First, why do you suppose it’s important to use the word “Workforce” to describe people who are – or will be employed? Answer: so that people become accustomed to being widgets – not individuals. Who is the Constitution made for? Individuals. Who votes in elections in our Democratic Republic? Individuals.
What about the phrase “community”? Answer: it’s a group of individuals. Groups are much more easily led and studies show this to be true. This is where we get the tongue-in-cheek term, “Sheeple”. So why move to this use of the word “community” to describe multiple groups of individuals? Because
What about the phrase “data-driven”? Answer: Data is science. Science has become the God of many today (COVID anyone?) Therefore, science knows better about people than people can know about people. There’s no argument about a child’s trajectory in life, then, if the “data” lines out that trajectory. No muss, no fuss, no messy, “but mom and dad, I’d like to be a firefighter when I grow up”. If the data says “aerospace engineer” (because the state is giving the industry millions in tax credits), then Johnny gets to be an aerospace engineer.
In 2008, Barack Obama became our 49th president. Let us never forget that under the one-word campaign slogan – CHANGE – Obama set about creating a socialist paradise in this country which dismantled nearly every LOCALIZED state institution – including education – almost thoroughly.
In the place of localized educational standards, Obama worked with the National Governor’s Association (of which Governor (King) Stitt just become Chair – please review his Igniting The Dream initiative below) and of which Mary Fallin was Chair during her term, 2013-14) and the Counsel of Chief State School Officers (all state superintendents) to create top down (national) educational standards to make sure every student in America was learning like every other student in America, which they called the Common Core State Standards. Unbelievably, (wink, wink) The CCSS have been found to be a failure in every state that adopted them (please internet search the term “Common Core failure” for more studies describing this boondoggle).
He also ramped up the State Longitudinal Database System. Working with the The National Center for Education Statistics, the Common Education Data Standards Initiative was created where thousands of data points were developed so that every school around the country could collect information on every student enrolled in public school in the United States to help them ‘learn’ better. (To find more information on Common Core and the SLDS, see our former blogspot.) This initiative has not failed, and in fact, has gained more steam the more tyrannical governments at every level realize how easy it is to control a populace on which they have millions of datapoints of information.
Besides an initiative to grade teachers (which has created part of the mess we now see in public education) – the Teacher Effectiveness system – the last of Obama’s four pillars was to create a TURNAROUND MODEL for ‘turning around failing schools, funded by School Improvement Grants. This roundly debunked initiative has been an absolute failure, yet it cost US taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars.
And so, this last week, Governor (King) Stitt, took full advantage of ELECTED Ryan Walters’ decision to quit his job instead of upholding his compact with his VOTERS to finish his term and made SWEEPING changes to Oklahoma’s upper education infrastructure – which he called Oklahoma’s “turnaround”. Hopefully, you’ll understand from the brief synopsis above, why I’m not in the least inspired by this turn of events.
Now, let’s review all that has happened since Ryan Walters quit:
Governor King-Stitt tells the public he’s going to ask the legislature to make the State Superintendent position appointed because there isn’t enough alignment between the Governor’s office and the state superintendent if the position is not appointed. (NO. JUST NO. This is at minimum a CHECK AND BALANCE. Number 2, I’ve had enough of Governor Stitt’s failed appointments and number 3, we are a Representative Government, not an oligarchy or a private business – things Governor King-Stitt forgets on a regular basis.)
Governor King-Stitt moves around his office staff – hiring what can only be called “swamp creatures” to help him finish out his term. This included trying to move long-time associate Donelle Harder into the Secretary of State position (don’t worry, after telling him to exit, I’m sure Stitt will find a cozy new deal for perennial government satellite Josh Cochroft) when she wasn’t eligible. How did no one in Stitt’s office seem to know the actual rules? If you’re King, or CEO, what do rules really matter?
Governor King Stitt appoints a new Secretary of Education, Daniel Hamlin, whose background includes University of Oklahoma professor, and who was educated both in Asia (MA Sejong University, Seoul, Asian Studies) and Canada where he received a Ph.D. from Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Educational Leadership and Policy. So, advanced degrees from socialist countries. That’s comforting. Though he’s worked at OU the last 7 years, before that, he was at Oxford for 8 and University of Toronto for 4. Very Oklahoman! He is also Jeb Bush adjacent and seems to have an itch to control HOMESCHOOLING!
Governor King Stitt appoints his Obama-styled “turnaround team” at the Department of Education that includes (among others):
Megan Oftedal (Ph.D.) was the head of the Oklahoma Education Quality and Accountability office (OEQA). She was educated at Loyola University, UCLA, RAND Pardee Graduate School and Harvard – the last two universities where she received her Ph.D., and did post-grad work in data. She somehow got to Oklahoma, where she was employed by American Fidelity (the bank associated with the the complaint of election conspiracy in the Joy Hoffmeister campaign) and then on to a stint at META before coming back to Oklahoma to work at OEQA. The OEQA website tells us, “Dr. Megan Oftedal is a results-driven data leader with over a decade of experience in both the public and private sectors. She is excited to serve OEQA and transform it into a P20 data and analytics hub to inform policy and improve educational outcomes.” P20 is the State Longitudinal Database that collects data points on children from birth (day care) to 20 years old (workforce). Now that she’ll be ensconced at the Department of Education who knows what she can do?
Current Okemah Chamber of Commerce President Connie Reilly, will now take over for Oftedal as the head of OEQA. She was a decades-long educator in Okemah schools, who was appointed to the Board of Regents of the Regional University System of Oklahoma by Brad Henry in 2007 – a post she has kept through 2 successive Republican governors now. Why a retired teacher would want to suddenly become president of the local chamber flummoxes me. And yet she will now be in a position where she can work with the Chamber and Dr. Oftedal, to hook all the databases in the state together so we can follow all children from birth to grave. Yay.
Governor King-Stitt then replaced two of his friends he had earlier appointed to the Oklahoma State Board of Education, but who haven’t been showing up much lately – Zach Archer and Sarah Lepak (who was Assistant General Counsel at Gateway Mortgage Group, from Apr 2012 – Mar 2017) – with Brian Bobek and Wes Nofire. Stitt has already appointed Bobek to the state board, where he served from 2019 to 2023. Bobek left BP Oil after 23 years to come to work for Governor Stitt, where, so far, he’s been his Deputy Chief of Staff, Chief Operating Officer (of something, I guess Governor Stitt?) and his Director of Faith Based Initiatives (another made up job not found in the Oklahoma Job Catalog so we have no idea what taxpayers pay for his salary). Nofire – like all the others – has been appointed by Stitt to something before: he’s a Commissioner on the Board of the State Athletic Commission and he’s also the Native American Liaison to the Office of the Governor since 2024.
