Oklahoma educators could not be forced to listen to political propaganda during “professional days” or other official school activities under legislation approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives today.
House Bill 2161, by state Rep. Sally Kern, makes it illegal to distribute material at professional meetings “for the purpose of influencing the results of an election for state or local office or a ballot measure or for the purpose of soliciting funds for or against a candidate for state or local office or a ballot measure.”
The bill also states that school district officials and employee organizations are not allowed to promote a candidate for office “at an in-service or other similar teacher meeting.”
“Teachers need professional development days to hone job skills and develop new classroom strategies,” said Kern, an Oklahoma City Republican and former teacher. “They don’t need that time consumed with political addresses or propaganda. Our schools should be centers of learning, not rally organizers for politicians.”
In recent years, she noted some schools have used professional days to advocate for ballot initiatives advanced by special interest groups.
“Oklahoma’s teachers can decide for themselves how they want to vote,” Kern said. “They don’t need to waste school time on political activities.”
House Bill 2161 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a bipartisan 66-30 vote. It now proceeds to the floor of the state Senate.
State Rep. Sally Kern filed a bill this session to make it easier for retired physicians and pharmacists to volunteer their time.
“Retired physicians and pharmacists should not have to pay licensing fees nor go to a lot of trouble just to be able to volunteer their time,” Kern said. “My bill makes pharmacists eligible for the special volunteer medical license that already exists for physicians.”
House Bill 1481 would also remove language that makes volunteer physicians and pharmacists liable if they do not obtain a written statement from patients stating awareness of the volunteer nature of the care.
“Getting a written statement from each patient is just another unnecessary hurdle,” Kern said. “Patients would certainly know whether or not they were paying for a service. I am concerned about discouraging volunteer efforts in a time when many Oklahomans are without health care. With this bill’s passage, pharmacists would not have to pay for a license just to be able to volunteer and an unnecessary requirement for both pharmacists and physicians would be dropped.”
One lawmaker wants to make the end of the school year easier on teachers by adding more flexibility to the final testing season.
House Bill 1303 would allow schools to conduct end-of-instruction tests anytime during the last 25 days of the school year. The bill’s author, state Rep. Sally Kern (R- Bethany), believes this move would make the end of the school year less hectic on educators already pressed with a tight schedule. That’s something Kern, a former teacher, knows about personally.
“Teachers have asked for more time with students to properly instruct them before the final tests of the year are administered,” she said. “Giving them more flexibility on this timetable should result in higher test scores.”
The current law dictates that tests must be conducted no earlier than April 10 and as near as possible to the end of a course. But Kern says that can be problematic for teachers.
“Under the current schedule, a few bad weather days can really create problems for school officials who deal with a lot of uncertainty waiting for the Department of Education to approve a new testing date,” Kern said. “And since not every school district begins the school year at the same time, some districts have more time than others before end-of-year tests must be administered. We need a law that is fair for every district.”
Hat Tip SallyKern
Where Tuesday’s Tide Was All RepublicanBy JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.OKLAHOMA CITY — The sign over the table at the Arrow Cafe in Tecumseh, a rural town southeast of this state capital, said, “World’s Problems Solved Here,” and beneath it sat five older white Democrats with their coffee, talking politics in the golden afternoon light. Only two had voted for Barack Hussein Obama for president
“I just couldn’t vote for anyone who has Hussein in his name,” joked Bob Cook, a 68-year-old poultry farmer, stretching and smiling. At the other end of the table, Jim White, 65, said he opposed abortion and so could not vote for a candidate like Mr. Obama, who favors abortion rights.
Among Oklahomans, Mr. Cook and Mr. White are hardly alone. Though the state’s Democrats still outnumber its Republicans, you would never know it by looking at the election results. Oklahoma voters went for Senator John McCain by almost two to one, bucking the tide that swept Mr. Obama to the presidency. Not a single one of the state’s 77 counties backed Mr. Obama, despite his endorsement by the popular Democratic governor, Brad Henry.
