Retired school teacher, Sen. Ron Sharp, filed legislation Friday that will recognize the hard work of all high school graduates rather than just those who plan on attending college. Currently, Oklahoma high school seniors can only get two degrees – one for students who are college bound (meets the state’s College Preparatory/Work Ready Curriculum Standards) and one for those who are not attending college (meets Core Curriculum Standards). The Shawnee Republican believes more diplomas should be offered to recognize all students who excel in the classroom.

Sen. Ron Sharp has refiled legislation to address the growing problem of student misconduct in classrooms. Senate Bill 911 will provide an alternative to suspension by giving school districts the option of creating a system to issue fines if necessary to parents whose children violate the district’s behavioral policy.

For the past three years, Sen. Ron Sharp has been working to secure enhanced transportation infrastructure for eastern Oklahoma County. Sharp was at the state Capitol Thursday for the formal announcement that the project would be moving forward as part of an overall plan dubbed “Driving Forward: Investing in Oklahoma’s Future.” The plan includes a total of six large-scale turnpike projects at an estimated cost of $892 million to be constructed with bonds paid for by tolls, including a $300 million project to connect I-40 in eastern Oklahoma County to I-44, the Turner Turnpike.

Oklahoma’s students are getting better prepared for jobs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) thanks to legislation passed during the 2014 legislative session. Senate Bill 1181, which became law on August 22, 2014, put into effect some of the recommendations of Gov. Fallin’s Science and Technology Council to improve workforce development by strengthening STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education programs in Oklahoma.

School employees will soon be protected from liability for acting in their official duty at school functions under legislation signed into law Tuesday. Senate Bill 5, by retired educator Sen. Ron Sharp and Rep. Josh Cockroft, will provide immunity from liability for teachers and other school employees for use of necessary and reasonable force to control and discipline a student during any authorized school function.

Gov. Fallin recently signed into law a measure to address Oklahoma’s historic teacher shortage. On Monday, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister announced that the state still has around 1,000 vacant classroom positions this school year, and at least 500 others being filled by people who received emergency teaching certification.

A measure making it illegal to text and drive is now one step closer to becoming law. Senate Bill 821, authored by the Senate Public Safety Committee, would make it illegal to operate a motor vehicle while using a hand-held electronic device to compose, send or read electronic messages while driving. The measure received overwhelming approval, with members voting 42 to 3 in favor of the legislation.

On Monday, the Senate approved Senate Bill 261 to allow courts to terminate the parental rights of anyone who, after being properly notified of their court date and without good cause, does not show up for their jury trial. The measure, by Sen. Ron Sharp, is an effort to hold individuals in parental rights’ cases more accountable and help save time for backlogged courts.

The full Senate has given its approval to a bill that will reform the budgeting process to align resources with state priorities and measurable outcomes. Sen. Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee, and Rep. Dennis Casey, R-Morrison, are the principal Senate and House authors of Senate Bill 189, the Performance Informed Budget and Transparency Act of 2015, which was approved on Wednesday.

The Senate Appropriations Committee gave unanimous approval to the Performance Informed Budget and Transparency Act of 2015 Wednesday. Senate Bill 189, by Sen. Ron Sharp and Rep. Dennis Casey, is a new budgeting process that will allow for budget dollars to be aligned to state priorities and measurable outcomes.