Joe Eddins

You may have thought that Oklahoma born democrats were a thing of myth, similar to the unicorn, the hobbit, or the pretty girl who doesn't mind doing dishes. However, I happen to be an Oklahoma-crat, the rarest of creatures, and so is this man, Joe Eddins. As a lefty sooner, Mr. Eddins became a congressman, and proceeded to do something good, something very important. In a political system where Oklahoma contributes nothing positive, Joe Eddins made pre-k available to all children no matter their family's income, and the results are shocking.

This expanded access pre-k program was silently slipped into an unrelated bill, successfully dodging the radar of the dozens of Oklahoma republican congressman who lack empathy. Now pre-kindergarten participation in Oklahoma is higher than any other state in the union, a holy-shit 74% of all four-year-olds attend. The bill also increases the standards and necessary qualifications for the teachers who instruct pre-k, making an even bigger impact on early education. William Gormley, a researcher for Georgia University's Center for Research on Children in the United States, studied children in these pre-k programs extensively, concluding that all children who participate leap ahead 9 months in reading ability, letter reading, and problem solving. “Those are really big gains,” Gormley said. “Oklahoma decided that it was a waste of time and money to have a low quality program, so it decided to have high quality programs…which can produce really big improvement in school readiness for a wide range of children.”

For once, Oklahoma has contributed something to the political stage that voters can be proud of. Finally I have something to say about my home state that isn't shameful. B-rock himself had nothing but great things to say about Oklahoma's pre-k system, “In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children — like Georgia or Oklahoma,” President Obama said in his State of the Union address, “studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works.” 

This is a big deal. By giving something so beneficial to everyone, poor and middle-class families across racial lines, and by spending a quality amount of money on it, Oklahoma has done something truly beautiful. I certainly would not mind my tax money being used to give children a fighting chance in our insane education system. You know, I'd like it a hell of a lot more than using my tax money to imprison non-violent criminals, or spending my tax cash on even more lube for the eternal butt-fucking of the country that corporations and oil companies get to enjoy. Joe Eddins is a democrat, in the most insane of budget cutting states, who has actually achieved something. Bravo.