Chris Benge, left, Oklahoma House speaker, and Glenn Coffee, Senate Republican leader, celebrated control of both houses.
In addition, the party hung on to a United States Senate seat and solidly defeated challengers for the four Congressional seats held by Republicans.
“This is a consolidation of what’s been going on for a long time,” said Keith Gaddie, a political scientist at the University of Oklahoma. “The systematic creep toward the Republican Party, and it’s been happening for 30 years.”
Perhaps nowhere else in the country is the conflict between Southern rural Democrats and the national Democratic Party more starkly evident than in Oklahoma, which has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since 1964.
“Oklahoma Democrats, with very few exceptions, are the old-line white Southern Democrats,” said David Ray, another political scientist at the university. “They don’t like liberals or liberalism.”
Indeed, the state has a political landscape closely resembling that of the old solidly Democratic South, especially in its southeastern corner, known as Little Dixie, where many Southerners settled after the Civil War. When conservatives of the Old South began abandoning the party decades ago, Oklahoma’s Democrats lagged behind the historical trend.
Further, the state has relatively small black and Hispanic populations, and so the Democrats did not absorb as many new voters from those groups as in the states of the old Confederacy.
These days Oklahoma Democrats dread running for local office in presidential election years, for fear of being associated with liberal nominees at the top of the ticket.
“Being liberal in Oklahoma, with the exception of a few legislative districts, will not get you elected,” said State Representative Joe Dorman, a conservative (???) Democrat.
Ivan Holmes, chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, said there had been no ballot initiative or outcry on any state or local issue that would explain why conservatives of both parties rejected many Democratic candidates this week.
But, Mr. Holmes said, Mr. Obama was badly hurt in the state by rumors that he was not a Christian, that he sympathized with terrorists and that he would take away people’s firearms, a buzz that could not have helped Democrats down the ticket.
In addition, Senator James M. Inhofe, the Republican incumbent, whipped up anti-liberal sentiment in his successful race against a Democratic challenger, State Senator Andrew Rice, accusing him of being “too liberal for Oklahoma” in opposing a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and voting against tax cuts.
Another Republican, State Representative Sally Kern, who recently declared that homosexuality was a greater threat to the nation than terrorism, easily won re-election.
But Mr. Gaddie said that perhaps the most important factor in Mr. McCain’s strong showing here was religion. An Edison/Mitofsky exit poll found that more than half of Oklahoma voters identified themselves as evangelical Christians and that a heavy majority of them had voted for Mr. McCain.
Mr. Gaddie, himself a pollster as well as a college professor, said: “A question we always ask in our polls is ‘How often do you attend church services?’ If a Democrat is not going to vote for a Democrat, they are a frequent church attender.”
Another advantage for Mr. McCain was that the state’s economy, based mostly on the oil and gas industry, has been buffered somewhat from the national economic slowdown. Unemployment remains low, the housing market stable.
For all of that, the Democratic Party is far from dead in Oklahoma, especially in the state’s southeastern section, where, despite the social conservatism, many people still talk about the New Deal and revere Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Democrats currently hold not only the governorship but also most other statewide offices. And rural voters often register as Democrats because the party’s primaries for sheriff and county commissioner continue to be more important than the general elections for those posts.
But the blows of the recent past have been unmistakable. For the last 14 years, the state’s two senators, and four of its five representatives, have been Republicans. Riding President Bush’s coattails, Republicans also won control of the Oklahoma House in 2004. Now they have won the State Senate.
“If America voted for change, Oklahoma voted for reform,” State Senator Glenn Coffee, the Republican who is soon to be majority leader, said of Tuesday’s elections. “For a long time you had a single-party state.”
At the Arrow Cafe, several lifelong Democrats said they could remember a time 25 years ago when no one would admit to being a Republican, for fear of being ostracized. These days, few people advertise that they are Democrats, though Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in the county by two to one.
