Khensani Ngubeni (ORU)
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Representative Williams of the University of Tulsa delegation presented House Bill No. TU-504, an act titled “Equity Through Data.” In his Author’s Explanation, Williams used thought-provoking language to gauge the House Representatives. He mentioned that many secondary schools in the Oklahoma region seemed to suspend more minority students than they had. For example, a school’s minority population could be 17%, but 28% of those students make up the school’s suspension.
“Our schools have a problem with over-punishing students that are minorities or have a disability,” Rep. Williams said. “The bill’s purpose is to use data to diagnose this problem and make sure that our superintendents are aware of their school’s biases.” House Bill No.TU-504 would force schools to review their data on how much their disciplinary processes affect students based on race, ethnicity, and disability. Should a disparity larger than 5% exist in the school’s data, the school would be required to submit a report addressing the discrepancy.
If one is not well-versed in statistical jargon, this act could be pretty confusing. Simply put, the act requires secondary schools in Oklahoma look at their existing disciplinary data based on race, ethnicity, and disability and write a report stating that they acknowledge their implicit bias. At this stage, the schools are not required to explain why the disparity exists, only accept it.
The bill’s penalties section is relatively simple at straightforward: schools that do not submit a report could lose their state funding. The amount that the school loses will be determined by Oklahoma’s Department of Education, as they have better knowledge of the education system.
House Representatives agreed that this bill would spark a difficult conversation about the implicit racial bias in schools. Once more people know about the implicit bias, recommendations will be made to suggest how schools should remediate their data. One such recommendation was made by Rep. Williams, “Schools should start by making sure that they have exhausted all other options before suspending students. Punishment disparity happens for many reasons, but this can be a good starting point for all schools.” This means that in the future, more bills could be written as a result of House Bill No.TU-504.
The bill passed smoothly in the House of Representatives, as many believe schools must review their data and account for any disparities.