Interestingly – neither our new, nice, State Superintendent, nor King-Stitt, notified our friend – and former Oklahoma State School Board member Kendra Wesson, that she had been fired as the Chair of the Oklahoma State Textbook Committee. She only found out when I read it in a ‘news’ media article and shared the information with her. Just another way we know that King-Stitt’s agenda is NOT about We The People.
I think it’s worth noting that in SEVERAL articles I read, the local “news” media have managed to quote Oklahoma Edvocates (a group for leftist teachers, not for parents or students), President, Jami Jackson Cole on King-Stitt’s Obama-like Turnaround, which she appears to be all for.
So, in closing, let all that sink in. Governor King-Stitt has now put into place all the “yes” men he’s previously appointed/worked with in some capacity as stewards of our Oklahoma Education funds and students. It is clear to me that this “turnaround” is one in which parents will be left behind. It has to be that way for the Jeb Bush/Chamber of Commerce-focused agenda of driving students into jobs so the elites can save money on job training can play out in real time.
Gone will be the effort to remove predators from schools and smutty, developmentally-inappropriate books from the library. Incoming will be the giant cookie cutter of big government, stamping children into widgets through collection of reams of unnecessary and invasive data for the benefit of private businesses. Watch.
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Governor Stitt’s Reigniting The Dream initiative as Chair of the National Governor’s Association, 2025:
Unlocking Economic Opportunity: Advancing the American Dream through entrepreneurship, creating a good jobs economy and economic mobility
Empowering Every Learner: Reimagining education and creating real on-the-jobs experiences for youth
Energizing the Future: Powering America’s next chapter by powering our AI future
Throughout the year, Governor Stitt will lead a series of convenings bringing together governors, private-sector leaders, and changemakers to explore policy and practice to forge a more hopeful, prosperous future for every American.
NGA also announced leadership for NGA’s three Governor-led task forces. The task forces foster a collaborative environment for Governors to focus on NGA’s top federal priorities. The task force co-chairs are:
Education, Workforce and Community Investment: Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon
Economic Development and Revitalization: Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong
Public Health and Emergency Management: Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein
From the Daily Oklahoman (8.7.25), “What we saw on TV is content that would get the certificate of any teacher in this state revoked had it showed up on a classroom TV,” they said. “Now we have to ask the question: Why did Superintendent Walters lie about the TV being connected to the internet and what he saw on the TV that day? He repeatedly called the board members liars and attempted to destroy our reputation.”
This comment was apparently released by Governor Kevin Stitt-appointed, Oklahoma State of Education Board members, Becky Carson and Ryan Deatherage, though I couldn’t find an associated press release, just the comment in the DO article linked above. Not that it would matter. I find the statement so absolutely ridiculous, unserious and “pot calling the kettle black“, that it matters not where it was actually published.
Since “Nudigate” – as Katy Smith (V1SUT) and I named it in a live special last week – became primetime MSM fodder, it has gone from the ridiculous to the more ridiculous, from shrieking and pearl clutching to shrieking and character assassination.
While the MSM have focused on allegations meant to steer the public into considering that our State Superintendent of Public Instruction watches porn in his office leading to the conclusion that he should therefore be removed from his office – you know, the one to which OKLAHOMA VOTERS ELECTED HIM – the Oklahoma Independent Media have been busy trying to find other reasons for board member allegations that there were naked women on the TV in Walters’ office.
Tuesday, August 5th, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kyle Hilbert, came forward with a conclusion to his investigation – “When initially powered on, the television displayed Samsung TV Plus Channel 1204 (Movie Hub Action).” On Samsung Plus at the time was a Jackie Chan movie from the 1980’s that had significant frontal nudity in the American release.
So, amazingly, this explanation not only vindicates Superintendent Walters, but the OSBE members as well. This is an odd situation, but probably the only plausible one. Yes, the members saw naked women, but no, Walters had no hand in the debacle.
Now, let’s go on to this one question that remains – WHY ON EARTH WASN’T ANY OF THIS HANDLED BEHIND CLOSED DOORS? Why did Becky Carson IMMEDIATELY run to the media in hysterics? Why would Ryan Deatheridge join in the fun?
Obviously only those Board members would know, obviously, but we can certainly generate some thoughts and ideas based on recent history:
Governor Stitt fires three OSDE Board members over a political perspective – the Board members had listened to a presentation from the Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent who said that they were struggling because it was becoming extremely difficult to educate non-English speaking students. Though the state is required to collect data on illegal students, when the three members of the Board broached the idea of collecting data on these students, Governor Stitt fired them. (By the way, has anyone ever wondered why Zach Archer and Sarah LePak are never there during controversial happens with the Board? Who are these people to Kevin Stitt? It might be worth reading to find out.)
This action generates a rift in the formerly finish-each-other’s-sentences-bromance of Stitt and Walters. Now, suddenly, Stitt seems to actually have it out for Walters – a situation so noticeable, News9 did a complete timeline of the fallout.
Becky Carson is appointed with little fanfare – more on her here – yet, suddenly, she is all over the MSM 24/7.
Now. Let’s posit some more;
If you were a board member on good terms with your Chair, would you run screaming to the media bout something odd and concerning that happened before an Executive meeting being held in the office of the Chair, or would you go to the Board and to the Chair to discuss it and possibly have it investigated?
What does it buy a Board member to run screaming to the media about something odd and concerning that happened before an Executive meeting being held in the office of the Chair instead of discussing it and possibly having it investigated?
Yes, Walters did call the Board members liars. Hmmm…this is just me, but, if I was accused of doing something societally gross (even today we frown on public servants watching porn at work) that I didn’t do and I had a family with children who can be exposed to the media – which was spewing it all over every channel night and day – and a spouse I loved who I didn’t want embarrassed by an untrue allegation, YEAH I MIGHT GET A BIT HACKED OFF and even accuse people of lying when I know the allegations being made against me weren’t true. Especially if I’d been under fire from the Left from the beginning of my term.
What have the Left in Oklahoma done to Walters since HIS ELECTION BY THE PEOPLE? Hint: check out the screenshots below and anything by local hater of everything conservative, Sean Cummings.