Reflecting on the Oklahoma vote in the presidential election just past, Gordon Belshe, a 67-year-old manufacturer of trailer homes who said he had voted for Mr. Obama, suggested that racism had played a role.
“I still think we had a lot of antiblack votes in this state,” Mr. Belshe said. “I had several people ask me how I could vote for him.”
And Mr. White, the man who had said he could not vote for Mr. Obama because of the abortion issue, also acknowledged that he would not have been comfortable voting for a black candidate. “I’m prejudiced,” he whispered. “This is a problem I have to personally work through.”
In truth, it is impossible to tell if racism was a significant factor in Mr. Obama’s poor showing here. According to a statewide exit poll conducted by Edison/Mitofsky, he got the support of 59 percent of white Democrats in the state, compared with the 84 percent he garnered from white Democrats nationwide. Four years ago, however, Senator John Kerry fared little better among white Oklahoma Democrats, getting only 62 percent.
In any event, most of the older Democrats who stopped by the cafe the other day said Mr. Obama’s race had had nothing to do with their decision to support Mr. McCain.
Mr. Cook, the poultry farmer, said Mr. Obama had been insufficiently religious for him. “He don’t believe like a lot of us do,” he said.
And Bill Straughan, a 70-year-old former civilian employee at nearby Tinker Air Force Base, said Mr. Obama “doesn’t have any real résumé.”
“McCain was a prisoner of war longer than Obama was in the Senate,” Mr. Straughan said. “The last reason I would not vote for him was because he’s black.”
This article appeared in print on November 8, 2008, on page A13 of the New York edition.
State Rep. Sally Kern today urged Oklahomans who support the traditional family to become more involved in policy fights "or we will cede the victory to groups seeking special rights based on changeable homosexual behavior."
Kern noted that radical homosexual rights groups have planned a "Clock In for Equality" day on May 15 to mobilize people to promote new government regulation of the workplace that will provide special rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals.
"Those of us who believe in preserving traditional marriage and upholding Judeo-Christian values cannot afford to simply stand on the sideline," said Kern, R-Oklahoma City. "The groups committed to undermining those ideals remain active and if we do nothing, they win by default."
The May 15 event is spearheaded by Lambda Legal, a national organization "committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work," according to the group's Web site.
"Lambda Legal makes clear that they will use harassment lawsuits and intrusive regulations to punish people who do not agree with their agenda or the lifestyle of their members," Kern said. "If Oklahomans fail to oppose this agenda, they will grant control of their businesses and schools to radical, out-of-state groups."
Lambda Legal is working to enact federal law that expressly forbids discrimination on the basis of homosexuality ("sexual orientation") and transsexuality/cross-dressing ("gender identity"). The group is also working to win passage of similar laws at the state level.
The workplace initiative follows an April 25 "Day of Silence" event in public schools that activists used to promote the homosexual lifestyle to impressionable teens.
"We would not allow outside groups to promote alcohol or drug abuse to children in our schools, but groups promoting an equally unhealthy and unsafe lifestyle are allowed to promote a homosexual agenda," Kern said, noting a CDC report that found that in 2005, "men who have sex with men" (MSM) "still accounted for about 53 percent of all new HIV/AIDS cases and 71 percent of cases in male adults and adolescents." (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/msm/)
"We cannot afford to ignore these activities or we will soon see the regulatory power of the state turned against people of faith," Kern said.
Legislation that would guarantee that Oklahoma students who express religious views at school are granted the same protections as students expressing secular views was sent to Gov. Brad Henry today.
House Bill 2633, by state Rep. Sally Kern, declares that students may "express their beliefs about religion in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments" without being penalized or rewarded as long as their viewpoint is on the otherwise permissible topic. Under the bill, the otherwise permissible topic is always decided by the school.
"This bill simply ensures that students' First Amendment rights are protected," said Kern, R-Oklahoma City. "This legislation will give teachers and school administrators the guidelines and clarity they need. Unreasonable fear of lawsuits currently leads many school officials to unnecessarily censor students."
