New blogs on Oklahoma law and education

Here are a couple of new blogs dealing with specific aspects of public policy in Oklahoma:

Two Tulsa attorneys Matthew B. Free and J. Spencer Bryan have set up a blog called Opinions from Oklahoma & the Northern District, providing summaries of and links to recent decisions by the Federal Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma and the appellate courts of the State of Oklahoma. They also have a useful set of links to court websites and other online legal resources, including nationally-known legal blogs.

Their most recent entry is about the Oklahoma Supreme Court's denial of certiorari in the lawsuit brought by the Oklahoma Education Association and the Jenks, Foyil, and Western Heights against the state legislature:

The plaintiffs alleged that the legislature thereby deprived school children of a constitutional right to a uniform opportunity to receive a "basic, adequate education according to standards set by the legislature, and deprived school districts of the ability to fulfill their constitutional and statutory duties to meet "contemporary educational standards established for every child."

In a nutshell, the OEA and the Jenks school board wanted the courts to take over the state education system and force state taxpayers to fork over another $4 billion.

And government-funded education -- and the seemingly insatiable appetites of school administrators at every level of government -- is the topic of another new blog. I've been the recipient, along with every reporter in Tulsa covering the education beat, of many an e-mail from Stan Geiger. His columns by e-mail were always well written, well reasoned and full of tempered outrage at the tax-funded education establishment. After getting a few of these e-mails, I strongly encouraged him to start a blog: Rather than lobby media people to cover the issues that concern you, become a part of the new media and make your analysis directly available to the public.

At last Stan has a blog, and he's writing about city and county politics as well as education at all levels.

You'll find both linked in the sidebar, and links to new posts will show up on my NewsGator page.