So now, let’s recap: several members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education appointed by Governor Kevin Stitt – in the middle of a public feud with the State Super – see something on a television that was inappropriate and – instead of reporting the incident to the rest of the Board and/or others privately – go screaming to the MSM. The Board members ACCUSE the state Superintendent of watching porn in his office supported by tax payers. The Governor stays silent on the matter. The Super gets justifiably angry about the accusations and accuse the Board members of lying. NO ONE WINS, but the Left goes nuts with the entire story and uses it as justification for a rally to try and impeach a seated official who has been shown to have done nothing wrong, but was the victim of a bizarre electronic mistake.
Look, I’m not a Walters sycophant. I’ve been on his case – especially about vouchers for private schools – more than anyone who brands themselves Republican. If I thought – for one minute – that Walters was doing something he shouldn’t have been doing, do you think that wouldn’t have been a big blow up on this blog and on the podcast? It sure as shootin’ would’ve.
This is all political theater of the highest heights. It’s political nonsense that’s actually hurt a family for no reason other than politics and that hacks me off. I don’t care if you don’t like conservative politics, that dislike is not a reason to hurt someone else with impunity and then have the unmitigated GALL to turn around and say you’ve been hurt.
Becky Carson and Ryan Deatheridge are the absolute worst of the worst of appointed officials in Oklahoma right now and they should be released from the Oklahoma State School Board ASAP, with VanDenhende and Tinney not be far behind – if for no other reason than their OBVIOUS conflicts of interest not reported by any other media than ROPE Report and other Oklahoma IMs. I’m sick to my stomach about the political drama created by Governor Stitt through his appointments to this Board and the fact that absolutely NONE OF THIS HELPS OKLAHOMA KIDS in any way – which, by the way, Superintendent Walters and the previous board were actually doing by removing sexual predators from our public schools system.
So then, could this be what all of this is about in the first place? Could Governor Stitt and the rest of this Board object to removing sexual predators from our kids? Anyone with a brain has to wonder.
Today, Mary from V1SUT Vantage and Roberta Lewis from Moms 4 Liberty, joined me to talk about the recent Governor Stitt appointment to the Oklahoma State School Board – Chris VanDenhende.
Immediately after my friend Kendra Wesson and two other board members were unceremoniously removed from the Oklahoma State School Board by Governor Kevin Stitt due to “political drama” (which turned out to be instituting a process of enumerating the number of kids here illegally enrolled in public schools – something schools HAVE to do to satisfy federal regulations anyway), three new members were appointed.
Today, Mary also wrote a piece about VanDenhende – who has served as an appointee to the Board of Regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO) as well – proving again, my point about the revolving door among previous board/commission appointees, former legislators, lobbyists and government. Here, she puts businesses run by VanDenhende together with the MOU that Governor Stitt signed with Denmark earlier this year. Interestingly, Mary points out that VanDenhende makes just the kind of airplane fuel outlined in the MOU.
Roberta Lewis with Moms 4 Liberty showed us a TicTok video on The Woke Mob channel (formerly the Oklahoma chapter of the national Defense of Democracy organization apparently), where VanDenhende is arguing with Ryan Walters over what made a lie, or merely statements that weren’t “100% accurate”. It’s not the video that was so interesting, however, it was the comments section. Two women, identifying as the daughters of VanDenhende lauded their father’s actions and thanked other commenters for their appreciation.
No, children are not always chips off the old block, but this group is very leftist and quite ugly. Seeing this certainly gives a bit of pause.
The live video where we discuss all these matters – and a truly awful situation with a child at Shawnee high school – can be found on our YouTube and Rumble channels and embedded below. Please take a few minutes to pass this information on to your Senator so they may at least have exposure to this information and then ask if they would NOT confirm Chris VanDenhende to the State Board of Education.
The bill now creates a board of 10 members from 7. One will be the Secretary of Education who will be the chair plus, five members shall be appointed by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, two members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and two members shall be appointed by the Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate.]. It also changes the way items may be added to the agenda. If three or more Board members wish to add an item to the agenda, they may – it does not have to be approved by the State Superintendent who is the chair of the board. (it was not heard 5.8)
This is a problem because if the governor has five appointments to the Board and the governor is interested in making changes to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, policy or procedure, he could conceivably ask Board members to take that issue to the full board by asking for an item to be added to the agenda. As we’ve seen, Governor Stitt – who has about a year left on his term – has made radical changes to the board in just this year alone because he didn’t like collecting data on illegal children (even though we already do that) so that conception isn’t really out of the question.
During committee hearings, Caldwell claimed the SDE under State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ (R) supports SB 224. We reached out to Supt Walters who denied any public support and asserted his agency’s neutrality concerning the bill.
“I have never publicly supported the bill. Not sure where that would be coming from,” said State Supt Ryan Walters of SB224. “SDE has always been neutral on the bill. We are required to provide data to legislators when they request it.”
OEQA’s claims of having “worked collaboratively with SDE, Regents, OESC, and CareerTech to advance the development of a Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS)” are also exaggerated.
When asked if he had personally attended any meetings with any OEQA personnel concerning SB 224 or a centralized database over the last year, Walters replied, “No, I was not personally involved in that.”
Until today, the Superintendent of Public Instruction had not made a comment – publicly – about whether or not he supported the bill.
Now, put the two things together.
WHAT IS JEB BUSH’S INVOLVEMENT WITH OKLAHOMA AND SB224?
Let me be clear – I do not definitively know. What I’m about to report is pure speculation, but speculation that deserves real consideration.
We know that Jeb Bush has a long history of involvement with Oklahoma education policy. He was heavily involved in pushing Common Core here in our legislature. We know that Superintendent Barresi and others got a free trip to Bush’s – then Foundation for Educational Excellence, now ExcelInEd – during her tenure. We also know that he has come to Oklahoma – at least once – to push school “choice” in 2021.
So, this initiative by the non-profit ExcelInEd organization run by Jeb Bush, has a MODEL POLICY that states can use to create an initiative in their state to allow kids to be tracked from birth through workforce to make sure they can get a job.
No, scratch that – make sure our businesses have the workers they’ll need to keep their business open, pay taxes and wine and dine legislators to create policy to help them do business. Listen below.
Notice “How Can We Fix It?”. Gosh. That sounds a whole lot like what bill SB224 is attempting to do, doesn’t it?
Here’s the Power Point program all about Oklahoma where – shockingly so much legislation stacks up to mesh with the intent of Bush’s initiative. Look specifically at the last three pages on data collection. So uncanny!
BOTTOM LINE
Do we know that Jeb Bush is influencing Oklahoma education? No. Do we have enough evidence to believe so? YES.