"This law will level the playing field for religious students and ensure they are not punished for simply expressing a religious viewpoint," said state Rep. Mike Reynolds, an Oklahoma City Republican who also co-authored the bill. "This legislation complies with U.S. Supreme Court rulings and I am pleased that it received such broad
bipartisan support."
Under the bill's language, students cannot be persecuted or rewarded for discussing religious views at appropriate times. The legislation requires non-discrimination and equal treatment for all Oklahoma students and provides certainty for school administrators.
The legislation effectively codifies established Supreme Court decisions in state law, providing clear guidelines to school officials who have previously been inconsistent in their approach to students' free speech rights.
House Bill 2633 also provides for Oklahoma educators to have more instruction time before students take end-of-year tests.
The bill includes language that would allow schools to administer end-of-instruction tests anytime during the final 25 days of school.
Current law requires that the tests must be administered no earlier than April 10 and "as near as possible to the end of the course."
"Teachers have been asking for more instructional time with students before the end-of-year tests are administered," Kern said. "Giving them more flexibility on the timetable should result in higher test scores."
The relaxed testing schedule will reduce the problems now created by taking a "one size fits all approach" to the more than 500 school districts in Oklahoma, Kern noted.
"Under the current schedule, a few bad weather days can really create problems for school officials who deal with a lot of uncertainty waiting for the state Department of Education to approve a new testing date," Kern said. "Also, not every school district begins the school year on the same date, which means some districts have more instructional time than others."
House Bill 2633 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a 70-28 vote on Tuesday and now goes to Gov. Brad Henry to be signed into law. The bill previously passed the Senate 48-0.
Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern created Internet controversy when she said that homosexuality was "the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam."
RHODE ISLAND GOVERNOR GETS SERIOUS ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Gov. Donald L. Carcieri issued executive order 08-01 on March 27 to address the 20,000 to 40,000 illegal aliens in Rhode Island, which is "more than the population of 32 of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns." The order requires the Department of Administration and any business doing business with the State of Rhode Island to use the federal government's E-Verify program and the Rhode Island State Police to secure a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to receive training necessary to assist ICE with the enforcement of federal immigration laws. It also orders the Department of Corrections to secure a MOA with ICE to "combat illegal immigration issues" at the Adult Correctional Institution and the Parole Board to work with ICE personnel to deport "criminal aliens."
INTELLIGENT DESIGN DEFENDED ON THE BIG SCREEN
Ben Stein, the popular actor and comedian, isn't letting the establishment keep him or others silent any longer. Stein's new documentary film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed exposes the myths of evolution and jabs at the mandated political correctness favoring Darwinism in the classroom. Support Stein's courageous efforts by calling your local theaters to ask them to show the controversial film. Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed opens in two weeks on April 18th.
PHILADELPHIA BOY SCOUTS THE LATEST TO COME UNDER ATTACK
The Boy Scouts of Philadelphia, PA are on the verge of being evicted from their downtown headquarters, which they have occupied since 1929. The Philadelphia Human Relations Commission has ruled that banning homosexuals from leadership violates the city's fair practices ordinance. The city has ordered the organization to pay a fair-market rent of $200,000 - $199,999 more than its current $1 annual rate - to maintain its longtime offices in a landmark Philadelphia building because of its refusal to allow openly gay Scouts and Scout leaders. This order comes despite the Supreme Court ruling in 2000 that the Scouts, as a private group, have a First Amendment right to bar gays from leadership. If you'd like to help the Boy Scouts defend their headquarters and their longstanding principles, log on to www.saveourscouts.com. Fill out the online petition, print it and distribute it to family and friends, and donate money so the Boy Scouts can defend themselves against such attacks!
