Oklahoma Watch (http://oklahomawatch.org/author/wbryen/)
Wanting to reduce the bouncing of foster children from home to home, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services is placing more kids immediately in homes of relatives, friends and others who never asked to be foster parents. The placements happen fast, which means there are risks.
The statewide teacher shortage is forcing many districts to rely heavily on teaching aides and assistants. The classroom helpers handle many tasks that teachers used to do but are less able to now because of larger classes and more special-education students. But should some of that cost go toward hiring new teachers?
Forty years after Congress passed landmark legislation to prevent employers from discriminating on the basis of pregnancy or childbirth, complaints in Oklahoma of such treatment continue.
Allegations of pregnancy discrimination involve a variety of jobs and behaviors. Here are some examples of Oklahoma cases filed in federal court or with the EEOC offices.