Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome meeting.
Speaker 1: It's time now for our community connection right here on
Speaker 1: Kate one, the one you trust. We have Republican and
Speaker 1: another Conservatives in Washington County here and boy, today we're
Speaker 1: going to have a nice little talk about education. First
Speaker 1: of all, Jessica Kross is with us, and so is
Speaker 1: Charlie Daniels. I'll start with you, Jessica. We've got a
Speaker 1: meeting coming up here, pretty darn.
Speaker 2: Do we do.
Speaker 3: Thank you for having us, Tom. We always enjoy our
Speaker 3: time here. We enjoy having Our monthly meeting is next Tuesday,
Speaker 3: February fourth, at six thirty pm Crossing Second. Good and
Speaker 3: we welcome everyone to join us. We have a wonderful
Speaker 3: informative topic that can affect every household and if it
Speaker 3: doesn't necessarily affect yours, your neighbors, your grandkids.
Speaker 4: And by the way, Jessica I mentioned at Crossing Second,
Speaker 4: you can get food and drink for all they are
Speaker 4: listening to the interesting conversations there.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, we encourage people to come early and order from
Speaker 3: the lovely menu that Sharon and Dan have going on there,
Speaker 3: and they can also order during the meeting as well
Speaker 3: they can.
Speaker 2: It's a great thing. And the.
Speaker 4: Real sliders who just divine I can recommend them enthusiastically.
Speaker 2: It sounds like you had a few. Yeah, I have,
Speaker 2: probably a few too many. But now we're going to
Speaker 2: be talking about education.
Speaker 3: Yes, school choice.
Speaker 2: School, that's a biggie. It has been for quite a
Speaker 2: while here in Oklahoma.
Speaker 4: School or not school, depending on how you do this,
Speaker 4: how you do it, how you define it.
Speaker 2: You define it. That's right. New homeschool. I do we
Speaker 2: home educate? Yes? Yes, home educate? Is that the new term?
Speaker 3: That's just the term that I.
Speaker 4: Okay, we're going to have at the at the program,
Speaker 4: we'll have Kay Little who has almost founded homeschooling in Martlesville,
Speaker 4: and it's it's a real interesting landscape now.
Speaker 2: You look at it. Homeschooling was the first kind of
Speaker 2: schooling back in the.
Speaker 4: Cave Mandays when it was instead of home, Sweet Home,
Speaker 4: it was Cave Sweet Cave. And Papa Ogg was teaching
Speaker 4: little Og how to skin a bear, skin a sabertooth cat.
Speaker 4: Here you go, son used this, use this stone knife,
Speaker 4: and eh, Dad, that's yucky.
Speaker 2: But this is how you did and how they learned.
Speaker 4: And then we graduated to Hunt, Sweet Hunt, and we
Speaker 4: and we.
Speaker 2: Got a little agriculture going, got a little agriculture.
Speaker 4: Yeah, drop the seed in the hole, son, and that's
Speaker 4: that's how you did that. But now it's become very sophisticated.
Speaker 4: It's enshrined in the Oklahoma Constitution. We are, I think,
Speaker 4: the only state in the country where the constitution guarantees
Speaker 4: your right to homeschool, and out of that has proliferated.
Speaker 4: You've got single family homeschoolers like yourself. You've got pods,
Speaker 4: you've got co ops, you've got Classical Conversation which one
Speaker 4: day a week takes some in a more structured environment.
Speaker 4: And you've got Cornerstone Classical Academy, which is two days
Speaker 4: a week that, by the way, is about to get
Speaker 4: accredited as a school, as an accredited school, very fine school.
Speaker 2: It is. Been out there and they looked at it
Speaker 2: and they know what they're doing.
Speaker 3: Yes, they do wonderful leadership, and the students really enjoy
Speaker 3: going there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they do all of those options.
Speaker 4: Jessica, do you have any idea how many homeschoolers there are?
Speaker 1: I do not.
