Rep. Katie Henke, a Republican from House District 71 in Tulsa, announced that she plans to file for re-election.
“It has been a privilege and great honor for me to serve the people of House District 71. I look to earn their trust once more to represent our shared values in the Oklahoma House of Representatives,” Henke said.
First elected in 2012, Henke has developed as a leader among her fellow representatives, particularly on education issues.
“Education is part of who I am,” said Henke. “As a former classroom teacher, I know how important it is for politicians to provide necessary resources and then get out of the way so our teachers can do their jobs. We can always reform and improve our school system, and I certainly support many of these efforts, but nothing can replace a good teacher in the classroom who truly cares about their students. We have to do everything we can to attract and retain quality teachers, so our children can get the best education possible.”
Henke said the upcoming session will be a difficult one for education, as well as all areas of government that receive funding from the legislature.
“We are facing one of the largest revenue shortfalls in decades, and that is going to be very challenging for public education,” said Henke. “I am hard at work with other legislative leaders to find ways to protect education from harmful cuts, and look for long term solutions that will guard education funding in the future. I hope we are successful in doing both of those things.”
Henke currently serves as the Vice Chair of Appropriations and Budget for Education as well as on the Common Education, Higher Education & Career Tech and Transportation committees, and was elected Secretary of the Republican Caucus last legislative session.
She seems to be saying “pay the teachers more and don’t ask any questions,” which is what we’ve tried before without notable success.
But when she says “nothing can replace a good teacher in the classroom” she’s on to something, with the emphasis on the word “good.” Sadly, under our screwballed system, we pay the worst teacher in the school the same amount as we pay the good one. What does that say to the good one? It says: go somewhere else where they value you enough to pay you more than the people on the bottom rung.