2018 Candidates for Oklahoma State Superintendent
Three Republicans, one Democrat and one independent are campaigning for the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The primary will be June 26. If none of the three Republicans earn more than 50 percent of the vote, the Republican primary run-off election will be Aug. 28. The general election will be Nov. 6. The incumbent is State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister.
The OEA members who serve on the Fund for Children and Public Education steering committee decided not to make a recommendation in the Republican primary.
The Oklahoma Education Association asked the five candidates for state superintendent to share more about themselves and their platform. Each candidate was asked four questions.
Candidate responses are presented in alphabetical order.
Dr. John Cox
Q: If you had been State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the past four years, what would you have done differently in administering Oklahoma’s public schools than the current administration?
JOHN COX: I believe the tension and frustration concerning the teacher pay increase was a direct reflection of our current State Superintendent and the absence of her leadership. I definitely would not have started my term by advocating for teachers to work five more days and then we will give you more salary. The 5 for 5 idea was a slap in the face to educators by a state superintendent that only has less than one year experience as a classroom teacher. Over my 33 year career as a Principal and Superintendent, and as a teacher, I have been able to build relationships on both sides of the aisle, and I feel confident that we would not have had a school stoppage because my leadership style would have resulted in a true teacher pay increase and additional funding for our public schools in my initial years in office.
I am proud of the work that we did by ending the useless End-of-Instruction tests, but I am not proud that we are still forced to give inappropriate tests to our special needs children and that we forced to test prep for state testing that does not improve instruction and tests results that are not released to our students and teachers in a timely and immediate process to guide instruction. If I had been state superintendent the last four years, Oklahomans would have seen a common sense approach to instructing our students, and giving our teachers the power and autonomy to help our students be successful for post high school years.
The true difference between me and the current state superintendent is that I would be in the office to serve our public schools and she is in the office to get re-elected and regulate local control.
COX: I believe the most pressing issue facing our public schools is having adequate funding for operational costs and employing more teachers to reduce class size. My goal is to get our teachers first year salary above $40,000, which I campaigned on four years ago. This should entice young people to enter the profession and encourage those teachers that have left us to come back to teaching. Another issue I am passionate about is decreasing the archaic testing system we have, and move our assessments towards more immediate feedback to drive instruction and moving our accountability system to use the formative testing that is already being utilized in our public schools. Let’s get back to the basics and provide an opportunity for every student to become what each desires to be in adulthood. Let’s give flexibility to our high school students to earn a trade certification before graduating high school. Let’s start taking care of our public schools again.
COX: Absolutely the recent pay raises are the first step! It is the job of the state superintendent to build and have relationships with the legislators to continue the momentum that was set by teachers and Oklahomans who care about our public schools. My focus will be to continually advocate for additional funds for our public schools and continued increase of teacher pay. My experience as a public school educator for 33 years and actually living the day to day process of how state government has gutted our public schools is invaluable to my advocacy of our teachers, staff, children, and public schools. This election is not about ‘D’ or an ‘R’ like it was in the last election. This election is about who truly is a public educator and who we can trust in that position to take care of our public schools.
Will Farrell
Q: If you had been State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the past four years, what would you have done differently in administering Oklahoma’s public schools than the current administration?
WILL FARRELL: Our current system of Oklahoma Academic Standards & Assessments and Teacher and Leader Effectiveness is a hodgepodge of Common Core pedagogy and value-added bureaucracy, a pastiche of education "in the penal colony" and a simulation of quantitative and qualitative evaluation. We cannot be anachronisms slipping behind the reality of present-day demands. What do we say about the public education status quo if our user manual of education policy ignores assessment of essential subjects such as computer science and technology education?
FARRELL: We need to fix our state's prioritization of public education and social justice.
FARRELL: I must submit budget proposals that embolden and embody our need to prioritize education in Oklahoma. I must work with executive and legislative leaders, as well as public and private leaders, to facilitate a shift in societal focus toward individual development and economic opportunity through education.
I am excited to see the impact of Tulsa's Gathering Place. Tulsa and Oklahoma City were also chosen as Amazon fulfillment center locations. By fostering a public education environment that prioritizes education, we will allow Oklahoma to be a beacon of opportunity for more investment opportunities. We must work to grow the necessary foundation in education to have more businesses choose Oklahoma as their home.
Joy Hofmeister
Q: How do you feel you’ve done in administering Oklahoma's public schools over the past four years?
Joy Hofmeister
I have successfully worked over the past four years to rebuild and strengthen public schools and student achievement by working collaboratively with educators, community leaders and families. Upon taking office, I assembled a strong team of professionals at the State Dept of Education and we immediately worked with Oklahoma educators to write new academic standards for math and reading. We removed unnecessary testing from state law, eliminated seven EOI tests and provided ACT/SAT for all 11th graders at no cost to students or districts—cutting costs by 40%. We overhauled our state’s broken and invalid school accountability report card and replaced it with a true growth model that meets federal requirements but doesn’t double count kids. We fixed the RSA 3rd grade reading law and repealed TLE VAM from state mandate. To save costs for districts and teachers, we moved our summer professional development conference, EngageOK, on the road—traveling to seven cities each July for the past two summers, delivering key training to 14,000+ educators—including trauma-informed instruction.
Beyond driving changes in law, decrying budget cuts or resetting state priorities, I supported the rights of our individual teachers to protest the failed policies of the Governor and Legislature. It was a failure of leadership over the past decade that resulted in teachers across the state finally standing up and saying—enough. Our students deserve resources in their classrooms and above all, a well-trained and certified teacher. I led the charge to champion competitive pay and respect for teachers beginning on Day One. We fought hard for every pay raise initiative as early as January 2015 and finally won the largest pay raise in state history this past spring. After 14 months of stakeholder input and collaboration, we built an action plan, Oklahoma Edge, to give our kids the competitive, well-rounded education they deserve. I’m proud of the work we’ve accomplished together and I’m optimistic about the new focus on education that’s ignited across the state.
