Rosecrants files bills pertaining to education

Jan. 24—Oklahoma state Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, a former history teacher, filed three bills pertaining to public education and schooling for this upcoming legislative session.

Rosecrants, D-Norman, has been an advocate for teachers, students and public education since first arriving at the Capitol in 2017. After passing his biggest piece of legislation last session in the Oklahoma Play to Learn Act, this year he hopes to expand on that bill.

HB 3047: 'Active Oklahoma Kids Act'

This bill is an expansion of last year's Oklahoma Play to Learn Act, which in part allowed early childhood educators to create learning environments that are developmentally appropriate and involve play-based learning opportunities focused on movement, creative expression, exploration, socialization, art and music.

"This has always been the next step to the play learn act," he said. "... This one amends current state statute to includes language to extend and to protect the right to recess for students involved in pre k up to eighth grade. That's basically what it does."

It would require schools provide at least 40 minutes of daily recess for kids in those grades as well as prohibits teachers and administrators from taking recess away from a student as a form of punishment.

HB 2985: 'Empowering Parents Over Testing Act of 2022'

The Oklahoma Parents' Bill of Rights says students can opt out of federally mandated testing, but this bill expands on that and "empowers and protects" teachers who recommend a student opt-out of any federally mandated testing.

"So this bill would simply empower and protects teachers who may mention opting out from any kind of district retaliation," he said. "It protects children from any kind of adverse consequences if they do opt out. But in the bill itself, it also does nothing to prevent schools from encouraging the test of participation."

HB 3001: 'Oklahoma Community Schools Act of 2022'

This bill will provide for a competitive grant of $150,000 for schools to go about implementing community schools correctly with a coordinator, Rosecrants said.

He described this bill as a "dream of his," adding that a community school is "where you have a coordinator that kind of goes out to businesses and nonprofits, and they talk about building up or having an area within the school district where you can have specific supports such as mental health, physical health, maybe even a health clinic on the actual school site."

HB 3286

In addition, Rosecrants is also a co-author of HB 3286 along with state Rep. J.J. Humphrey, R-Lane, that would strengthen the state's stalking law and give victims of stalking more ability to prosecute their offender.

"This one is going to happen, and it's going to massively strengthen them," Rosecrants said. "Basically, a couple different things that we're going to try to do there is change the definition that stalking is not just between intimate partners."

The bill would also make the punishment for stalking more severe.

Reese Gorman covers politics and COVID-19 for The Transcript; reach him at rgorman@normantranscript.com or @reeseg_3.