Speaker 2: I don't either neither. It is okay, but we think
Speaker 2: it's hundreds of absolutely.
Speaker 3: I would definitely say hundreds because, as you mentioned, if
Speaker 3: you're involved in either of those programs, or we have
Speaker 3: numerous co ops throughout Bartlesville as well. And then families
Speaker 3: that aren't necessarily attached to a certain co op but.
Speaker 2: Are homeschooling their children.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and during during COVID, of course, everybody became a
Speaker 4: homeschooler for a while, it seemed like. And I had
Speaker 4: a friend who said, I used to laugh at preppers
Speaker 4: and homeschoolers, and now I'm doing both. And a lot
Speaker 4: of people continued after the crisis passed, as it were,
Speaker 4: so homeschooling really got a boost out of the whole thing.
Speaker 3: But that also brought up the virtual options.
Speaker 2: It did other charter.
Speaker 3: School options other than just your private schools and the
Speaker 3: public schools.
Speaker 2: It did.
Speaker 4: Indeed, I'm glad you brought up the virtual because we
Speaker 4: all went virtual around here if you were trying to
Speaker 4: do any kind of formal schooling. But Bartlesville has a
Speaker 4: full time virtual school. And when the superintendent of education
Speaker 4: at Oklahoma City said we've all got to shut down
Speaker 4: for a while while we learned this virtual thing, we
Speaker 4: held our hand up and said we don't.
Speaker 2: We got to take care.
Speaker 4: It's Oklahoma Connect Academy. We don't have a big building.
Speaker 4: It's in one of those little office parks off of
Speaker 4: No Water Road to the entrance to Woodland Park. But
Speaker 4: got about fourteen hundred students students says state wide, and
Speaker 4: it's a real interesting school.
Speaker 2: They asked me to get on the board.
Speaker 4: And I've always thought I don't know about educating a
Speaker 4: kid sitting in front of a computer screen. But they
Speaker 4: explain to me that there is a thin slice of
Speaker 4: the population of students in the state. They don't thrive
Speaker 4: in a classroom. They just don't. And maybe the parents
Speaker 4: can't homeschool for one reason or other. This is a
Speaker 4: viable alternative. And the thing that sold me when they
Speaker 4: said if you miss if you miss fifth hour on
Speaker 4: Tuesday because you have a broken tooth or something, you've
Speaker 4: missed fifth hour on Tuesday. But in virtual school, you
Speaker 4: can pick that class up at midnight on Friday if
Speaker 4: you want to, if you want to, that's an interesting
Speaker 4: thing to do.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you definitely mentioned that how all of these
Speaker 3: can work with the children and how best do they
Speaker 3: learn how their home environment thrives exactly right, their schedules
Speaker 3: and if they have other pursuits that might not or
Speaker 3: that might operate during the time frame that they would be.
Speaker 4: Indeed, indeed, the virtual school had had a young lady
Speaker 4: high school girl who was trying to play her way
Speaker 4: on to the w PGA. So she was traveling around
Speaker 4: the Midwest and entering into golf tournaments. Well, that really
Speaker 4: did knock a hole in the conventional schedule, which she
Speaker 4: carried her laptop with you her and she did her
Speaker 4: lessons in between rounds. But let me let's let's shift
Speaker 4: over to to the virtual idea.
Speaker 2: There there. Bartlesville Public does virtual school.
Speaker 4: I do not know how many kids take advantage of it,
Speaker 4: but I know some do. And there's a new school
Speaker 4: choice and I'm going to use that in its broadest
Speaker 4: term with public schools. They passed a law in twenty
Speaker 4: twenty two allowing free transfer.
Speaker 2: Between public schools.
