The top two candidates for the Oklahoma City Public Schools Chairperson were Elizabeth Warren and Betsy DeVos — or so it sometimes seemed based on what the voters asked about.
Seriously, it’s impossible to block national edu-politics out of local elections, and last year’s bitter fight over charter schools is fresh in everyone’s mind. As long as DeVos and President Donald Trump represent an existential threat to the principle of public education for all, voters must remain wary. I hope the OKCPS runoff election will feature a debate over our city’s individual candidates and our issues.
Not surprisingly, charter schools have been the campaign’s primary issue, even though the differences between the key candidates on that subject have been miniscule. The Oklahoma Gazette’s Laura Eastes reviewed the candidates’ positions. From her report:
“Charters are not the answer,” said [Stanley] Hupfeld, who supports the growth of enterprise schools within the district.
Enterprise schools operate with their own school board and hold unique spending and staffing rights.
As I have explained, unionized enterprise schools can combine the best features of charters without their downsides.
Paula Lewis, who will face Hupfeld in the runoff election April 4, expresses similar views. According to the Gazette, she:
… applauds district leaders’ efforts to further study Oklahoma City and its growth to create a long-term plan around the district. Such a plan could influence charters. In the short term, she advocates for establishing procedures for charter applications.
The issue isn’t whether charters choose to offer holistic learning or “no excuses” behaviorism to the families that choose them. They have the right to make that decision.
During the OKCPS runoff campaign, however, candidates should be asked how they will restore the goal of meaningful teaching and learning for all students.
Questions for candidates in upcoming runoff
I would ask them to start here: We are in the middle of Black History Month. How many OKCPS students have been offered meaningful and in-depth lessons on African-American history during the past three weeks? How many will be offered meaningful lessons regarding Cinco de Mayo and National Hispanic Heritage Month? Even when students get a few relevant lessons during special occasions, how many have been offered meaningful multicultural history courses?
Similarly, how many students have access to laboratory science classes as opposed to “worksheet science?” How many of our kids still get to go on field trips? Do they get digital- and cultural-literacy instruction? Is there a plan to restore analysis and synthesis in lessons for students in the low-performing schools? Is there a plan for reversing the damage done by fill-in-the-blank pedagogies imposed over the last 16 years?
OKCPS needs a plan
So, what will the school board do? Will they leave that hugely important policy issue to the OKCPS central office? Will the board push for the socio-emotional supports that provide the foundation for challenging instruction? Will the board seek partners to help provide hands-on, project-based learning for our high-poverty schools? Will they go on record and assure schools that they should ignore invalid A-F report card grades? Will the board promise to back the central office in a transition back to the goal of meaningful and holistic teaching and learning?
I would also remind my fellow Elizabeth Warren supporters, who oppose data-driven, market-driven reforms, that we have only taken the first step toward equity for our disadvantaged students. Yes, we beat back a dangerous, slapped-together plan for charter expansion, and we must be prepared to oppose future efforts that would damage our highest-challenge schools. If we don’t reverse the legacy of accountability-driven, competition-driven reform, however, we’ll have only delayed the inevitable. If we can’t provide the respectful learning environments for our poor kids, it’s only a matter of time before charters take over our system.
Now that the worst of the test-driven reform mandates have been repealed, the OKCPS must design and implement a plan for 21st-century learning back in all classrooms.
