Former Members of the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education appealed Current Board of Trustees focus on students

Former Members of the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education appealed Current Board of Trustees focus on students

In the over 135 years of our collective service on the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education, never once has there been a meeting like that held on July 11, 2022.  Every signer can remember passionate disagreement, uncomfortable situations, even palpable tension in the room in the many, many school board meetings where we presided as board members.  But not one of us can recall anything like what occurred this past Monday.  Public servants seated at a board table, members of a collective body who by its very nature must put politics aside to assure that Tulsa’s students succeed  – shouting at one another and voting down items whose sole purpose is to serve our children – some of the City’s most beloved programs, a bond sale yielding hundreds of thousands of tax payer approved dollars needed to prepare for the new school year, teacher and employee contracts, all of it and more  – shut down.  In the name of what?  To serve whom?  Towards what outcome??For so many years the Tulsa Public School Board has been a diverse group of leaders who support, enable and recognize  the amazing work of students and educators and also decide incredibly difficult issues.  But board members have never jeopardized the immediate future of our district, its students, families and employees  as if they were pawns in a political game.?The formal duty of the Board  is to direct the policy and strategic planning for the district and ensure the Superintendent and her team use public dollars to serve students.  Our code of ethics dictates that we

“remember always that our first and greatest concern must be the educational welfare of the students attending public schools.” These responsibilities and the moral duty of basic decency among elected officials who serve students – our next generation Tulsans  – were completely renounced Monday night.?As former members of the board we urge you to get back on the road of the hard, but invaluable and rewarding work of serving students and not personal disputes or politics.   This cannot wait until the next board election – the board has to work together now. Our kids don’t have a dress rehearsal.  Our City fails without public education, the future of our community is not sustainable without a strong local school  board who uses student success as their compass at all times.?Public service is a good and noble cause but there is a heightened duty when our public service is to students who are relying on us to give them the opportunity and the tools to become  successful community members.  We, the undersigned, are here to help in every way we can but this is your time to come together and do the hardest part of leading: find common ground, find compromise, and put the best interests of kids first.  We know it can be done.