Speaker 4: If you don't like your school over on this side
Speaker 4: of town, you can go to the school on that
Speaker 4: side of town. And it's pretty free.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 4: It was pretty free in Bartlesville anyway, and between here
Speaker 4: and Dewey, but this is this is codified, and it
Speaker 4: is very free now. If there's a space available, but
Speaker 4: that in shifts us into private schools. Yes, and we've
Speaker 4: got about five of them here, depending on how you
Speaker 4: classify a corner zone, which is we'll get back to
Speaker 4: that here in a second. But you've got Saint John's,
Speaker 4: You've got Wesleyan Christian. You've got Beacon Academy. Beacon Academy,
Speaker 4: which is a small school, about thirty five or thirty
Speaker 4: six students, but it's knocking the top side of the vent.
Speaker 2: They're learning Latin in the first grade.
Speaker 3: I love that we have friends who attend that she
Speaker 3: is just thriving in that environment.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And then there's there's Cornerstone as we met, and
Speaker 4: I don't want to forget paths to independence for children
Speaker 4: who are autistic. There is no better school in the
Speaker 4: state of Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: Probably.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: People move, people move here in order to get autistic
Speaker 4: children into PGI and it's just a wonderful place. You
Speaker 4: can get into Peacha. It's if you pay the tuition
Speaker 4: out of pocket. It's expensive, but there is a thing
Speaker 4: called the Lindsay Nicole Henry Scholarship for Disabled Children and
Speaker 4: it fits perfectly. You get an I E. P or
Speaker 4: for five oh one, five oh four. I'm talking jargon here,
Speaker 4: but people who have disabled kids know what I'm talking about. Uh.
Speaker 4: And you go there and you present it, and you
Speaker 4: can get the loose eaton coal scholarship and it is
Speaker 4: a doozy. Uh. Then we've got we've got a contributory,
Speaker 4: a voluntary tax credit scholarship that was enacted a year later.
Speaker 4: This is where people contribute money towards the fund of
Speaker 4: that provides the scholarships and they get these great tax credits,
Speaker 4: and I mean they're whoppers, they're they're they're really good.
Speaker 4: And then schools can apply to get these scholarships. Works
Speaker 4: for Saint John's, works for Westland Christian, Uh, will work.
Speaker 2: For any Peachi, of course.
Speaker 4: Uh, it will work for any accredited school in Oklahoma.
Speaker 2: Which brings me to a point.
Speaker 4: All public schools are accredited, including the virtuals School. UH.
Speaker 4: Saint John's is accredited, Westland Christian is accredited, Cornerstone's about
Speaker 4: to be accredited.
Speaker 2: PTI's accredited, And.
Speaker 4: I know that Beacon is working on it. They're they're
Speaker 4: they're beavering away on that very thing.
Speaker 1: And this is great, This is good to know.
Speaker 2: It's yeah, and a lot of people don't know it.
Speaker 2: That's true.
Speaker 4: They think they think of private schools, they think of
Speaker 4: Holland Hall.
Speaker 2: It's also or Casha Hall.
Speaker 4: Those are expensive, they're great schools, they're elite schools, and
Speaker 4: they cost a bundle. But but the average private school
Speaker 4: cost in Oklahoma is between eight and nine thousand dollars.
Speaker 4: And that's just where where Westland Christian hits. Saint John's
Speaker 4: is about one thousand more. But we're we're around that
Speaker 4: mid range. And you can get You can get scholarships,
Speaker 4: which leads me to the biggie they got passed a
Speaker 4: year or two ago, the Parent Choice Tax Credit Scholarship.
Speaker 2: That's how to get it right. I know, I'm throwing
Speaker 2: a thicket of terms.
Speaker 1: Can I remember you being here a couple of years
Speaker 1: ago explaining that too.
Speaker 4: Oh gosh, it's so good. And it basically provides parents
Speaker 4: of any means, whether you're rich or poor or middle class,
Speaker 4: you can get one of these scholarships by applying for it.
Speaker 4: They're skewing toward the lower income kids right now.
Speaker 2: But they're building up to the others.
Speaker 4: The least you can get is five thousand dollars towards
Speaker 4: towards tuition The most you can get is seventy five hundred,
Speaker 4: which is starting to crowd those averages pretty nicely. If
Speaker 4: Beacon gets credited, they're only charging thirty five to forty
Speaker 4: five hundred.
