He’s Critical Of Janet Barresi
Rep. Todd Thomsen today fired back in response to Schools Superintendent Janet Barresi who suggested that GOP lawmakers who support her opponent have stepped back toward the status quo.
“The problem right now is that our state school superintendent has put education in paralysis due to the ongoing conflicts and controversy which Janet Barresi seems to thrive on and attract,” Thomsen said.
“It is derived from a lack of positive leadership, vision and a very obvious disrespect for those she needs to work with to be successful. This is very distracting, and it’s damaging our ability to move education forward for Oklahoma’s kids.
“Janet Barresi is the most divisive and controversial figure in Oklahoma politics for a reason; because she just simply can’t work with those who care deeply about achieving education excellence. Her conflicts extend from the classroom to administrators to the very Republican lawmakers who championed GOP reform measures.
“To make it very clear, my support of Joy Hofmeister is to move Oklahoma Department of Education off of this negative high center which has become the status quo, and put Oklahoma back on a positive road to education excellence.
It isn’t about returning to the status quo but all about restoring respect and dignity to the profession. Barresi has to be one of the most divisive people ever elected and these legislators are recognizing she can’t lead anyone as long as she is so disrespectful and incompetent in running her department.
I applaud those in her party that see a need for change because it is so overwhelmingly apparent!
By the way, none of these people endorsing Joy Hofmeister said one word about doing away with reforms. It is all about working together to accomplish all we can for the betterment of Oklahoma’s public school children!
Dr. Barresi’s ‘reforms’ are the status quo — high stakes testing, money taken from public schools and given to charters, value-added teacher evaluation, flunking third graders on the basis of one test, one day. Whatever Jeb Bush tells her to do, she’s there. She IS the status quo. Representative Thomsen, thank you for taking this stand.