A bill awaiting state House consideration would give parents the right to keep twins, triplets and other multiple siblings in the same classroom.
Sen. Jonathan Nichols, R-Norman, said many schools in the state have a policy of automatically placing twins or triplets in separate classroooms.
"For children who have been together since conception, separating them can make going to school a traumatic experience," Nichols said.
Ramona Paul, Oklahoma's assistant superintendent of public instruction, agreed with the senator.
Paul is the mother of identical twin boys and stepmother of fraternal twin girls.
She said there is no research to show that automatically separating twins helps them in anyway. She said separation can make learning more difficult, especially for young children.
"They don't understand why they're being separated," she said. "This is a new adjustment to be away from mom and dad. Why would you all the sudden decide that the children wouldn't be together? There's just not anything logical about it."
Sen. Mike Mazzei, R-Tulsa, is the father of triplets. He said Nichol's legislation is needed because it allows parents to be involved in the decision-making process on class placement of their children.
"From our experience, we know having multiples together in the same classroom is good for the kids," Mazzei said.
Under the legislation, parents could decide whether their children should be together or in separate classrooms, but would have to make a request within two weeks of the start of school.
Nichols said Minnesota, Texas and New Hampshire have passed similar bills.
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