Speaker 2: Dollars right now, they're a bargain.
Speaker 4: Cornerstone is five thousand to fifty five hundred dollars, so
Speaker 4: that's a bargain too. If we can get them over
Speaker 4: the line, that Parent Choice Tax Credit is going to
Speaker 4: be a real life saver. Do you look like you
Speaker 4: were about to ask a question?
Speaker 1: No, you know, I just wish this was around when
Speaker 1: most of my kids were Yeah, we're younger.
Speaker 2: Most of my kids now are in their forties. They're
Speaker 2: no longer eligible.
Speaker 4: Tome.
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry. The grandkids are yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Speaker 2: they are.
Speaker 4: Well, I think back to forty or fifty years ago
Speaker 4: when we were all sending kids to when a lot
Speaker 4: of people were sending kids to school.
Speaker 2: What kid?
Speaker 4: What school did you send your kid to? Well, you
Speaker 4: went out and you looked at your street of dress,
Speaker 4: and your street address told you not. In so many words,
Speaker 4: I've gone out and tried to converse with my street
Speaker 4: of dress. It is remarkably smute on talk.
Speaker 5: We are, but it did tell you where to send
Speaker 5: your kid, and sometimes that was a good choice and
Speaker 5: sometimes it didn't work with a flip, And so that's
Speaker 5: the great thing about how we do it now.
Speaker 1: So you know this way, we've got a lot of choices,
Speaker 1: We've got a lot of flexibility. And I think this
Speaker 1: conversation you're going to have coming up on Tuesday at
Speaker 1: the crossing second at six, this is going to be
Speaker 1: well worth your time and your energy and your attention.
Speaker 3: Absolutely is going to be one of our main speakers
Speaker 3: along with Kay Little.
Speaker 4: As you mentioned, Kat Kay Little knows all, sees all,
Speaker 4: tells all about homeschooling.
Speaker 2: I've tried to hit the tops of the.
Speaker 4: Waves and Jessica knows how to do it, so he's good.
Speaker 2: So you've got to go to it from all directions.
Speaker 4: But the great thing about the thing on on Tuesday
Speaker 4: night is you can get food and drink, as we've mentioned,
Speaker 4: and you can ask questions and.
Speaker 2: We're gonna I'm going to come with a PowerPoint.
Speaker 4: I seldom knew these things, but I've got one ginned
Speaker 4: up and uh, you can ask questions.
Speaker 2: We'll go into it and the greater.
Speaker 4: To tap in depth and Uh, this thicket of acronyms
Speaker 4: and letters and things like that will all be explained.
Speaker 1: Oh, that is going to be great.
Speaker 2: Yes, it is really going to be great.
Speaker 1: So if if you're a parent, or a young couple
Speaker 1: looking to have kids, or if you already have children,
Speaker 1: or if you have grandchildren.
Speaker 3: Just an interested members.
Speaker 1: Ever the community, come on out and get a mindfuls right.
Speaker 3: Yes, we welcome everybody and they can find more information
Speaker 3: out on our Facebook page by searching for R O C.
Speaker 3: W C Republican and other Conservatives of questions.
Speaker 2: And they're gonna ask.
Speaker 4: They can ask all great questions like well, doesn't just
Speaker 4: take money away from the public schools, but we'll explain.
Speaker 2: Why there is a formula that's right, that's right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but this this will be good, Yes, it will
Speaker 4: be No.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you both for coming again again
Speaker 1: and once again. That's Tuesday, February fourth, six thirty pm.
Speaker 1: Crossing second the topic school choice, and that is Republican
Speaker 1: and other Conservatives, Washington County Rock ond Kids. That's all right,
Speaker 1: thank you very much for being with its pre needs
Speaker 1: are completely transferable in the United States from funeral home
Speaker 1: to funeral home, and in Oklahoma,