HOFMEISTER: I believe the most pressing issue is long-term budgeting stability. We can't focus on education once every ten years and expect to increase student achievement and keep teacher pay at a competitive level. I will work with the legislature to implement a funding process that will make public education a priority every single year. Public education must be more of a priority so we don't govern by crisis.
HOFMEISTER: I certainly agree that we have made a great step in the right direction, but the job is not done. Making public education a priority once every ten years is not how we will advance as a state. I believe it starts with the fundamental budgeting process: we must work with the legislature to identify stable, long-term funding sources that will ensure continued growth in education funding well in to the future.
Dr. Larry Huff
Q: If you had been State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the past four years, what would you have done differently in administering Oklahoma's public schools than the current administration?
JOHN HUFF: I would have been much more proactive and successfully articulated to the the legislature, and subsequently the taxpayers the need to support public schools. The greatest present need is to secure sufficient funds to attract, retain and support Oklahoma teachers and to adequately fund schools. I would have ensured that every school in Oklahoma developed, implemented and successfully engaged in school improvement activities. I would have established a data base of best practices (teachers helping teachers) where information, teaching techniques and student activities were projected including student evaluation methods and expected outcomes. I would have been on guard and articulated the need for public school funds to be used for public schools.
Q: What is the most pressing issue facing public education that you will address if elected?
HUFF:The most pressing issue facing public education is securing the resources essential to support Oklahoma Public Schools. Our students and public schools, in general, deserve better than 49th in teacher salaries and better than 46th in per pupil expenditures. We must make sure that qualified teachers have adequate materials, supplies, and equipment essential to teach children in a 21 Century classroom. Also, we must not allow funds that are appropriated for public education be eroded away to the private sector.
Q: Educators across Oklahoma believe that the pay raises and funding increases enacted this session were a good start, but we must continue to see additional investment in future years. What will you do to ensure our public schools receive future funding increases and our teachers and ESP's receive future pay raises?
HUFF: We must get a commitment from the legislature, patrons, parents, teachers and everyone who understands the value of public education. This is not a one and done activity. We are at least 15 years behind in appropriations for education. We need to quit talking about National or regional averages and realize that Oklahoma's greatest natural resource, and ultimately our future lies in the capabilities of our children; therefore, we must provide them with a world class education.
Q: What role do you expect educators, support professionals, and OEA to play in your administration over the next four years?
HUFF: It would be my responsibility as state Superintendent to hire, retain, provide support and effectively utilize all State Department of Education personnel. It must be a total team effort, but it all starts at the top with experienced, qualified, Superintendent-certificated leadership. Also, every educational organization must get on the same page and work together to improve education and not just support their own pet projects. I have been a perpetual member of OEA since the 1967-68 school year. However, OEA does not appear to be as influential today as in times past. That influence needs to be restored. Today, there are those who are pitting all of the education agencies and organizations against each other in order to divide and conquer. We must stand tall, together.
Linda Murphy
Q: If you had been State Superintendent of Public Instruction for the past four years, what would you have done differently in administering Oklahoma’s public schools than the current administration?
LINDA MURPHY: I would have and I will in the future work for Local Control of education instead of aligning our system with an 8-year plan that gives tremendous control to the federal government. We continue to have too much “top-down” control imposed in our classrooms now which hampers our teachers’ authority and ability to teach freely and creatively. I will work to give teachers the freedom they should have in their own classrooms to determine the methods and materials best suited to teach students. This includes determining the developmental level of materials used in their lower elementary school classrooms. I will make sure that our academic standards are actually aligned with any state required testing. I will contract with a source for testing that gives us testing from our own standards. I will work to change the 3rd grade reading test because it still requires too much classroom time and unnecessary stress. I will review the state education standards with genuine feedback from classroom teachers to improve their quality.
I will not vote for or support the forced expansion of Charter Schools or Charter School funding. I will not vote for or support the use of government funding for private education. I will work to change the legislation which allowed the appointed state school board to override local elected school boards. These are all changes from the current State Superintendent’s actions.
Q: What is the most pressing issue facing public education that you’ll address if elected?
MURPHY: In addition to working for Local Control I rate at the top of the list of issues - the need for work in funding for teacher pay and classroom materials.
Q: Educators across Oklahoma believe that the pay raises and funding increases enacted this session were a good start, but we must continue to see additional investment in future years. What will you do to ensure our public schools receive future funding increases and our teachers and ESPs receive future pay raises?
MURPHY: I will work to see that school funding is improved to provide a solid revenue for teacher salaries and classroom materials. Following are some of the sources for funding, which I will work to bring to the table:
1) Public education money in the form of revenue and interest collected in the Commissioners of Land Office from school lands, which are designated in the State Constitution as belonging to education but which have not been fully disbursed.
2) New state revenue, as recently reported by the State Treasurer, which can be now be used in the budget.
3) Funds on the local level, which by recommendation of School Superintendents, should be made more flexible for use in teacher salaries and classroom materials.
4) Future funds made available from agency audits.
5) All funds that are determined to be unnecessary in the current State Department of Education budget following a comprehensive review.
These are just some sources of funding that can potentially be brought forward to help solve the financial needs in teacher pay and classroom funding. I will work with all state officials involved in the budget process to solve our funding issues.
Q: What role do you expect educators, support professionals, and OEA to play in your administration over the next four years?
MURPHY: I will work with all educators, support professionals and education organizations to make our Public Schools strong, financially solid and successful in providing excellent education to our students. I believe when people with a shared interest in this goal work together with good will we can accomplish amazing results.
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