S. Naturalization Test to renew their teaching license, was deemed as law on Wednesday, May 28, a week after the Legislature sent it to the governor. Stitt did not sign the resolution, despite his persistent criticisms of Walters's immigration-check proposal. He had accused Walters of using children as political pawns. The resolution eventually passed without opposition in the House and Senate, but not before the resolution's supporters successfully fended off three attempts — one in the Senate, two in the House — to amend it to accept the immigration-check rule pushed by state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters. On X on Tuesday, May 27, Walters posted an article from the publication EdWeek noting his immigration-check rule had failed to be approved by the Legislature and wrote, "Stay tuned." A spokesman for Walters didn't immediately return a message seeking comment. 'Collecting 6-, 7-, 8-year-old kids' addresses and immigration status in the state of Oklahoma, that's not a public safety issue,' Stitt said in February. 'Let's go after the bad guys, the people that are committing crimes, and let's not terrorize and make our kids not show up at school.' When asked why Stitt opted not to sign the resolution, his spokesperson Abegail Cave said he hadn't signed any other administrative rules resolutions this year, either. The governor instead decided to "let them all go into law" without signing them. "As with bills, he only signed things that were considered policy priorities," Cave said. The governor said earlier in May that he didn't view many of the bills passed this session as priorities, adding that he doesn't think they're going to move the needle. In Oklahoma, the governor has five days, not including Sundays, to take action on a bill while the Legislature is in session. Otherwise, the bill becomes law on its effective date. More than 200 measures have become law so far without Stitt's signature. "I just decided that I will sign the things that I think are good and are actually going to move the needle for Oklahoma, and obviously veto the ones that are not good for Oklahoma," Stitt said on May 21. The proposed rule was part of Walters' broader effort to quantify how much Oklahoma schools pay to educate undocumented migrants. Walters also sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in January, demanding the federal agency pay the state $474 million to "recoup illegal immigration impacts on Oklahoma schools." The dollar figure appears to be based on an estimate published by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group dedicated to limiting immigration. Many U.S.-born children are likely included in the estimate, according to the group's analysis. On Friday, May 23, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit. More: Homeland Security wants court to drop immigration policy lawsuit filed by Ryan Walters Attorneys representing Noem — who now is the primary defendant in the case — said while they sympathize with many of Walters' concerns, the lawsuit should be tossed for multiple reasons, one of which being Oklahoma has no standing to file such a lawsuit under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, which deals with separation of powers within the federal government. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma schools will not be required to track immigrant students
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oklahoma lawmakers reject Ryan Walters' proposal to track immigrant students
A resolution rejecting state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters' proposal to track immigrant students and their families is on its way to the governor's desk. Senate Joint Resolution 22, which covers proposed education policies, passed without opposition on the House floor on Wednesday, May 21, but not before a long debate about whether to amend the resolution to green light Walters' immigration-check rule. The resolution now awaits the approval of Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has been a staunch critic of the proposal. 'Collecting 6-, 7-, 8-year-old kids' addresses and immigration status in the state of Oklahoma, that's not a public safety issue,' Stitt said in February. 'Let's go after the bad guys, the people that are committing crimes, and let's not terrorize and make our kids not show up at school.' The proposed rule from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, which is led by Walters, would have required schools to seek information about the immigration status of students and their parents during enrollment. Another proposed rule by that agency that's in line for rejection is one that would require Oklahoma teachers to take the U.S. Naturalization Test to renew their teaching license. Attempts to revive Walters' immigration rule were rejected multiple times by lawmakers in recent weeks. On Monday, Rep. Molly Jenkins, R-Coyle, introduced an amendment to do so in the House Administrative Rules Committee, and it failed on a 10-3 vote. On Wednesday, Jenkins tried again, proposing a similar amendment on the House floor. It was ultimately tabled by a 75-12 vote. The House immediately then voted 90-0 to approve the resolution. Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, also tried to revive the rule on the Senate floor earlier in May, but his proposed amendments were tabled. More: Attempt to revive Ryan Walters' immigration-check rule in Oklahoma schools fails Walters, during a news conference at the Capitol on Friday, accused the Legislature and the governor of not being transparent about the issue. 'It's incredibly disappointing that we see the Senate not provide that type of transparency for taxpayers,' Walters said. 'Let's just be real clear. Our rule says that we are going to account for how many taxpayer dollars, how much goes towards illegal immigrants in our schools. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OK lawmakers reject Ryan Walters' proposal to track immigrant students
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers move to reject immigration status tracking at Oklahoma schools
The Oklahoma Senate has advanced a resolution that would block the Oklahoma State Department of Education from requiring schools to seek information about the immigration status of students and their parents during enrollment. Senate Joint Resolution 22 also rejects a proposal to require teachers to take the U.S. Naturalization Test to renew their teaching license. Both of those proposals have been supported by state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, who leads the state agency, while his fellow Republican, Gov. Kevin Stitt has been a fierce critic of the immigration-check proposal, accusing Walters of using children as political pawns. Ultimately, the Senate approved the resolution rejecting those rules proposals 43-0 on Tuesday, May 13. But plenty of legislative drama occurred on the Senate floor in the hour before that vote. The resolution now heads to the House Administrative Rules Committee, chaired by Rep. Gerrid Kendrix, R-Altus. If approved by that committee, and then the full House, without changes, the resolution would then go to Stitt for his signature. The Republican-controlled Legislature has until May 30 to act on administrative rules proposals. On Tuesday, a maneuver by state Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, resulted in one change in the resolution, to approve a proposed rule requiring school districts to report to the state agency donations to the district of more than $17,000 from non-government sources. Jett's amendment passed by a 26-18 vote after more than 45 minutes of questions and debate — and after the resolution's author, Sen. Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, urged a 'no' vote. Bergstrom said the proposed rule had been poorly written by the state agency and that the agency hadn't been given legislative authority to create the rule. Jett claimed that, among others, the Chinese Communist Party and other bad actors were 'pouring money' in Oklahoma school districts. He cited one example, one used by Walters nearly two years ago. In September 2023, Walters told a U.S. House education subcommittee he believed the Chinese Communist Party has tried to influence Oklahoma schools through Mandarin language programs. He specifically alleged that the state's largest school district, Tulsa Public Schools, had taken money from the Chinese government. The Tulsa district said Walters was wrong. In July 2023, the district's board of education renewed an agreement for the Confucius Classroom Coordination Offices through the International Leadership of Texas, a nonprofit described in an agenda item as an international partnership dedicated to building the field of Chinese language teachers and Chinese language learning in American schools for the 2023-24 school year. According to a Congressional Research Office report from May 2023, the parent organization of the Confucius Classroom and its collegiate counterpart, the Confucius Institutes, is the Chinese Language Council International, which is affiliated with China's Ministry of Education. Some senators — even Republicans, including Bergstrom, Sen. Brent Howard of Altus, Sen. Brenda Stanley of Midwest City and Sen. Dave Rader of Tulsa — seemed skeptical of Jett's idea, but the amendment still passed. Two other amendments proposed by Jett — either of which would have changed the resolution to say the Senate approved the agency's immigration rule — both were tabled, after motions to do so by Howard, by votes of 27-16 and 27-17, respectively. Jett initially had proposed the amendments before the resolution was introduced in the Senate Administrative Rules Committee, chaired by Bergstrom, but he and another far-right legislator, Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin — both members of the committee — were not in the room on May 7 when the committee voted 6-1 to approve the resolution. They then entered the room for a vote on another resolution. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Senate advances resolution rejecting Ryan Walters' immigration rule
