Oklahoma has 532 school districts, and of those about 480 are considered rural. To be considered “rural,” districts must have an enrollment of fewer than 2,500 students. Of those rural districts, 400 of them have 1,000 or less. This week, we talked about the issues confronting rural schools with the superintendents of three of those school districts: Kathryn Turner of Fletcher, Roger Hill of Hobart, and Scott Parks of Howe.

A common problem for rural schools is isolation. Clearly, a huge number of Oklahoma schools find themselves isolated from urban areas and the opportunities that those urban areas provide. Scott Parks said, “when you are isolated, it’s hard to bring real experiences to your students.” Each of the superintendents believes that technology helps bridge the gap and level the playing field with urban and suburban districts. Technology enables smaller districts to offer instruction that would be impossible to provide otherwise.

In Fletcher, Turner says, they are looking at using the free video conferencing program, Skype, to allow conferences with parents who are located in theaters of war. Imagine. Not too many years ago, video conferencing was a new and costly luxury. Parental engagement is important in the progress of students, and technology is now making that possible from anywhere in the world, for free.

Roger Hill pointed out that community pride, and willingness to support school districts through bond issues as has been done recently in Hobart, is also critical to a school district’s success in educating its students.

During our program we also discussed consolidation, the effect of shifting population on rural schools, and charter schools. This program is a follow-up to one we did late last year with the superintendents of Oklahoma’s two urban districts in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. That program is available on-line on the Oklahoma Forum website. Watching them together, you will get a good picture of what is facing school districts in this year of declining revenues.

Let us know what you think, by commenting on this blog. And, be sure to follow OklahomaForum on Twitter.

Until next time,
Dick Pryor

(Pictured above, left to right: Host Dick Pryor, Kathryn Turner, Roger Hill, Scott Parks.)

The term is a fairly new one: food insecurity. People who are “food insecure” don’t receive enough daily nutrition to meet their minimal health needs. And, according to information from the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, our state is the 6th worst state in the nation for food insecurity, with one in five Oklahoma children at-risk for hunger on a daily basis.

As pointed out in an outstanding 2006 report from the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture:

• Oklahoma is last in the nation in the percentage of adults who eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables each day;
• More than 1/3 of Oklahoma adults are overweight and 1/4 are obese;
• About 1/4 of high school students are overweight or obese;
• In 2004, Oklahoma ranked first among the states in the percentage of households with people who are hungry; and
• Oklahoma has the highest incidence of death from heart disease.

Another study reinforces those findings. “Food Hardship: A Closer Look at Hunger,” released in January by the Food Research Action Center (FRAC) indicates that Oklahoma is 8th worst in the nation in terms of food hardship, which is a lack of money to buy food that families need. And yet another study, released last year by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ranks Oklahoma as the 6th most obese state in the nation.

These alarming statistics prompted us to do a program on food insecurity and hunger in Oklahoma with our guests: Johnny Roberts, Market Development Coordinator for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture; Ashley Stokes, Advocacy and Public Policy Manager for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma; and Doug Walton, Coordinator of Community Food Projects at the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, who was also researcher and writer for the Kerr Center’s 2006 report, “Closer to Home: Healthier Food and Families in Oklahoma, A Centennial Report.”

We identified several reasons for Oklahoma’s poor showing in hunger studies. The principle reason is not a surprise: poverty. Doug Walton said there is a direct correlation between income and hunger, or put another way, economic insecurity is closely related to food insecurity. Walton said people with less income load up on cheaper foods, which tend to be higher in carbohydrates, and that leads to weight gain. Fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meat are more expensive.

“The cheapest, least expensive calories are also those that are the least nutritious,” Walton said. “The better, more healthy food items are more expensive in the market place. That limits access right there. Even if it’s available, it’s not as affordable right now to purchase fruits and vegetables as it is to purchase high sugar drinks or the processed food items that are much less nutritious.”

In addition to poor nutrition, lack of exercise is also a contributing factor to weight gain and the resulting problems that are prevalent in Oklahoma: heart disease and diabetes.

The Regional Food Bank distributed over 28.5 million pounds of food and products over most of Oklahoma in 2009; the majority of those served are seniors, children and the working poor. Ashley Stokes indicated that the need for food is increasing, while funding and other resources are dropping.

Johnny Roberts told us that the Department of Agriculture is promoting various programs, including Farm to School, to encourage greater use of local food products. One of the problems the state faces, however, is that it doesn’t produce as many different crops as it used to and the local products are not readily available, meaning that residents must rely on more agriculture products from out-of-state.

“As a whole,” Roberts says, “as far as producing enough for the state, we don’t. Traditional crops have been wheat, cow-calf operations, soybeans, some corn, and it’s a different mindset, a different economy of scale that is involved in the small farm to market type gardens and in some cases, large production. The other side is the environment. We just can’t grow the things year-round to supply that steady supply of produce fresh that folks demand.”

During the program we discussed the food problems faced in rural and urban areas, the work and recommendations of the Oklahoma Task Force on Hunger (created by State Rep. Kris Steele and State Senator Andrew Rice), community gardens, SNAP (formerly called the food stamp program), and farmers markets.

It is interesting to note that the FRAC Report breaks down food hardship by state, municipal area and Congressional district. Nationally, food hardship dropped slightly in 2009 to about 18.5% from a high of 19.5% in the fourth quarter of 2008. Oklahoma stood at 22.2% in 2009, good for 8th worst in the nation. Among metro areas, Oklahoma rated 12th and Tulsa was 23rd.

It is probably no surprise that Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District, comprising the eastern quarter of the state from the Red River to the Kansas line, was the worst district for food hardship, at 25.4%. That made the 2nd District the 32nd-worst in the United States. But, it is also one of the poorest districts in the nation.

Somewhat surprisingly, the second-highest rate was in the 5th Congressional District, comprised largely of Oklahoma City. The 5th had a food hardship rate of 22.3% and a national ranking of 82. The most “food secure” Congressional District in Oklahoma is the Tulsa-based 1st district, with a rate of 18.3% and a national ranking of 206.

If you have any suggestions about how to solve Oklahoma’s food insecurity, let us know (after you watch the program, of course).

Until next time,
Dick Pryor

(Pictured above, left to right: Host Dick Pryor, Ashley Stokes, Doug Walton, Johnny Roberts)

Now that the second regular session of the 52nd Legislature has begun, we brought together four of the reporters who are following the activities at the state Capitol to give their takes on the first week of the session. The budget, as you would expect, dominated the conversation.

Governor Henry delivered his final State of the State address on Monday, and shortly afterward distributed his Executive Budget for the 2011 fiscal year. He called for some agency consolidation, a move that would affect 16 state agencies. He also urged revenue enhancements, such as charging sales tax on out-of-state telephone and Internet sales. He expects that to bring in about $95 million, if enacted. The governor also plans to use most of the available money in the Rainy Day Fund, draining it down to about $43 million.

There already is disagreement with legislative leaders about the extent of the use of the Rainy Day Fund. Speaker of the House Chris Benge and Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn want to spend considerably less than that and use federal stimulus dollars to fill in the gap. It’s an issue that will be debated for some time. Rather than tell you more, I suggest you catch the show, featuring our guests: Shawn Ashley of eCapitol, Michael McNutt of The Oklahoman and NewsOK, David Meyer of KCCU Radio in Lawton, and Michael Cross of KOSU in Stillwater.

Enjoy the show!

Until next time,
Dick Pryor

(Pictured above, left to right: Host Dick Pryor, Shawn Ashley, Michael McNutt, David Meyer, Michael Cross.)