Friday, February 13, 2026 • Warm day, but rain and storms move in after sunset. ⛈️

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By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
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OKLAHOMA CITY — A group of Republican lawmakers have urged the state’s top education official to investigate student walkouts, a method of youth protest for decades.

Over the past two weeks, students across the state have walked out of public high schools to hold demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose tactics during a mass deportation campaign have become a nationwide controversy.

Fourteen Republican lawmakers, including members of the far-right Freedom Caucus, signed a letter to state Superintendent Lindel Fields, calling for an investigation into whether students violated Oklahoma truancy laws and to potentially revoke teaching licenses of any educators who might have promoted or facilitated the walkouts.

The lawmakers’ letter, issued Tuesday, urged Fields to publicly oppose the demonstrations, which they called “politically charged protests.” 

A statement from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, which Fields leads, included no condemnation nor a promise of an investigation.

“​​OSDE has been in contact with leaders at these schools, and each situation is being handled with a calm sense of order that ensures student safety to the fullest extent possible,” the statement reads.

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A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:

• Election Board again refuses DOJ demand for private Oklahoma voter data (KFOR)

• Two more poultry companies agree to settle Oklahoma pollution lawsuit (Oklahoma Voice)

• Oklahoma Senate passes ‘Rain’s Law’ fentanyl education bill (News 9)

• As electricity demand and investments grow, what’s being done to shield Oklahomans from higher monthly bills? (StateImpact Oklahoma)

• Summary judgment ends lawsuit challenging TPS superintendent hiring process (Tulsa World)*

• New USDA report shows foreign investors own about 5% of Oklahoma land (KOSU)

• ‘This is a problem’: Local election campaign finance reports in limbo (NonDoc)

• Confirmed case of tuberculosis reported at Westmoore High School (News 9)

• Hundreds of Union High students protest ICE actions (News On 6)

• Vernon AME Church absorbed the terror of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Now it will ‘teach truth.’ (The Oklahoma Eagle)

• Owen Park monument honoring known KKK members sparks removal debate (2 News Oklahoma)

• What's that? New Braum's under construction in OKC will be one of the largest in the state (The Oklahoman)*

• Dog reportedly shot by delivery driver in Moore neighborhood (KOCO)

• Texas man dies after fire at Ardmore Valero refinery (KXII)

• Elgin Council votes to censure mayor (The Lawton Constitution)

• Lawmakers mull alternate state fossil after science proves 'Lord of Lizard Eaters' never existed (Tulsa World)*

• Oklahoma may crown the Morel as state mushroom — but don’t expect a map to the good spots (The Luther Register)

• 5 ways to spend your weekend in Tulsa Feb. 13-15 (Tulsa Flyer)

Seventy-five years ago, a professor at Oklahoma City University named Dr. John L. Peters stood in a church pulpit at St. Luke’s United Methodist and veered off script. Instead of delivering a routine message, he spoke about what he had seen during World War II in the Philippines — poverty unlike anything he had imagined.

He made a promise to himself during the war: if he survived, he would do something about it.

That off-script sermon launched World Neighbors.

Today, the Oklahoma City–based organization works in 14 countries and has helped nearly 30 million people. And yet most Oklahomans have never heard of it.

World Neighbors doesn’t ship crates of goods. It doesn’t distribute cash. It doesn’t chase quick wins.

Instead, it does something slower and more radical: it listens.

The organization partners with rural communities for eight to ten years at a time. The first question isn’t, “What do you need?” It’s, “What do you already have?”

From there, they build savings-and-credit groups in places with no banks. They help communities access their own governments. They create demonstration farms. They encourage neighbors to train neighbors.

Last year alone, 49 communities “graduated” — meaning they are now fully self-sustaining and often training others.

World Neighbors President and CEO Dr. Kate Schecter joined me for a special edition of the Oklahoma Memo Podcast. Visit wn.org to sign up for World Neighbors’ International Development Symposium on March 27.

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