I fought hard to have Oklahoma repeal the Common Core State Standards from law. I never really thought anything had been accomplished afterward, because teachers/schools went right back to using them and there was nothing to make them stop. After reading the contents of a search I asked Grok to run for me, I’m having second thoughts.
Groks analysis indicated that the 2014 Common Core data repeal and NCLB waiver revocation “created policy turbulence, potentially disrupting COWIBs alignment with Oklahoma Works’ educational goals. Political resistance to federal mandates may have complicated WIOA implementation”.
So, call your Senator and Representative RIGHT NOW and tell them you
don’t want Oklahoma to be like every other state,
you don’t want your kids to be trained to fill a job, you want your kids to be educated so they can make up their own mind about what they want to be when they grow up
and Oklahoma doesn’t need an out-of-state globalist, policy-monkey ,wrenching up Oklahoma’s education policy.
We MUST defeat SB224 and keep the Oklahoma State Department of Education data from being hooked up with Workforce data (collected at the Department of Commerce) at the Oklahoma Educational Quality and Accountability board, helping to create the Planned Economy our overlords – like Bush! – want!
This is a post that will go with several other posts to come, but because we’ll be going live on Monday morning at 9am to talk about this specific issue (5.5.25), I wanted to be able to get this timeline I constructed out into the public view so the discussion was easier to follow.
The information below is just in a raw format, but it was information I collected via internet searches and using the AI research tool, GROK on X. I have saved all that information, so if you have questions, I can help answer those with the saved information.
Also, I’ve included URL linkages wherever I can so that you can see where the information came from and how to get their yourself.
The BOTTOM LINE?
Oklahoma is pushing federal Workforce policy as education and has been THROUGHOUT the years since the 1990’s assuredly. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, this timeline makes it very easy to see how the Powers That Be, direct policy statewide (regardless of the 10th Amendment) through the carrot and string approach of federal grants to be used to create federal programming.
There is NOTHING good about tracking students across the years of their lives while saying that we’re doing it for them. WE’RE NOT! We’re doing it because the Powers That Be want a PLANNED ECONOMY which will enrich their toady friends and the useful idiots that carry their water, while making the poor poorer, decimating the middle class and turning our children into cogs to fit into the planned economy jobs machine.
SB224 was about using DASH – OMES new data sharing hub – to fit the State Longitudinal Database System holding educational data together with the Data Quality Workforce Initiative holding employment and workforce data – TOGETHER to create a seamless way of sharing data on kids from cradle to the grave. It sounds crazy, but I’ve put enough of the policy below for you to determine whether that assertion is crazy or not.
The worst part is that our STATE GOVERNOR is selling this as something good for kids. IT’S NOT! It’s good for business. Kids should be educated classically in as many subjects as we can stuff into their little heads and then they can use that information to INFORM THEIR OWN DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT THEY WANT TO DO. We don’t need the government MINIMALLY educating our students (What? Proficiency ratings are above 50% in reading and math? No.) so they know just enough to think that they’re deciding what they want to be when they grow up when the counselor at school gives them ‘suggestions’. We need WELL-EDUCATED kids.
If the repeal of Common Core from state law and the inability to secure an NCLB waiver caused the state an inability to secure a completed SLDS (to create widgets of Oklahoma kids that are only educated to fill the need for jobs), WHY WOULD WE WANT TO HOOK THESE TOGETHER NOW? Oklahomans didn’t like it in 2014, but they’re going to want that now? Not only that, but if we did that back then, what could we do NOW if we unite against this?
Help us STOP SB224. Share this. Share the video from Monday morning. Let your senators know they’ll be primaried if they vote for this nonsense. Educate others about what is going on in this state. We made a difference with Common Core – we can do it again!
1965 – President Lyndon Banes Johnson creates the first Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to dovetail with his War On Poverty. It has been reauthorized every 5 years since.
1990 – President George H.W. Bush created Goals 2000 after he signed an international agreement entitled, “World Declaration on Education for All” 42 (EFA), the result of a summit sponsored by the United Nations, called “The World Conference on Education for All”
Included the call for the nation’s FIRST State Longitudinal Database to track student progress
1990 – Oklahoma legislature creates the Office of Accountability
Tasked with overseeing school performance through the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program (OEIP) and the Oklahoma School Performance Review program (OSPR)
OEIP developed standards to gauge performance of schools
Required by Goals 2000 legislation
1994 – Bill Clinton’s ESEA called, “Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994. Also created School-To-Work Opportunities Act and the Goals 2000 Act in conjunction with the ESEA
School boards and elected legislators would be bypassed as applications would be made and federal funds received by state Governors and their appointees on workforce development boards.
A computer database (aka Labor Market information System) would be used into which school personnel would scan information about students and their family including medical and psychological data that could be shared from the school to others deemed important in the student’s education
1995 – Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation (OCTP) created by legislature (HB1549)
Created teacher preparation system
The non-profit, Oklahoma Workforce Investment Board, Inc. (OWIB) was formed in1998 and established under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), which required states to establish state workforce investment boards to oversee workforce development programs.
2001 – George W. Bush – renames Clinton’s ESEA, “The No Child Left Behind Act”
Included Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) required testing public school students in 3rd, 8th and twice in high school. State set benchmarks they then had to meet with 100% proficiency. Schools missing target two years in a row were put on a “needs improvement list”. If schools didn’t make AYP, funding could be removed.
Needed database to collect test scores at a minimum
1st slds undertaken in Florida as a pilot project
2002 the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) Grant Program, authorized under the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 and launched in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). This program provided grants to states to design, develop, and implement longitudinal data systems, starting with the first round of funding in fiscal year 2005, which awarded $265 million to 41 states and the District of Columbia by 2009.
