Why is Gov. Stitt targeting issues at Tulsa Public Schools?

Oklahoma’s governor has amassed several political adversaries during his first term in office — tribal governments, blue states, and health care workers, to name a few — but one of his top foes has been Tulsa Public Schools, the urban school system closest to his hometown.

Gov. Kevin Stitt called the district’s closure of school buildings during the height of the pandemic a “travesty,” his communications team has pushed reporters to target Tulsa teachers and union members with critical stories, and last week, Stitt called for an audit of the school district while also accusing it of violating a nonexistent ban on critical race theory.

“We will get to the bottom of what is going on in Tulsa Public Schools,” Stitt said during a video address this month.

The district’s superintendent called Stitt a “bully” and his Democratic challenger in the upcoming November election accused him of trying to score political points.

But while the governor’s criticism of the state’s largest school district may invigorate some voters ahead of the November election, criticism of Tulsa schools has been a consistent refrain for Stitt over the last few years, especially as he promotes school choice policies that would use state funding to support private schools.

“The governor and his friends want to discredit public schools, claim they don't work, and then pull a great big tax bait and switch on the people with hundreds of millions of dollars for private schools,” said Rep. John Waldron, a Tulsa Democrat who taught at Tulsa's Booker T. Washington High School.

Waldron said Stitt isn’t the first politician or organization to “attack” Tulsa schools, a district that deals with high rates of poverty, student trauma and other social and emotional challenges common in an urban school system.

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a conservative think-tank that has long advocated for private school vouchers, wrote at least 48 articles since 2020 that have included criticism of the Tulsa school system.

The organization has criticized Tulsa and other diverse school districts for focusing too much on multicultural education and implementing policies that are accepting of LGBTQ students.

“Oklahoma parents expect better, and their increased awareness of local-school deficiencies is fueling growing demand for school choice and political change,” wrote Jonathan Small, president of OCPA.

Gov. Kevin Stitt’s history of criticizing Tulsa schools

During his 2020 State of the State address, Stitt highlighted a tax-credit scholarship program that paid the private school tuition for a Tulsa family.

“Let's work together to make sure all students at all schools have access to an innovative, enriching curriculum regardless of ZIP code,” Stitt said during his speech as he pointed to the family, who was sitting in the audience.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Stitt criticized schools that kept buildings closed the longest, especially the Tulsa district.

When the U.S. Department of Education praised Tulsa schools last year for their response to the pandemic, Stitt’s communications team ridiculed the district.

“Is there another Tulsa somewhere, or are we talking about the one in Oklahoma that was weeks behind everyone else and is hemorrhaging students?” tweeted Charlie Hannema, Stitt’s communications director at the time.

Earlier this month, Stitt called for a state audit of Tulsa public schools, specifically over its use of more than $200 million in federal pandemic relief funds.

“I’m also concerned that TPS may have violated state law ... which bans public schools from teaching critical race theory,” Stitt said. “Specifically the bill prohibits the teaching that one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex.”

Passed last year, House Bill 1775, which does not mention critical race theory, forbids K-12 schools from teaching that one race is superior to another. It also blocks schools from teaching that a person is inherently racist or oppressive or that students should feel guilt or anguish for past actions by others of their race or sex.

Critical race theory, which does not advocate the superiority of a race, is a high-level academic concept that views racism as more than just a personal mindset, but also a systemic problem.

Governor Stitt accused of deflecting from his own record

In an 860-word Facebook post last week, Deborah Gist, superintendent of Tulsa schools, criticized Stitt for using the district as a distraction from his own accusations of corruption, including his management of federal pandemic relief funds for schools that ended up being used by families to purchase televisions, car stereos, household appliances, and other non-educational items.

Called the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General is currently investigating the state's process for distributing the money.

“In my experience, people who deflect so aggressively have something to hide—particularly during campaigns,” Gist wrote.

State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, a Democrat who is challenging Stitt in this year’s election, also said Stitt was creating a “deflection from his own record" by targeting Tulsa schools.

“The governor has a lot to account for in what he did with federal relief funds under his watch,” Hofmeister said.

Secretary of Education Ryan Walters, who is currently running for state superintendent, said the governor’s concern with Tulsa schools is not about politics, but rather a district that has had “many troubling” issues.

“This is a great example of why parents need more choices in their children’s education,” Walters said.

“But, remember, we were asked to do the audit, and it was the Department (of Education) that found them in violation of House Bill 1775.”

Last month, the state Department of Education announced it would issue the Tulsa district a formal warning for violating the new law because of a professional development session on implicit bias that was conducted for staff.

"In our minds, it was a close call," said Brad Clark, general counsel for the Department of Education, speaking to the state board last month. "We believe the spirit of that training or the design of it was contradictory (to the law)."

Two Tulsa school board members said they asked the governor to call for a state audit.

“It was obvious that the (Tulsa school) board was not going to call for an audit, so my only alternative was to call the governor,” Jennettie Marshall, said Tulsa school board member, told The Oklahoman.

“Anyone can make it a political issue but my intent was not political. My intent was to bring transparency to this process and ensure our students get the best education that they can get.”

Stitt has pushed for Oklahoma school vouchers

Whether or not Stitt is using Tulsa schools as a way to advocate for school choice policies, it is an issue he vowed to make part of his reelection platform.

After a private school voucher plan pushed by Stitt earlier this year failed to clear the state Legislature, Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, who authored the voucher bill, said reelection by Stitt could give the issue momentum heading into the next legislative session.

“Leadership on the House side indicated ... that if the governor got reelected they would be supportive of school choice, and that's from the upper echelons of their leadership,” said Treat, R-Oklahoma City.

Pro-voucher groups have also indicated they plan to get involved in this year's election.

“While this effort was not successful, we are optimistic about the future and will hold both Democrats and RINO Republicans accountable for siding with self-interested, socialist union bosses,” said David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, a Washington, D.C., political group, which funded television commercials and mailers this year in support of the voucher bill.

Walters, Stitt’s secretary of education, said he expects the governor to continue to talk about Tulsa schools and other districts where they believe there are problems.

“Gov. Stitt and I are always going to make decisions that benefit Oklahoma students,” Walters said. “A school district that stayed closed the longest, has board members asking for an audit, and violated a ban on critical race theory is a district we are going to talk about.”

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Oklahoma state government reporting is supported in part by a grant from the Kirkpatrick Foundation. To support work like this, consider purchasing a digital subscription to the Oklahoman today.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt creates political foe in Tulsa schools