Issues being addressed by State Superintendent Ryan Walters and the State Board of Education are a bit confusing for many Oklahomans who, until now, have been used to addressing school issues locally.
Age-appropriate library books, curriculum, personal student issues, etc. always have been the purview of local school districts, which are governed by locally elected representatives. They are the ones most accountable to school patrons.
However, in the last few years — and this year in particular — it seems that state lawmakers and the state education department are wanting to take those issues out of the hands of local districts.
In our view, this is inappropriate and not the way Oklahomans expect their school districts to operate.
The State Department of Education is overseen by the state superintendent of education. The state department's mission is to ensure each student in Oklahoma has equitable access to a high-quality public education that inspires deep learning and leads to success. The state superintendent — as the CEO — is to oversee the state department and make sure it is meeting its mission.
Primarily after the COVID-19 pandemic created a great number of uncertainties in our education system, it seems lawmakers, the department and its leaders have become more interested in addressing political issues rather than educational issues.
The state department's role should be to address overall education issues, such as teacher preparedness, teacher pay and availability, reforming school budgets for getting the best outcomes, overall standards of educational excellence, etc. Yet, lawmakers and appointed agency officials are initiating themselves more and more into issues that could most easily be handled by a classroom teacher, the school principal or the district superintendent.
For those issues that cannot be resolved administratively, they are best handled at the local level by locally elected school board members — not at the state level by non-elected state school board members.
The traditional Republican model has always been more local governance rather than overreaching governance by state or national agencies. Yet, that tradition seems to be lost on some state and federal elected officials. In fact, state leaders who in one breath have attacked the big brother of federal government messing with education policy are now themselves wanting to play big brother and mess with local decision making on how local schools are operated.
We believe that even the most contentious issues facing schools now are still best resolved by locally elected school officials and parents and patrons of the local school districts.
It's time to get back to the traditional common-sense values Oklahoma has operated under when it comes to school governance, and that means backing off the over-zealous and rhetorical policies being reiterated at federal and state levels.
[Editorial / Enid News & Eagle]
