ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Oklahoma State Senate - News</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="author" content="oklahoma state senate staff"> <meta name="description" content="Oklahoma State Senate - Press Release"> <meta name="keywords" content="oklahoma, state, senate, press, release"> </head> <body leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"> <table width="87%" height="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="this table contains the main navigation menu"> <tr> <td colspan="+2"><!-- #BeginLibraryItem "/Library/barnews.lbi" --> &nbsp;<map name="m_barnews"><area shape="rect" coords="0,0,26,19" href="../../../index.htm" alt="Link to main page" ><area shape="rect" coords="26,0,119,20" href="../../../senators.htm" alt="Link to Senators" ><area shape="rect" coords="124,0,217,20" href="../../../legislation.htm" alt="Link to Legislation" ><area shape="rect" coords="216,0,309,20" href="../../../schedule.htm" alt="Link to Schedule" ><area shape="rect" coords="310,0,403,20" href="../../../committees.htm" alt="Link to Committees" ><area shape="rect" coords="403,0,496,20" href="../../../publications.htm" alt="Link to Publications" ><area shape="rect" coords="498,2,591,20" href="../../../news.htm" alt="Link to News" ><area shape="rect" coords="593,0,689,20" href="../../../staff.htm" alt="Link to Staff" ></map><!-- #EndLibraryItem --></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100%"> <table width="100%" height="227%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="this table contains the news navigation menu"> <tr> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="100%"></td> </tr> </table> <br> </td> <td width="100%"><table width="82%" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="this table contains the main content of the page"> <tr> <TD width="75%"> <p align="center"><FONT SIZE="+3" FACE="Arial" align="center"><strong>Oklahoma State Senate<br> </strong></font><FONT align="center">President Pro Tempore<br> Sen. Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City<br> State Capitol Room 422<br> Oklahoma City, OK 73105<br> (405) 521-5636</font></p> <div align="center"> <table width="9%" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td width="48%" bordercolor="0"><div align="center"><font face="Arial"><a href="pr20100721apv.html"><img src="../../printnews.gif" alt="Printer-friendly version" width="25" height="25" border="0"></a></font></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td bordercolor="0"><div align="center"><a href="pr20100728apv.html">Print</a></div></td> </tr> </table> </div> <p align="center">For Immediate Release: July 28, 2010</p> <p align="center"> <img src="../senator_photos/coffee_bio.jpg" alt="Sen. Glenn Coffee" width="133" height="200">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img src="../senator_photos/ford_bio.jpg" alt="Sen. Harry Coates" width="133" height="200"> <br> Sen. Glenn Coffee&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sen. John Ford</p> <p align="center"><b>OKLAHOMA NOT A FINALIST IN RACE TO THE TOP APPLICATION: SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEM COFFEE, SENATE EDUCATION CHAIRMAN FORD RESPOND </b> </p> <p> We knew from the start that it would be an uphill battle for Oklahoma to prevail in Race to the Top funding this year, but the reforms we passed in the recent legislative session were vital nonetheless, said Senate President Pro Tem <a href="../../../Senators/biographies/coffee_bio.html">Glenn Coffee</a>.  We re making progress, and we have more progress to make, with or without federal dollars. <br> <br> Senator <a href="../../../Senators/biographies/ford_bio.html">John Ford</a> (R-Bartlesville), chairman of the Senate Education Committee, concurred.  The reforms we ve passed in the recent legislative session are very positive for Oklahoma s students, and put us on the track to better compete in a national and global marketplace, Ford said.  We will continue to pursue further reform because it s the right thing to do, regardless of federal incentives. </p> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><strong>For more information, contact: </strong><br> Sen. Coffee: (405) 521-5636</p> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0">Sen. Ford: (405)-521-5634</p> <p style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><br> <img src="../bandblue.gif" alt="Inon: Horizontal Blue Band" width="640" height="6"></p> <table border=0 align="center" summary="this table contains return links"> <tr> <td width="249"> <center> <font size="-1" face="MS Sans Serif"><a href="pr201007.html">July Press Releases </a>| </font><font face="MS Sans Serif"><a href="../../press_releases.html"><font size="-1">Press Releases</font></a></font><font size="-1"> </font> </center></td> </tr> </table></tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="100%">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>