New leader for Oral Roberts University
He’s no televangelist. But the man officials want to take over at Oral Roberts University is no stranger to turning around a struggling Christian university. Mark Rutland is president of Southeastern University, a Florida private school with roots to the Pentecostal church. Officials there called Rutland a “catalyst” for growth, pointing to substantial enrollment growth and infrastructure improvements. Rutland is set to visit the Tulsa private school at month’s end as trustees consider whether to hire him as the school’s next president. Rutland has said he wants to move ORU forward. If he becomes president, we wish him luck. Overcoming the recent scandal and financial difficulties in financially troubling times will be a huge challenge.
On a Rolle toward success
The question faced by many high-level college football players this week has been, do I stay and play or go and play? That is, stay in school or go to the pros. Florida State’s Myron Rolle decided to go – and learn.
Rolle, a defensive back, was awarded a Rhodes scholarship in November and plans to take advantage of the opportunity by studying at Oxford in pursuit of a master’s degree in medical anthropology.
He could have chosen to make himself available for the NFL draft, where as a projected early round pick he likely would have made head-turning money. Instead he plans to do that in 2010.
Rolle is a true student-athlete – he took graduate-level courses this year after finishing his undergraduate work in just 2½ years, and hopes one day to attend medical school.
Free lunch
It’s no secret that when many kids go home for the holiday break, they may not get another nutritious meal until school reopens. Officials with one
Ohio school district were so worried that the economy would force even more students to go hungry over the holidays that they opted to reopen some school cafeterias for several days. “The economy is so tight, and the food stamp dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to,” a school official told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “This is America; we’ve got to take care of each other. Food for children should not be an issue.” Indeed.
Campus gun bill won’t go away
Legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle are uneasy with the resurrection of a bill allowing students to carry concealed weapons on campus. But unfortunately, it’ll probably happen anyway. Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, has said he’ll likely file a measure similar to the one that died last year. The amended version of that bill would have restricted the privilege to military veterans and to students who have gun training. At a State Chamber function this week, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, and Republican leaders all said they opposed the measure. But, as House Minority Leader Danny Morgan said, “The political reality of it is it’s going to be difficult to stop if it’s pushed in that (state Capitol) building.” Here’s hoping Morgan’s wrong about that.
Private schools downsizing on purpose
Many private schools in Oklahoma are shrinking their district boundaries. They’re doing so in order to lessen concerns about how the sizes of some private school districts aid these schools in athletics. This won’t keep critics from alleging that these schools have an unfair advantage over public schools, or that they recruit their best athletes. A popular target of such claims lately has been Bishop McGuinness High School in Oklahoma City, which won eight state championships last school year. Some of those came in sports where it has traditionally been strong, such as girls tennis and girls cross country. But the baseball and football titles were only the second in the 58-year history of the school, and the championship in boys golf was McGuinness’ first. Athletic director Gary Savely said it best: “We weren’t hearing a whole lot about any advantages when we weren’t winning.” Still, this good-faith effort by the private schools is commendable.
Mid-Del school dilemma
To close or not to close. That’s the question in eastern Oklahoma County, where school officials in the Midwest City-Del City district are considering whether to some schools to save money, address safety concerns and enrollment declines. A task force of community members and school district staff offered up eight scenarios for the school board to consider. They range from doing nothing to closing two elementary schools and a middle school. At a town hall meeting last week, no speakers supported closing schools. Imagine that. School board members have many interests to consider in deciding if and how to act. Oklahoma City’s decision to close some schools as part of MAPS for Kids wasn’t exactly popular. But what’s popular and what’s right isn’t always the same thing.
Read the proposed scenarios here.
Broken Arrow superintendent battle
Drama class
Presidential politics may take the national stage, but school districts certainly have their fair share of drama.
Those living in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and many parts in between are well aware of the superintendent sagas that have played out in those cities during the past year. No doubt parents in a Tulsa suburb are embarrassed and angry that there’s a showdown between the school board and superintendent in their hometown.
The stage is Broken Arrow, where a divided school board suspended the superintendent and forbid him from stepping onto school grounds without approval. The Tulsa World reported that when Jim Sisney, the suspended schools chief, tried to retrieve his belongings from the administration building, police were called. He wasn’t arrested and police said he’s not a criminal suspect.
The request for police assistance wasn’t the first legal skirmish involving Sisney. In September, he filed a defamation lawsuit against five people, including three school board members. He’s also suing an attorney who has done legal work for the district.
The shame is that school leadership dramas detract and distract from the important work happening in schools. That’s not good for the kids who need adults to rise above the theater of chaos.
Paying for student performance
Take it to the bank
Thousands of Washington D.C. middle school students are getting a chance to take their good grades and behavior to the bank. On-time attendance, good grades and not disrupting class can net students up to $100 weekly – with a maximum of $1,500 per student for the school year. The Washington Post reported that the Harvard economist who created the Capital Gains program isn’t necessarily expecting to close the achievement gap nor is he sure it will prove effective. Still, teachers report the program jointly funded by the school district and a grant has students paying more attention to their behavior and attendance. Doesn’t seem like that long ago that a parent paying a child for good grades was controversial. Some students may soon figure out that a double dip isn’t just about ice cream.
