Oklahoma issued an all-time high of 4,676 emergency certifications for the 2023-24 school year. That is in stark contrast to the 32 emergency certifications issued for the 2011-12 school year.
In addition, schools are also increasingly hiring adjunct teachers who have no certification whatsoever. Alternative and emergency teaching certifications require a bachelor’s degree. This allows schools to hire individuals with only a high school diploma full time as adjunct teachers.
When Oklahoma had the notorious distinction of having some of the worst bridges in the nation, the Legislature created a special long-range plan for funding. Twenty years after its adoption, Oklahoma has made significant improvements to the state’s highway infrastructure due to an increase to its annual budget of more than $400 million.
Why hasn’t the Legislature created a similar long-range plan for improving its funding for education? Don’t all students deserve to have a qualified teacher?
Perhaps the answer is that most of the money expended for highways goes to private contractors who have an incentive and the resources to make campaign contributions to legislators, whereas education funding goes to public entities, which cannot.
What the state needs is something like the Education Reform Act of 1990. It increased state funding to reduce class sizes, establish minimum teacher salaries, provide for teacher assistants, competency testing, college ready courses, and mandatory professional development. Senate Bill 201 by Sen. Adam Pugh is a good start and has already passed the Senate Education Committee.
Over three decades ago, Oklahoma City discovered that being a low tax, low regulation state wasn’t enough to attract business. To improve its standing, it passed MAPS. It’s time the state came to the realization that it needs to make a major advance in our education system if we are serious about bringing business to the state.
McGoodwin is a former deputy director of the Office of State Finance, now the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Xzayvier Brown scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and Oklahoma held off No. 15 Vanderbilt 92-91 on Saturday to end a nine-game losing streak.
Nijel Pack added 17 points for the Sooners (12-12, 2-9 Southeastern Conference) who had a 21-point lead with 12:03 left. Oklahoma shot 53.4% from the field.
Tyler Tanner led Vanderbilt (19-4, 6-4) with 37 points. Tyler Nickel added 18.
Nickel hit a 3-pointer with 1 1/2 minutes left to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 10. AK Okereke had a 4-point play to make it a two-possession game with 49 seconds remaining.
Oklahoma: Hosts Georgia on Saturday.
Vanderbilt: At Auburn on Tuesday night.
Find more Oklahoma coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
History is on the line for Oklahoma on Saturday.
The Sooners, riding a nine-game skid, would match a program record for the longest losing streak with a loss to Vanderbilt. OU’s only team to ever lose 10 games in a row was the 1963-64 squad, but the 2025-26 team will get there if it falls to the Commodores.
OU’s current losing streak marks only the third time ever that the Sooners have lost nine or more games consecutively.
It won’t be easy for the Sooners to escape from their ongoing freefall on Saturday.
Vanderbilt, ranked No. 15 in the AP Top 25, is 19-3 overall and 6-3 in SEC play. The Commodores have won three games in a row — against Mississippi State, Kentucky and Ole Miss — after dropping three consecutive games against Texas, Florida and Arkansas.
Averaging 88.8 points per game and allowing only 72.9, Vanderbilt has the SEC’s best average scoring margin (15.9). The Commodores also rank first in opposing three-point percentage (28.6 percent), second in opposing field-goal percentage (41.2 percent), and third in three-point percentage (35.8 percent).
Location: Memorial Gymnasium (Nashville, TN)
Date: Feb. 7
Time: 2:30 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 107.7 FM The Franchise
Vanderbilt has also been excellent at causing havoc while also limiting its own miscues. The Commodores have forced 298 turnovers while only creating 213 turnovers of their own. Their average turnover margin is 3.87 per game, which ranks second in the league behind only Georgia.
Guard Tyler Tanner has been Vanderbilt’s most consistent player, as he is averaging 17.8 points, 5.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 steals per contest.
The Sooners and Wildcats went back and forth for most of the first half, but Kentucky’s 15-2 run over the game’s middle 10 minutes allowed it to pull away.
