Students, Lawmakers Talk Education At Broken Arrow Forum

Tuesday, some high school students in Broken Arrow talked over education issues with their legislators. They’re hoping to influence policy.

The lawmakers said they learned a thing or two from the students who had a front row seat in the legislative forum.

The adults were in the back, on purpose, to give students a chance to talk directly to the lawmakers.

It's something Broken Arrow Schools has done for several years, and they invite students from all over northeast Oklahoma.

“I've never done this before, and it's really good to see their perspective on things,” said Bartlesville student, Brent Cunningham.

Every student had a chance to ask a question, and every one of the questions got an answer.

Broken Arrow student, Dana Thomas, said, “So, I felt like they were able to represent their opinions and I got an answer from them.”

“I thought it was great to hear the feedback because, usually the students aren't involved, and usually it's talk between adults. So it's nice to be able to be involved in the question asking and getting feedback,” said Chris Oven from Broken Arrow.

Hannah Hardin from Bartlesville said, "I asked about teacher defense programs and whether teachers should be armed in the classroom."

State Representative Mike Rogers of Broken Arrow took part, along with State Senator Kevin Matthews from Tulsa, who said he got several first-time questions about topics adults have never asked about.

Matthews said, “That's something I hadn't thought about a lot; it made me think, and I realized these young people are thinking a lot deeper than we think they are.”

The forum is held every year, generally with student leaders from their schools, and they'll take back what they talked about - sometimes to government classes or student council.