State Sen. Darcy Jech and State Rep. Mike Dobrinski were the guests speakers of the Kingfisher Rotary Club last Tuesday.

The two fielded questions from the membership for most of the meeting.

They noted the 2023 session begins Feb. 6 with both elected officials chairing or active on several committees in their respective chambers.

Education was the topic of most concern from the membership and the two agreed that discipline in public schools was an issue more in the larger urban schools than the rural schools, but that the lack of discipline at the homes of students was probably the base problem.

They also touched on the growing emergence of charter, private and home schooling, and vouchers and tax credits for parents choosing that education route for their children.

Dobrinski commented that water conservation was of huge importance during this drought cycle and he commented that he would be involved with a case study concerning the North Canadian watershed area that would explore how the invasive eastern red and salt cedar trees were playing a part in the problem as they both require large amounts of water.

He said the effects and the process of future eradication of those trees in western Oklahoma was something that would be studied closely.