2006 – Created the Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development (GCWED – codified by Senate Bill 1397 (2006) to comply with federal and state workforce development priorities – especially the WIA (1998)
The GCWED was created to support the GOVERNOR’s economic and workforce development vision (such as the initiative Oklahoma Works under Governor Mary Fallin in 2013)
2007 – National Chamber of Commerce “Leaders and Laggards” report gave Oklahoma an “F” in accountability, academic achievement and data quality
Oklahoma received an A for its teaching force
Oklahoma had no alignment between educational outcomes and workforce needs
2009 – Barrack Obama – did not reauthorize NCLB, but created a grant process called Race To The Top. States competed for funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for 4 reforms
Including “building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction”
RTT Early Learning Challenge began to collect testing data on infants, toddlers and preschoolers enrolled in preK programs
2009 – Governor Brad Henry, takes State Fiscal Stabilization Funds from the Obama Administration including to create STATEWIDE P–16 EDUCATION DATA SYSTEMS.— (A) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Each State that receives a grant under subsection (c)(2) shall establish a statewide P–16 education longitudinal data system. https://www.congress.gov/110/plaws/publ69/PLAW-110publ69.pdf
2009 – Educational Accountability Reform Act created by SB111 (Republican legislators) and signed into law by Governor Brad Henry
Created in part due to Chamber of Commerce F grades in their “leaders and laggers” report
Transferred management of student data, determination of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP from NCLB), cut scores for tests, and oversight for academic standards and testing to the Office Of Accountability created in 1990
Centralized data
2010 – Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI) grant for 1 million dollars from the Department of Labor to “support the creation of data systems linking workforce and education data to evaluate training and employment outcomes
2012 – Oklahoma applied for an NCLB Waiver under Republican Chief For Change, State Superintendent Janet Barresi and Republican Governor Mary Fallin, Chair of the National Governor’s Association – we did NOT get a waiver
implementation of the A-F School Grading System (and Common Core, etc) and data collection
It will strengthen the OSDE’s ability to link students with teachers, programs, interventions and outcomes and allow the OSDE to link P-12 data with education data from other agencies.
2012 – Oklahoma Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (OEQA) created
Governor Mary Fallin signed SB1797 which consolidated the Office of Accountability and Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation into the Oklahoma Office of Educational Quality And Accountability
Now under supervision of the State Secretary of Education
7-member Board created to govern the office (Commission For Educational Quality and Accountability
The OEQA uses the SLDS and National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) to create the school report cards
2013 – Governor Mary Fallin, announces through her position as the Chair for the National Governor’s Association, creates the America Works: Education and Training for Tomorrow’s Jobs, which spotlights improving education and workforce training systems and aligning those systems with the needs of individual state economies.
2014 – Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) – replaced Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998
States required to strengthen their workforce systems by aligning them with economic development goals, emphasizing business-led strategies and improving data-driven decision making
2014 – Governor Mary Fallin creates Oklahoma Works
“Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the Governor of each State must submit a Unified or Combined State Plan to the U.S. Secretary of Labor that outlines a four-year workforce development strategy for the State’s workforce development system.
This linked WDQI and SLDS to track education plus workforce outcomes
Provided the framework for a statewide coalition to connect education, training and job opportunities
Five goals – one of which was to “enhance data-driven decisions by using longitudinal data systems to track outcomes and evaluate program effectiveness
Oklahoma Works influenced education policy, including charter school expansion (moving Oklahoma’s charter law ranking from 37th to 10th nationally) and literacy improvements via the Reading Sufficiency
Grok
The initiative’s data-driven approach informed performance-based budgeting, shifting state funding to programs with proven outcomes Grok
The SLDS – which integrated K-12, postsecondary and workforce data gave Oklahoma Works the data to align education programs with employer needs – Grok
Changed the Central Oklahoma Workforce Board (COWB – 1998) to the Central Oklahoma Workforce Investment Board (COWIB) still a non-profit organization covering 9 counties in central Oklahoma
Board is composed of business leaders, county commissioners and representatives from education and community organizations
According to GROK the WDQI and SLDS grants are NOT CONNECTED which is a problem for implantation of its mission
GROK also says that the 2014 Common Core data repeal and NCLB waiver revocation “created policy turbulence, potentially disrupting COWIBs alignment with Oklahoma Works’ educational goals. Political resistance to federal mandates may have complicated WIOA implementation”.
2015 – State ‘reaffirmed’ Governors Council for Workforce and Economic Development in order to meet updated Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act federal mandates in order to receive federal workforce grants.
2021 – National Chamber of Commerce calls on states to adopt the America Works Agenda to “address the nations worker shortage”
Introduce 4 ‘immediate action’ items
Help Americans acquire the skills they need to fill today’s open jobs
Improve education and job training opportunities for the jobs of tomorrow
Remove barriers to entering the workforce
Expand the workforce through immigration reform
Under number 2 we are told that every state needs Learning and Employer Records (LERs): In addition to providing a verified and authenticated record of employment history for every American worker, support the ability of education, training, and credentialing providers to produce a digital record of learning that is based on open and available data standards and used to empower learners and workers with information about their skills and qualifications.
2022 – Oklahoma’s WIOA State Plan for 22-23 is filed
Introduces ICAP: The Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP) was recently developed for the state’s PK- 12 system by the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) with input from students, families, educators and other partners. The ICAP equips students with the awareness, knowledge and skills to create their own individualized, meaningful exploration of college and career opportunities. In order to reflect students’ changing passions, aptitudes, interests and growth, the ICAP is a flexible, evolving document. The ICAP incorporates labor market data into occupational exploration materials to allow students to make informed decisions about education and training for future career goals.
2022 – Oklahoma Public Resource Center Commissions the Office Of Educational Quality and Accountability Transformation Proposal
Recommendation 2 was to Provide impactful P-20 (SLDS) information
Recommends that OEQA become a data hub for student data
Recommends using the Oklahoma Data Matrix visualization tool
Recommends the use of the Baldrige Excellence Framework for P-20 institutions across Oklahoma
Must have access to the data that follows a student throughout and beyond their formal participation in the education system
a data hub also helps address another core desired outcome of the stakeholder engagement process by not just knowing where kids are now, but where they are six years after high school or college graduation
2023 – Governor Stitt creates Executive Order 2023-21 to transfer the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development under the Oklahoma Employment Securities Commission
The Oklahoma Employment Securities Commission is designated as the single point of funding and accountability for the WIOA federal Department of Labor workforce grants
2024 – Oklahoma’s WIOA required long range plan for 24-27 states the following on page 119
Improve Access to and Sharing of Data: Oklahoma recognizes the weaknesses it has faced in the past regarding access to and the possession of data critical for the success of the workforce system. We are committed to identifying and acting on opportunities to systematize the sharing of data among partners in the workforce system, to coordinate resources expended on data research and evaluations, and to expand tools available at both the state and local levels to include dashboards and other modern technologies. The main objective of these efforts is to strengthen the aligned efforts of the core, required, and additional workforce system partners for more effective outcomes.
2024 – Oklahoma’s WIOA State Plan for 24-25 is filed
Vision includes: Becoming more data-driven, using independent and objective data to drive workforce transformation.
Coordinating and “braiding” WIOA funds to drive the state’s workforce strategy
Goals include: Preparing an educated and skilled workforce and meeting employers’ skilled workforce needs go hand in hand. Oklahoma will achieve innovation and efficiency through alignment, collaboration, and education. All entities are working together to drive collective and meaningful outcomes.
