2022 School Board Elections

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In an embarrassing display of irresponsible leadership, three Tulsa Public Schools board members choose personal grudges and political ideology over students and staff at Monday night's board meeting.

Board members Jerry Griffin, Jennettie Marshall and E'Lena Ashley blocked the passage of consent agenda items that would allow the district to pay utility bills, hire staff, buy gas for buses, renew the Reading Partners program and continue the Chinese program at Booker T. Washington High School.

Their actions may deepen the teacher shortage crisis if those potential hires go elsewhere, with only weeks before school starts.

In addition, those three halted the process for the $6.2 million technology portion of the voter-approved bond package. Bonds are overseen by an independent volunteer citizen committee — outside TPS administration — in bids that are sealed to prevent favoritism or bias. The district may now end up with higher interest rates on those bonds.

The most disrespectful action came when the three walked out during a discussion about the consequences of the vote. That's not how engagement on issues works. Instead, Marshall told board member John Croisant to "shut up."

Griffin was elected two years ago and quickly formed an exploratory committee to run for state superintendent, which he did not pursue. He now is running for Tulsa City Council and appears to use his board position to generate headlines.

Ashley, elected in April, has attended five board meetings and attracted controversy with anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ social media posts.

These members may have felt emboldened by a growing group of anti-public school activists showing up at each meeting. They are disruptors who focus on talking points from right-wing national commentators.
https://tulsaworld.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-three-tps-board-members-choose-personal-grudges-politics-over-students/article_7e5ae34e-01f0-11ed-b537-b373d3a99970.html

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Stittidiots. All three of them. I still cannot understand how that Ashley person got elected.

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Stittidiots. All three of them. I still cannot understand how that Ashley person got elected.

(KOTV) At the end of the board meeting, Dr. Gist discussed some of the items the school board voted against. Some of which include the district's contract with Reading Partners, a program that helps students with reading. They also voted against contracts for new teachers and support personnel.

Dr. Gist says the decisions the board made have "tremendous implications" on the district's ability to serve its students.

Three board members walked out while Dr. Gist was speaking, some even said she was "out of order" and attacking the board. District 6 Board Member Dr. Jerry Griffin sent out a statement Tuesday morning calling for Gist's resignation, citing her conflicts with the Governor and school board.

    "Her attacks on the Governor of this state are outrageous and her personal attacks on an individual Board Member subject [our] school system to great financial liability."

Are the new members of the school board thinking of suing the school system?  I guess they have to finance their political ambitions somehow.

(KTUL) ...board member John Croisant who told us “Dr. Griffin does not speak for the rest of the board. My constituents are more interested in hearing how the board will work together to pass the items that were voted down on Monday."

Former TPS board members issue statement, urge current members to serve the students
https://www.fox23.com/news/local/former-tps-board-members-issue-statement-urge-current-members-serve-students/44DRDRXNBZGJPLCUU2QSN3ZA5M/

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https://www.change.org/p/call-for-the-immediate-resignation-of-tps-board-members-griffin-ashley-and-marshall

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Moms for Liberty’s conservative activists are planning their next move: Taking over school boards

At the group's first national summit, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott cheered the activists' efforts, saying they will boost conservatives’ chances in the midterms.

TAMPA, Fla. — Eighteen months after a pair of former school board members in Florida founded Moms for Liberty, the group’s first national gathering drew 500 people, including major Republican figures, to a waterfront hotel here, demonstrating the growing political influence of these local conservative activists.

The organization’s rapid ascension — its leaders say it has nearly 100,000 members across 195 chapters in 37 states — has been driven by the appeal of its core issues among conservatives, including battling mask mandates in schools, banning library books that address sexuality and gender identity, and curtailing lessons on racial inequity and discrimination, its founders say.

The conference in Tampa was a moment for members to meet like-minded parents, reflect on their success in shaping the national debate around school curricula and policies, and learn how to spread their message further. They strategized on what they want to do next: elect their own candidates to school boards, pass state legislation and diminish the influence of teachers unions.

At strategy sessions, which were off-limits to journalists, they were trained on how to get media attention, vet candidates, dissect school policies and prepare to run for office. Speakers frequently criticized social emotional learning, a teaching approach designed to help children manage their feelings, as a way for schools to interject communist ideas. When one activist declared that many school mental health programs were “another form of indoctrination,” the crowd cheered.

Activists with the group have offered a $500 bounty for information on teachers using critical race theory, the academic study of how racism is perpetuated by laws and institutions, in their classes. They organized protests against Covid mitigation protocols, referring to one school’s mask policies as “segregation.” And they demanded schools pull books about Ruby Bridges and Martin Luther King Jr., saying the depictions of racism were too disturbing for young children.

the new conflicts enveloping schools have caught many school administrators unprepared. They’re more accustomed to debates about the length of the school day and teachers union contracts, not political controversies that go viral, said Jonathan Collins, a Brown University public affairs professor who is writing a book about school board politics.

Collins said there hasn’t been this much conflict affecting school districts since racial desegregation. He fears one outcome of the increased politicization of school boards will be entrenched polarization, leading to inaction on new hires and student achievement goals because no one will work across ideological lines.

Moms for Liberty did not share figures for the number of school board candidates the group’s chapters have endorsed nationally, but in Florida, they have backed more than 40 candidates and expect to endorse another 20 in the coming weeks, said Marie Rogerson, the organization’s executive director of program development.

“They’re coming to us for our endorsement because our moms are on the ground in their area,” Rogerson said. “They know the moms are out talking to people and making an impact, and they want that on their side.”

At one strategy session, Rogerson walked attendees through Moms for Liberty’s three-step vetting process: Candidates must fill out a questionnaire, participate in an interview and then face a vote by the local chapter.

Paulina Testerman, another Support Our Schools co-founder, said her group has tried to recruit school board candidates of its own but has been rejected repeatedly by people who fear getting swept into the center of a hostile board meeting, facing down a group like Moms for Liberty.

“So what’s happening is these people are winning,” she said. “They’re chasing off great candidates because of the chaos they are creating.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/moms-liberty-conservative-activists-school-boards-rcna37594