It’s time to put partisanship aside when it comes to the future of Oklahoma public schools

State Superintendent Ryan Walters points to a paper before him during an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting. (Photo by Brent Fuchs/For Oklahoma Voice)

Over the coming days, lawmakers will be tasked with taking a series of pivotal votes that will help define the path for our public schools.

They’ll be faced with determining whether to adopt nearly 20 proposed administrative rules submitted by state Superintendent Ryan Walters and his Department of Education that could shake up the very foundation of our schools.

As Nuria Martinez-Keel reported, the rules, which will have the force of law if adopted, range from creating “foundational values” centered on a Creator to new accreditation penalties for districts that perform poorly on standardized tests.

The rules process is typically an obscure part of Oklahoma government where agencies draft suggested policies that impact their functions. The rules are then sent to lawmakers for consideration. Lawmakers can approve, reject or allow the governor to decide.

Normally, the rules creation process generates little public interest.

But this year, the State Department of Education rules have drawn a lot of eyes as debate rages over whether they’ll help herald a turnaround for our state’s academic outcomes or if they’ll be detrimental for Oklahoma schools.

There are also considerable questions about whether the rules comply with state law or if the state Department of Education took liberties when crafting them.

In 2023, Attorney General Gentner Drummond opined that administrative rules must be created in response to a related law.

Some lawmakers tell me that they’ve received a lot of constituent feedback — most of it urging them to vote the education rules down.

Last week, a state Senate committee held its first public vetting of the rules. 

Well, it sort of did.

Curious about the raging debate, I turned on the hearing.

I can honestly say I was left scratching my head, none the wiser about the merits of the rules and whether they’d be beneficial.

That’s in part because the Senate committee limited lawmakers to how many questions they could ask and prohibited them from debating the merits of the provisions.

After the committee meeting, chair Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, said in a statement that it was “disappointing” there was so little discussion of the rules’ merit.

He said that he had to limit questions because the meeting was less than two hours and allowing unlimited questions “would result in few rules actually being reviewed.”

It absolutely is disappointing, but not surprising, that the public likely learned little about the merits given the committee format.

Here’s hoping Senate leaders will allow a much more transparent and robust discussion the next time the committee meets, even if it means holding multiple committee meetings.

A similar House committee postponed its review until Monday, April 22.

Oklahomans obviously want and deserve a thorough vetting even if it is a time-consuming annoyance to legislators.

Residents should demand House and Senate lawmakers put partisan politics aside and come to the table with an open mind ready to consider each rule on its merits — and legality. 

Legislators need to take individual votes on each of the measures rather than making a unilateral decision on a group of them at once or passing the buck to Gov. Kevin Stitt.

These are high stakes votes, and the public deserves to be armed with the best information about how each will impact our school systems.

And, ahead of our upcoming legislative primaries in June, we deserve to know where lawmakers stand on education policy and on the path Walters dreams of charting for our schools.

Because these rules are likely a part of that vision. A down-vote would probably be viewed as a rebuke of his vision.

Public school policy shouldn’t be dictated by partisan politics. It should be shaped by sound policies that improve our children’s educational outcomes. It shouldn’t be determined by fights over hot-button, divisive cultural issues or partisan political fights.

Our children deserve the best. 

And right now, lawmakers can assure that happens by having a robust, respectful and healthy public discussion. 

They need to give these proposed rules the time and scrutiny they deserve and then vote accordingly based on what they learn.

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