2024 – Oklahoma Works, Governor’s Council for workforce and Economic Development votes to accept the plan: minutes of meeting January 19th, 2024
Discussion & Vote to approve policy informing/establishing publicly OESC’s Authority to administer the WIOA programs including policy and procedure. – this allows OESC as the agency to administer the program to DOL, standing in accordance with the Workforce Act, signed by Governor Stitt, on August 10, 2023. Chair Gray motion for a vote, Stan McCabe move the motion and David Reid seconding the motion, with all voting aye, no opposed. No further discussion.
2024 – Governor Stitt signs Executive Order 2024-24: creating a Task Force on Human Potential for Future Industries to go through 2027
Mandates coordination between Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development and Oklahoma State Department of Education, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and Career Tech to align curricula with high-demand occupations.
Requires use of Oklahoma SLDS and DASH (data sharing hub at OMES) to integrate education, workforce, and economic data
Supported by MOU – Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) among 9 agencies which, according to GROK are NOT LISTED IN AVAILABLE RESOURCES
Possibly OSDE, OESC, OK dept of commerce, OSDH, Oklahoma office of workforce development
Cannot find the exact members of the task force – only the criteria are found in the EO
Not able to find any meeting agendas or minutes
2024 – October meeting of Oklahoma Works, Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development speaker, Chad Warmington from the Oklahoma State Chamber
Warmington also addressed House Bill 621, which led to the creation of a new workforce commission, with its priority being the recruitment of a CEO to lead these initiatives. A secondary priority is enhancing workforce data. Warmington stressed the importance of building a strong workforce infrastructure, particularly in preparing K-12 students to be career-ready by the time they graduate. He shared Superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools’ vision that students should be ready to “Employ, Enroll, or Enlist” upon graduation, and he talked about the need for schools to align their programs with the state’s workforce requirements.
Our focus has been to establish OEQA as a central hub for data, analytics, and actionable information—fostering a culture of data driven decision-making that supports systemic improvements, transparency, and accountability.
With the launch of Power BI dashboards and progress toward integrating data across K-12, higher education, and workforce sectors in a Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS)
2024 – December – OMES creates DASH – Data Sharing Hub in conjunction with Google (for analytical tools) and Cloudflare (for security)
According to GROK, DASH supports secure data sharing for Oklahoma Works and OLDS, but specific developer names are undisclosed
Rolled out to 6 unnamed agencies with plans for more agency use
According to GROK, DASH was needed to share data to align education and workforce programs according to Governor Stitt’s EO 2024-24 and Oklahoma Works
2025 – Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce 2025 Legislative Priorities states:
Support improving K-12 Graduation Requirements to include Career Ready, Advanced Placement, and concurrent academic credit options.
Advocate for partnerships and the integration of workforce system partners, resources, and strategies supported by state funding, that utilize data driven strategies for skill alignment and credential attainment, ensuring alignment with economic development goals and employer needs.
Oklahoma has a data sharing agreement (DSA) among NINE state agencies which are unnamed according to GROK.
Oklahoma also has specific Memoranda Of Understanding (MOU) with
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Oklahoma Employment Security Commission
Oklahoma Department of Commerce and Local Workforce Boards including The Governor’s Council For Workforce and Economic Development
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Oklahoma Department of Labor
The State Data Platform and DASH
DATA PROTECTIONS – listed
Government Transparency Act of 2019
Oklahoma Computer Data Privacy Act
Oklahoma Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act
MOUs are to align with HIPAA, FERPA and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
DATA CONCERNS
GROK was asked “do the Government Transparency Act of 2019, Oklahoma Computer Data Privacy Act, Oklahoma Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act, FERPA, and HIPPA protect individual data in Oklahoma.
The following is copied from the result
Critical Examination
Strengths:
Robust Framework: The five laws collectively cover diverse data types (student, health, consumer, government), ensuring comprehensive protection in OLDS and DASH, as seen in COWIB’s secure data use.
Interagency Coordination: DSA and DASH, supported by the Government Transparency Act, streamline secure data sharing, aligning with Executive Order 2024-22’s focus on personalized learning.
Compliance Mechanisms: Audits (Student Data Act), penalties (Computer Data Privacy Act), and public disclosures (Government Transparency Act) enhance accountability, reducing misuse risks.
Weaknesses:
Re-Identification Risks: FERPA and HIPAA exemptions allow de-identified data sharing, but indirect identifiers (e.g., ZIP code, race) could enable re-identification, especially in small Oklahoma communities.
Enforcement Gaps: FERPA’s rare use of funding penalties and HIPAA’s federal oversight may limit state-level accountability, while the Computer Data Privacy Act lacks a private right of action.
Transparency Limitations: Sensitive MOUs or audit details may remain non-public to avoid security risks, as allowed by the Student Data Act, reducing full transparency.
Narrative Scrutiny:
Oklahoma’s narrative of robust data protection is largely accurate, given the layered legal framework, but overstated due to re-identification risks and enforcement weaknesses. The 60% attainment goal’s stagnation (~30%) suggests data protection alone cannot address systemic educational barriers.
The business-led focus of Oklahoma Works and GCWED may prioritize employer data needs, potentially straining privacy protections, though FERPA and HIPAA compliance mitigates this.
Political controversies, such as Stitt’s Executive Order 2023-31 (anti-DEI) or the 2024 OMES audit citing mismanagement, may erode public trust in data systems, despite legal safeguards.
Sources and Further Inquiry
Primary Sources:
Oklahoma Statutes, Title 74, § 3122 (Government Transparency Act), Title 70, § 3-168 (Student Data Act), via www.oscn.net.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HIPAA guidance (www.hhs.gov/hipaa).
Secondary Sources:
Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (dash.ok.gov) for DASH and DSA details.
Central Oklahoma Workforce Innovation Board (cowib.org) for workforce metrics.
CaseGuard on Oklahoma’s Student Data Act (caseguard.com, April 6, 2022).
McAfee & Taft on HB 1030 (mcafeetaft.com, March 9, 2023).
Contact for Verification:
OMES Data Services: 405-521-2141 or data.services@omes.ok.gov (mailto:data.services@omes.ok.gov) for DASH and DSA.
OEQA: 405-522-5399 for OLDS and student data policies.
OSDH: 405-426-8000 for HIPAA MOUs.
Oklahoma Attorney General: 405-521-3921 for HB 1030 enforcement.
Accessing Details: Request MOUs or audit reports via the Oklahoma Open Records Act (51 O.S. § 24A.1 et seq.) through OMES or OSDH. Visit oklahoma.gov for transparency policies.