OU went 3-of-15 on its first 15 attempts from deep, and guard Nijel Pack was held to only six points in 26 minutes, his second lowest total of the season.
The game was different from some of OU’s other losses during the skid. In defeats against Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and Alabama, the Sooners had chances to win in the final minute but fell short in each game. Against Kentucky, OU never got back within striking distance after the Wildcats’ middle-of-game run.
The Sooners were ranked No. 49 in the NET rankings on Jan. 4, the day after their win over Ole Miss to open conference play.
Now, more than a month later, OU is No. 85 in the NET, ahead of only Mississippi State and South Carolina from the SEC. Oklahoma’s chances to reach the NCAA Tournament as an at-large squad are all but gone, as the Sooners sit 11-12 and 1-9 with only eight league contests remaining.
OU’s only hope of making it to the Big Dance is by winning the SEC Tournament in March. While there is still over a month until then, the Sooners must begin generating momentum — and wins — to put together a competitive effort at the conference tourney.
Sooners on SI will spotlight ten players who need a big spring to solidify their place on the depth chart, improve and/or help Oklahoma build off its 2025 College Football Playoff momentum. Each day, we’ll break down one player’s background, progress, and what’s on the line as Brent Venables’ team takes shape during spring football.
Last season, Oklahoma was sort of forced into playing freshman tackle Michael Fasusi. His talent, coupled with the Sooners’ lack of established returning starters — who were healthy — allowed for the right situation for the young Fasusi to see the field as a starter.
Fasusi was later joined by fellow true freshman guard Ryan Fodje on the offensive line partially due to his budding talent but also injuries that forced Bill Bedenbaugh to shuffle guys around.
As the season wore on, Fasusi established himself as a solid starter while Fodje was inconsistent as he switched from guard to tackle and back to guard. Redshirt freshman Eddy Pierre-Louis came in during the second half of the season to establish a foundation for the future.
All to say, while OU feels significantly better about its offensive line situation heading into 2026, there’s still room for young players to establish themselves this spring — like incoming true freshman Deacon Schmitt.
The 6-5, 315-pound guard from Windsor, CO, has the physical tools you’d want in a player with a goal to see the field early. As an early enrollee, he will have the advantage of working under new strength and conditioning coach James Dobson to get physically ready to establish himself in the spring.
Schmitt was one of two offensive linemen (Noah Best being the other) to sign with the Sooners last December for the class of 2026. Per On3, Schmitt earned a high-4-star rating along with being a top-20 player at his position in the country. Both freshmen will have real chances to climb the two-deep this spring, but Schmitt’s physical tools give him the edge over Best.
Oklahoma lost Febechi Nwaiwu and Derek Simmons to graduation following 2025.
Depth pieces like Jacob Sexton (Oklahoma State), Luke Baklenko (Arizona State), Logan Howland (Virginia Tech), Jake Taylor (Iowa State), and Isaiah Autry-Dent (Mississippi State) all transferred out of the program.
General manager Jim Nagy grabbed former Arkansas starting right tackle E’Marrion Harris — who has the upper hand to take over for Simmons on the right side — as well as Caleb Nitta from Western Kentucky and Peyton Joseph of Georgia Tech. The latter two players appear to be depth or developmental additions.
If Schmitt can ascend up the depth chart thanks to a strong spring, it would be a welcome addition to a top-heavy offensive line unit.
While Fodje impressed at right guard and right tackle for a freshman, the young lineman still has a ways to go. Competition would only allow for a better product if Schmitt can push this spring.
Schmitt’s trajectory is not to supplant anyone on the offensive line, but merely to develop quickly to help rebuild Oklahoma’s offensive line back to its pre-2020 greatness.
OU hit it out of the park with their freshman offensive line additions last season. It hastened the pace of Bedenbaugh’s line, returning to the days of Creed Humphrey and Orlando Brown. But they’re not quite yet at the summit. They’ll need another season of young players like Schmitt thrusting themselves into the two-deep so the Sooners aren’t an ankle roll away from disaster.
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