Andrea Eger
Tulsa World
Candidates for state superintendent laid out their short-term plans and initial policy goals in a Tulsa World questionnaire.
Six of seven candidates responded to questions about a series of hot topics, and their responses will be used in a series of stories leading up to the June 24 primary election.
The candidates were asked to name five things they would endeavor to accomplish during their first 90 days in office and their top three policy goals for common education for the first legislative session after the general election.
Republican challenger Joy Hofmeister of Tulsa said she would work during her first months in office to “build stronger relationships” with stakeholders including parents, educators, and community and business leaders; ensure that all Oklahomans, including legislators who recently repealed Common Core standards, have confidence in new higher academic standards; work with State Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones to obtain a performance audit of the State Department of Education; review Oklahoma’s waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act, as well as all contracts, bids, requests for proposals and other legal documents.
As for her first legislative or policy goals, Hofmeister said she would advocate for standardized testing reform and accountability system updates because “we need a reliable, valid, school accountability system and our current A-F school grading system is broken and must be fixed.” She would also like to see some legislation to “decrease costly bureaucracy” to ensure more education funding gets to classrooms.
Republican incumbent Janet Barresi pledged to carry on with five current endeavors — prioritizing reading and math literacy; advocating for “rigorous college and career ready state standards developed by Oklahomans;” support teacher-leader effectiveness efforts; “fight to pay our teachers more out of our existing money;” and work with CareerTech and state colleges to better establish expectations for our public school students.
Her top three legislative goals are to raise base pay for teachers and to establish a performance-based pay system, school choice and “ensuring our students read on grade level.”
Democrat John Cox of Hulbert wants to create “an atmosphere of trust and openness among our administrators, teachers, staff, parents, patrons, and legislators,” improve communication between the state Department of Education and local schools; encourage recruitment and retention of teachers and use teachers and parents in the process of developing new state standards.
He also wants to streamline state testing to just math and reading and move to eliminate the high-stakes nature of state testing plus allow for special education students to be assessed in a way “that is both developmentally appropriate and meaningful.”
His legislative goals are to increased funding for public schools; revise standardized testing requirements for earning a high school diploma to “allow flexibility for students to learn a skill or trade and revamp or eliminate the A-F school report cards.”
Freda Deskin, an Edmond Democrat, promised to “return” the education department “to a service and support agency to meet the needs of the students and schools we serve starting with having staff answer phones,” and review the education budget to determine which monies can be redirected to classrooms.
Two of her plans include reaching out to parents, teachers and other interested stakeholders. One would involve the appointment of a panel that would be asked to make recommendations to address high-stakes testing, while the other would be a survey “to develop a common vision for Oklahoma education.”
As for her legislative goals, Deskin wants to advocate for legislation to “scrap” the controversial A-F school grading system and request federal relief from unnecessary and cumbersome “reforms” and testing; budget pay increases for teachers and funds to reduce class sizes and deregulate schools.
Democrat Jack Herron of Norman said he wants to budget teacher pay increases plus funds to secure the teacher retirement system; work on new Oklahoma curriculum standards based on local needs; build collaboration between public schools and the state’s higher education and CareerTech systems; “change the state Department of Education from a ‘hammer me’ organization back into a ‘help me’ organization” and increase statewide awareness of the importance of valuing education so that students and teachers want to go to school every morning.
His goals during his first legislative session in office include presenting the new budget and curriculum standards mentioned above to the legislature for approval, plus addressing the need for certified math specialists in early childhood education programs and lower elementary school grades.
Democrat Ivan Holmes of Oklahoma City said he would launch a statewide public education campaign about public school finances and how to lobby the Legislature and governor about it; get consensus from superintendents on “how we are going to handle Common Core” standards; set up new testing guidelines for schools; develop a plan to get control of classroom security; and develop a budget plan to raise teacher salaries to “at least the level as surrounding states.”
His legislative goals include advocating for greater local control and the “return” of $200 million from the lottery to public schools; and a repeal of legislative funding to charter schools and requiring that all charter school records be made available to the state superintendent.
Republican Brian Kelly did not provide answers to the Tulsa World questionnaire.
