So for those of you that don't know about the Oklahoma education system, we have been ranked among the lowest states for numerous years. 46th in student spending (NEA Research Estimated Database 2009), 48th in average teacher pay (NEA Research Estimated Database 2009), and 3rd for states running out of smart people (24/7 Wall Street Feb. 7, 2011). And that's really just the beginning.
Let me state first that I am very moderate in my political beliefs. I could really swing either way and tend to change my registration based on which primary I want to vote in. So, when I might seemingly be bad mouthing republicans, just wait because the democrats will get their fair share as well!
Back to the problems. Our new state superintendent is quite a head strong woman. She is a VERY close friend to the secretary of state who is best friends with the new governor (all republicans). Our now Republican ran Senate is moving for numerous changes in the structure of our education system to allow almost complete control to be given to the State Superintendent. After a heated board meeting with Mrs. State Superintendent and the state school board (mostly appointed by the previous Democrat governor), the Senate Education Committee passed 12-5 to strip the school board of all responsibilities and give them to the superintendent. They also are moving to place the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state on the state school board, thus giving more support to their friend, Mrs. State Superintendent.
How is this possibly going to work to make our state better? Our test scores are terrible in over 600 schools. Everyone is so worried about getting the power to "make change happen" that no one is actually looking at true ways to help the situation.
A teacher was actually told by district administrators that he/she was doing everything he/she was supposed to be doing and then told to just keep doing what he/she had been doing. That teacher then mentioned his/her absolutely horrible benchmark test scores and expressed the concern that there had to be something else he/she could do to improve the scores. The response: if there is, I don't know about it. Seriously...the people that are "in charge" don't have a single idea except keep doing what you're doing? What is this teacher supposed to do? Starting next year if Mrs. State Superintendent gets her way, 50% of this teacher's evaluations will be based on test scores. Less than 10% of this teacher's students are passing their benchmark but not a single person can help give him/her any ideas. We have a problem!
Big idea people always get elected and make fancy speeches that make us feel good about them and about us but the reality is that they don't hire the right people to help them. They don't hire the teacher that has actually been in the war zone to help education work for children. They don't hire the poor person that has been taking advantage of the system for years to help fix loopholes in the system. They don't hire the forester to figure out what to do about the logging industry. They all just hire their friends. There has to be something we can do to help Oklahoma Education...I have to develop a plan!
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