An Analysis of Recent Education Reforms and The Resulting Impact On Student Privacy
“Our system isn’t tapping into the potential of every student. That’s what we’re setting out to change,” Oklahoma State Secretary of Education, Nellie Sanders said. “Artificial intelligence, virtual reality and other emerging technologies can offer Oklahoma students a learning advantage. We’re going to explore ways to personalize curricula to interest, expand apprenticeship programs and define universal soft skills so our students are ready to lead us into the future.”
This past February , governor Kevin Stitt’s Education task force, dubbed the “Human Potential for Future Industries Task Force”, announced that an AI math tutor program would be introduced into select Oklahoma schools in March, with the goal of rolling it out in participating districts statewide for the 2025-2026 school year, allegedly at no cost to the schools themselves. The program, “Synthesis AI”, is the creation of Josh Dahn and Chrisman Frank, co-founders of Synthesis, and they both attended the February task force meeting to promote their product.
Oklahoma Secretary of Education Nellie Sanders, who chairs the task force, is quoted in a recent OKBusinessVoice article: “Our current education system isn’t built for the future—it’s barely built for the present,”… “Oklahoma’s students are full of untapped potential, and it’s our job to ensure they have the right opportunities to thrive. This task force is focused on breaking away from outdated, one-size-fits-all education models and create real-world pathways that prepare students for their future. Oklahoma will proudly become the first state to put Synthesis’ priceless, one-of-a-kind piece of technology in our classrooms— and I couldn’t be more excited for our teachers, students, and parents. I’m grateful to Josh and Chrisman for their partnership.” (highlights mine)
Something to note here: Synthesis AI has never before been used by a school district in the nation, meaning that Oklahoma students will be using an AI tutor that remains untested in a school setting. Are our schools to be a laboratory for this unproven technology, and can we really afford to go in blind on such an endeavor?
Stitt, who dubbed the AI tutor as “revolutionary”, is quoted as saying, ““Every student needs to be prepared to leave school college-ready or career-ready. That isn’t happening for too many Oklahoma students,”…“We want kids to develop their God-given talents and apply them in high-demand industries right here in Oklahoma. I’m grateful to Secretary Sanders and her task force for doing their part to ensure students go from classrooms today to careers tomorrow.”
Every parent wants their child to succeed, but we must be wary of misguided attempts at a solution that ends of making the situation worse. Initial research on the use of AI in the classroom has not produced glowing results, and in fact has shown that AI has resulted in poorer performance outcomes than tried-and-true education strategies.
Chrisman Frank, the co-founder of Synthesis AI, praised his meeting with Stitt’s task force in a post on X: “Thrilled to partner with visionary Governor@GovStitt and Education Secretary @NellieSandersOK to bring the magic of the Synthesis AI tutor to Oklahoma schools and families. Tutor will be available to ALL third grade students in the state this fall. Proud to work with the administration to serve the people of the great state of Oklahoma!”
So the Synthesis AI Tutor is a done deal for Oklahoma’s students? According to Chrisman’s post, it is. The replies to Chrisman’s X post seem suspiciously bot-like. Did he pay for artificial engagement on what is arguably his most important post on X, as co-founder of an AI startup that could potentially be used across the nation?
The task force released what it considers to be “priority actions”, and it reads like the familiar, meaningless buzzword glop we’ve seen elsewhere:
Strengthening workforce-aligned education by integrating industry-driven skills into curricula.
Expanding hands-on learning through apprenticeships, internships, and immersive learning experiences.
Leveraging artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and other emerging technologies to create immersive classroom experiences.
Assessing teacher preparation programs to ensure Oklahoma educators are equipped to meeting evolving student needs.
Long, hard experience shows that these wildly-optimistic bullet points never deliver. Parents and legislators should be very wary of anyone promising Heaven on Earth in order to push through another education “revolution”, when students here are already struggling to read and perform math at grade level. Long before “Ed Tech”, schools were able to successfully teach math, reading, and reading comprehension. Something terrible has happened along the way that has resulted in plummeting scores across the board. Rather than the savior, many point to just this type of Ed tech as the culprit.
In an article entitled, “The EdTech Revolution Has Failed”, Jared Horvath argues that, since the widespread introduction of internet-connected devices into the classroom beginning in the 2010s, student scores have dropped across the board. Rather than a mere coincidence, Horvath places the blame on EdTech itself, citing multiple large-scale studies that equate the omnipresence of internet-connected devices in the classroom with a significant drop in learning.
The logical solution, albeit one that no one in the business of education wants to hear, is to remove Ed Tech from our classrooms entirely, not double or triple-down on what has clearly been a massive boondoggle.
If an AI math tutor is indeed “revolutionary”, then Oklahoma should require proof, rather than allow students here to themselves become the test subjects. Untested, experimental EdTech has no place in Oklahoma schools, and our government should understand that before pitching us headlong into uncharted waters, when we are barely keeping our state’s students afloat as it is.
Norman public schools recently sent out a survey to parents to gauge their opinion of the district’s in-school smartphone policy, anticipating the passage of legislation that would severely restrict the use of phones by students during school hours. From “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”, parents are asked whether phones should be put away all day, used only during passing periods, used only for emergencies, et cetera. I opted for the strictest policy options given, but even then, I don’t believe it’s enough.
“Phone” is an insidious euphemism for these pocket-sized, high-powered computers that can be used to access the most explicit content imaginable. For the first time in human history, the most degenerate content in existence is instantly within our children’s reach, and, being children, they search it out. We as a society have consciously turned a blind eye to this hideous tech revolution, telling ourselves that kids aren’t accessing this garbage, and only using their phones for their intended purpose. We’re lying to ourselves, and instead of confronting this crisis directly, we’re allowing it to unfold without a whimper of protest, with catastrophic consequences for our kids’ developing minds.
The phones, though, aren’t even the worst part of this grotesque tech intrusion.
School-issued laptops have become the primary gateway for adolescents to access pornography, explicit music, and other degenerate content, and nothing at all is being done about it. At NPS, all middle school and high school children are issued laptops to be used for classwork. The problem is that these laptops also access the internet, and despite assurances from the school district that internet “filters” are in place, kids are able to access explicit content, corrupting them and setting them up for debilitating digital addictions for the rest of their lives.
Students also take these laptops home with them, using them on internet connections without any filters in place at all. If all NPS laptops were audited to find out how students have been using them, what would we discover?
A story from January details how parents learned that their 4th grader was able to access “hardcore porn” on his school-issued laptop.