CHURCH SPONSORED SCHOOL OFFERS FREE TUITION TO COMMUNITY
Zion Lutheran Church, located in the suburbs of Milwaukee, will open up its doors to non-members and offer free tuition to boost enrollment this Fall. Parents applying for enrollment must commit to attending church in the area and volunteering to help with extracurricular events and fundraisers. The school's enrollment has dropped from 130 in the early 1990s to 47 students today. AP, 4-3-08.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTERS Don't forget to keep up with the activities sponsored by centers that support women with unplanned pregnancies in your area; help them publicize their events. For example, Thrive St. Louis, which operates pregnancy resource centers in the St. Louis area, will host its 10th Run & Walk for Life on May 10th. Events like this present a wonderful opportunity for the community to raise money and awareness for the unborn. These events typically need lots of volunteers to not only enter the race, but to also run the event.
CHARLTON HESTON. R.I.P.
We have just lost one of the great Hollywood stars. His portrayal of Moses in Cecil B. DeMille's "Ten Commandments" etched Heston's image in the American consciousness. Heston was a valiant warrior on the right side of traditional culture. His beloved wife of 64 years was at his side when he died. He served for 5 years as president of the National Rifle Association. In one of his last public appearances, Eagle president Phyllis Schlafly introduced him at CPAC, reminding him of her thrill at watching the chariot race in "Ben-Hur." Heston was gracious, as always, and one of the "greats" of the conservative movement.
EAGLE OF THE WEEK
Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern is this week's Eagle of the Week because of her tremendous courage over the last couple of weeks. Her strong stance for family values stirred the hearts of the nearly 3000 who turned out to support Rep. Kern in a time of great pressure. Thank you Rep. Kern for not backing down and for standing for truth even at a high cost to your family and personal safety. You have Eagle Forum's support.
As a state representative, I have always been willing to meet with any and all of my constituents on any issue with an open and sincere dialog; however, it is apparent from the statement released by PFLAG that their "open dialog' was for the purpose of politicizing the conversation to their benefit.
While I did meet with PFLAG in what was a cordial and polite meeting, they have taken my statements and have spun them to make it appear that I am backing off my comments that homosexuality is a sin. As a Christian who believes in the authority of God's Word, I will never retract my comments that homosexuality is a sin.
PFLAG has also spun my words to say that I am in favor of sexual orientation laws. I unequivocally do not support sexual orientation laws. While I do not advocate employers going on a witch hunt to fire homosexual employees who are performing their jobs in a manner just like any heterosexual employee, I do not support laws that would force employers to check their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, speech, and association at the workplace door.
Since PFLAG has shown their lack of integrity by interpreting my statements from our meeting to fit their agenda and thus revealing their purpose of open dialog to be just a means of seeking to weaken my position and strengthen theirs, I see no benefit in having future meetings with them.
God's Word does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His Word expresses his moral character. Therefore, my opinion also will not change.
Oklahoma students who express religious views at school would be guaranteed the same protections as students expressing secular views under legislation approved today by the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
House Bill 2211 creates the Religious Viewpoints Anti-Discrimination Act, requiring schools to treat students who voluntarily express religious viewpoints the same as students expressing secular viewpoints on the same subject.
"Your First Amendment rights are not repealed when you walk through the schoolhouse door," said state Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City. "This
bill simply ensures that children will not be persecuted or rewarded for
discussing religious views at appropriate times. The legislation
requires non-discrimination and equal treatment for all Oklahoma
students and provides certainty for our school administrators."
House Bill 2211 declares that students may "express their beliefs about
religion in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments"
without being penalized or rewarded as long as their viewpoint is on the
otherwise permissible topic. Under the bill, the otherwise permissible
topic is always decided by the school.
The legislation also requires each school district to adopt a policy
protecting the free speech rights of students at public events, such as
graduation ceremonies.
In addition, the bill establishes clear protections for voluntary
student organizations with religious missions "to the same extent that
students are permitted to organize other non-curricular student
activities and groups." The bill clearly states the right of those
groups to meet in school buildings so long as other, comparable
nonreligious groups can use the building.
