Monday, August 3, 2026 • We start the week hot. Highs 94-99. ☀️

Reminder: Oklahoma’s Republican candidates for governor debate tonight at 6:30 on News 9 and News On 6 in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, respectively.

Oklahoma Memo Podcast 🎙️ (At the bottom of today’s newsletter:) My partner in OSU football podcasting, Dr. Jeremy Cook, happens to be an expert in the ancient world. So, I wanted to ask him questions about The Odyssey. It’s a conversation I think you’ll enjoy!

We received 192 votes on the Saturday poll, “Which comes closest to your view of AI regulation?”

• 134 said AI should be heavily regulated.
• 52 said AI should have some safeguards but remain mostly unrestricted.
• 6 said AI should have little or no government regulation.

New poll question at the bottom of today’s newsletter. (You can also suggest a poll question by emailing me at [email protected].)

By Brenna Witchey, Oklahoma Watch
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Before the school supply pick-up at the Mustang Conference Center even started, children of all ages and their families were streaming through the door. 

Volunteers directed them toward the check-in desk, away from the table of distracting colorful backpacks with stacks of school supplies behind them. 

The supplies pick-up was organized and funded by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes’ Johnson-O’Malley Office. Students signed in, then received a backpack, school supplies for their grade, snacks and a JOM T-shirt. 

Most of the stations were staffed by volunteers. Some hustled to replenish backpacks as they quickly disappeared off the table; others highlighted names at check in or handed out shirts. 

School supply pick-ups like this are just one of the supplemental education programs that the Johnson-O’Malley fund supports. 

Johnson-O’Malley grants come from congressional appropriations. The money is managed and distributed by the Bureau of Indian Education, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The money also supports programs providing cultural and language enrichment, academic support and dropout prevention. 

Oklahoma Native American students receive more Title VI and Johnson-O’Malley funding than those in any other state. They have also been scoring near the top in reading and math nationally for more than 30 years, according to a study by the University of Oklahoma released this year. The data for the study came from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card.

In 2024, Native American students in Oklahoma were ranked No. 1 in the nation for reading, math and combined achievement among their peers in the 13 other states with sufficient data.

Jackie White, program director of Oklahoma’s American Indian Education Department and president of the National Johnson-O’Malley Association Board, said that could be because of her office’s work. 

The Oklahoma State Department of American Indian Education employs aggressive outreach tactics aimed at ensuring eligible students are accounted for so they can receive support. 

That outreach manifests in a yearly Zoom meeting for school superintendents to understand how to count their students, school visits and advocacy at the state level to ensure multiracial children are included in Native American student counts. 

The opportunities the Johnson-O’Malley fund provides, however, may be threatened by an increase in eligible students and inaction from Congress. 

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