In a post published at HoweverItHappened, a parent described finding pornography on their 9 year old son’s laptop. The parent locked down all devices, and discovered that their son had searched for this content while at school.
““We feel almost robbed of our son’s innocence,” said the boy’s mom, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s been really hard, I’ll be honest, on me for the past week.” Another parent, who also asked to remain anonymous to protect his family’s privacy, said his 9-year-old third-grader had also accessed extremely graphic content, mostly through Twitter.”
In 2017, auditors found that students at a Mississippi public school were using their school laptops to access explicit content.
Explicit content isn’t the only problem. Many parents are infuriated to discover that their kids have been mindlessly browsing the web while at school, resulting in plummeting grades. Memphis parents found that their daughter had been watching YouTube all day long while in class, and apparently the teachers were either unable or unwilling to put a stop to it.
While the Children’s Internet Protection Act requires schools to monitor student’s usage of district-provided devices, it is clear that no amount of “monitoring” will solve this issue.
The current conversation surrounding internet-connected devices in our schools is fundamentally flawed. The question shouldn’t be “when or where”, but whether students should have access to this technology at all while on campus. They clearly should not. School should be a sanctuary away from our tech-saturated society. Students need to learn to live without their devices for at least 8 hours a day. If many can’t, then we need to confront the fact that these devices have become highly-addictive drugs, and begin treating them as such.
The surest way to remove laptops from our schools is to force the district to perform an audit. We would be so horrified at what was discovered that I believe our kids would return to pencil-and-paper learning within a week. The only problem now is how to force the NPS to perform the audit.
Through unrestricted access to explicit content, these devices destroy our children’s innocence before they’ve even begun puberty. And these devices are everywhere. The fact that our schools are giving them to students means that schools themselves are facilitating the destruction of the innocence of America’s school children. This is a national crisis that has been ignored long enough.
The solution isn’t “more filters” or “enhance monitoring” of student’s devices. It is the total removal of this technology from our schools, root and branch. We’ve allowed a Big Tech takeover of our schools without a single objection, and the result is horrific: children developing a life-long addiction to these devices and the content that they find. This may be Big Tech’s real goal: the creation of life-time customers. We must face this reality now, for our the sake of our children’s mental and emotional wellbeing, and their future.
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Addendum: ROPE Report dealt with this in our interview with Kansas parent, Denise Roberts.
Wednesday, April 2nd (2025), former Oklahoma State School Board Member, Kendra Wesson, joined us to talk about all the things – what she felt like after Governor Stitt (King Stitt) fired her from the school board, how she got the news, the frustration she felt at her firing – was it for political drama and NAEP scores, or because she was ‘hurting’ kids – and what she learned from her years of serving.
Our conversation was wide-ranging and covered a lot of ground between politics and education and I truly suggest you watch the whole thing. It really was a great interview. You can find the full interview on our Rumble and YouTube channels.
Because I’m still angry about her firing, I would just like to remind everyone that, King Stitt – as I like to call him, because Kings do whatever they want whenever they want, without a care in the world as to the ramifications – has a truly ‘off-with-your-head’ governing style (don’t forget, one of his houses burned down so he fired the head of the Oklahoma Forestry Service much to the anger of Oklahoma firefighters who apparently loved the guy) and because of this, removed one of the hardest workers in the state from that board. I hope that fact is NEVER forgotten. I hope that’s his legacy – that he acts first, doesn’t get all the facts and does what he wants. But enough of my rant about our lame duck governor.
At any rate, as usual, Kendra was exceptionally poised and graceful throughout the interview and it was clear that her time on the Board gave her perspective she hadn’t had previously. We talked about school boards several times – and those are the things we’ll cover in the clips because it’s such important information. For example, in the clip below we all talk about how important school boards – and even other boards. Why are ‘regular’ people not on these boards? Why not moms and dads? Why is it always business associates or cronies? Kendra and I both have seen many people sitting on boards who don’t VALUE their job. It’s just padding their resume. Few on a board really do the work. And since the boards aren’t doing the work, that puts the oneness on CITIZEN to go to ALL board meetings to keep the members accountable to doing their jobs. “It’s just one meeting a month,” as Kendra says!
In the clip below, Kendra calls us all out – school board elections are one time a month, but we should be going to the meetings EVERY MONTH. Holding the board accountable is the job of The People. If we only show up at election time, it’s like coming into a play after intermission! We’re far, far behind at that point. It’s a YEAR ROUND JOB.
Though is is truly an AWFUL miscarriage of justice that Kendra Wesson is no longer on the State School Board, she has learned a whole lot in the process and that will not only make her stronger, but allow her to make US stronger as she educates us on her lessons!
In fact, we’ll have Kendra back with Sherrie Conley on Wednesday, May 21st! You won’t want to miss that!
Our friend, author ‘Mary’ of the V1SUT Vantage Substack joined the podcast at a SPECIAL TIME – at 1pm on Friday, March 21st to talk about some very unsettling things going on in the world of Oklahoma Education Reform. This is another one of those videos (I know…I write that all the time!) for which you’ll want to watch the full video and you can do that here on our YouTube and Rumble channels.
Mary talked about a number of bills, but the one we talked about arguably the most was HB1937, the bill that would change the law passed last year authored by Sherrie Conley, that prevented Oklahoma public school employees from communicating with students without a parent on the call/text/email/etc. HB1937 – a bill by two former public school employees – now allows parents to opt out of the law. Mary talks about what a bad idea that is in the clip below.
We also talked about HB1491 – a horrible bill that I can’t imagine wasn’t a request bill from the Governor. Don’t forget, back in February, Governor Stitt fired three Oklahoma State Department of Education Board members because of ‘political drama’. We found out later that Stitt fired them because he didn’t want anyone counting the number of illegal alien students here in Oklahoma (then we produced evidence that that information is collected for the Oklahoma State Longitudinal Database called The Wave, anyway).
And so the newest installment in the story is that, suddenly, and out of thin air, Representative Ronny Johns and Senator Aaron Rheinhardt gutted HB1491 – already a bad bill because it essentially watered down the requirements for removing teaching certifications from Oklahoma teachers – and inserted language that would allow State Board of Education members to add items to the agenda. Below, Mary explains why this is a very, very bad idea.
Who knows how poorly the state is really doing in educating our youth. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has us as 48th in reading and 45th in math for 8th graders. What’s going on at the state capitol right now is not helping. Let your Senators know that you don’t like EITHER of these bills and you want a big fat NO vote when they reach the Senate. Stay tuned and watch Mary’s substack for more!