The bill effectively codifies established Supreme Court decisions in
state law, providing clear guidelines to school officials who have
previously been inconsistent in their approach to students' free speech
rights, said State Rep. Daniel Sullivan.
"House Bill 2211 simply levels the playing field for all students, both
those who profess religious faith and those who do not," said Sullivan,
R-Tulsa. "Our schools are meant to be centers of learning, not tools of
censorship or intolerance. This law will not give religious children
special rights or preferential treatment, but it will ensure they have
equal rights and protections."
House Bill 2211 passed out of the House by a vote of 71-25 and now
proceeds to the Senate.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is looking into death threats against a state lawmaker who told a political group that the gay agenda poses a bigger threat to the U.S. than terrorism and "is just destroying this nation," an OSBI spokeswoman said Tuesday.
OSBI agents met with Kern, of Oklahoma City, at the state Capitol Monday afternoon after she received thousands of e-mails and telephone calls from people reacting to her comments to a group of Republicans about gays and their lifestyle.
State Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City) issued the following statement today in response to the criticisms of homosexual activists who have objected to a recent speech she gave on their efforts to promote their agenda at both the federal and state level.
“To put this simply, as a Christian I believe homosexuality is not moral. Obviously, you have the right as an American to choose that lifestyle, but I also have the right to express my views and my fellow Oklahomans have the right to debate these issues.
“In recent years homosexual activists have begun to aggressively promote their agenda through the political process, often providing substantial financing to candidates who agree with their views, including many running for state legislative races. National publications such as Time, The Atlantic and USA Today have noted that trend. That is their right, just as it is my right to voice opposition to their agenda, which I have been asked to do at several public forums in recent months. That’s what democracy is all about. It appears some homosexual activists believe only one group is allowed a voice in this debate. I disagree.
“A vigorous debate on an issue is not ‘hate speech’ – it’s free speech. I have made clear my opposition to the agenda of homosexual activists, but I have never endorsed or supported any hateful action targeting individuals on the other side of this debate and never will. The fact that many gay rights activists claim anyone opposing their agenda is engaging in ‘hate speech’ says more about them than me.
“Most Oklahomans are socially conservative and believe marriage is a sacred institution, the union of one man and one woman, and that the traditional family is worth protecting and preserving. When I campaigned for office, I promised my constituents to stand up for those values, and I do not apologize for keeping my word.”
With several states turning to plans to sell or lease their turnpikes to private companies in an effort to raise capital, a measure that passed today out of the House General Government and Transportation Committee would prevent the same thing from happening in Oklahoma.
House Bill 3182, by state Rep. Sally Kern, would
prohibit the Oklahoma Transportation Commission
and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority from entering
into any contract or lease agreement with a foreign
company or any majority-owned subsidiary of a
foreign company to operate or maintain any
state-owned turnpike.
Recently, the privatization of state assets has become
a hotly debated issue throughout the nation, and Kern
said that should worry citizens. Kern said such
privatization plans harm citizens because private
companies can raise fees and neglect maintenance
without reprisal from citizens in the voting booth.
"These companies are concerned only with profit
margin; they're not concerned with providing low
costs, access and basic services to citizens," said
Kern, R-Oklahoma City. "Oklahoma citizens count
on our toll roads to take them back and forth to
work, to shop and to bring them goods and services.
Focusing solely on short-term cash flow problems
could create severe long-term consequences for our
state.
"Our toll road system is a multi-billion dollar public
asset. Giving up control of it could result in excessively
increased tolls and higher prices for consumer goods
because shipping costs will be passed on at the register.
The cost is far too great to even consider."
In 2004, the City of Chicago leased its eight-mile Chicago
Skyway to Spanish corporation Cintra for $1.82 billion.
In 2006, Indiana leased its 157-mile Indiana Tollroad to
Cintra for $3.8 billion.
The measure now moves to the House floor for a vote by
the full body.
Oklahoma educators could not be forced to listen to political propaganda during “professional days” or other official school activities under legislation approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives today.
