House Media Division
A group of lawmakers said Wednesday that the Oklahoma Department of Education should oversee the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA).
Rep. Bobby Cleveland said the OSSAA’s numerous poor decisions, lack of transparency and refusal to adapt to criticism has led his colleagues to join him in calling for a change in Oklahoma’s laws that would bring the OSSAA under the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Department of Education.
“It is not the perfect solution, but with a state superintendent who is elected by the people of Oklahoma at its head, the Department of Education will be easier to hold accountable should they attempt to interfere with the rights of student athletes to pray at high school playoff contests,” Cleveland said. “This is not an issue about prayer, this is an issue about following the law. The OSSAA should be teaching young people how to follow rules and cooperate in a diverse society. Instead, OSSAA is setting a dangerous example by telling our children that the laws of this land do not apply to them.”
The lawmakers include Reps. Lewis Moore (R-Edmond), John Paul Jordan (R-Yukon), Tom Newell (R-Seminole), Charles McCall (R-Atoka), Mark McBride (R-Moore), Jon Echols (R-Oklahoma City), Kevin Calvey (R-Edmond), Jason Murphey (R-Guthrie), John Bennett (R-Sallisaw), David Brumbaugh (R-Broken Arrow), Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City), Dan Fisher (R-El Reno), Chris Kannady (R-Moore), Terry O’Donnell (R-Tulsa), Sean Roberts (R-Hominy), Todd Russ (R-Cordell), Paul Wesselhoft (R-Moore) and Justin Wood (R-Shawnee); and Sens. Marty Quinn (R-Claremore), Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow), Rob Standridge (R-Norman), A.J. Griffin (R-Guthrie) and Wayne Shaw (R-Grove).
Interesting idea. You’d have the clueless overseeing the witless.