Tulsa Public Schools’ accreditation seems to be on shaky ground as Superintendent Deborah A. Gist continues to be called out by Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters, a conservative Republican who was elevated to the post while teaching high school history, has launched a very public campaign of criticism against Gist and Tulsa Public Schools, Oklahoma’s largest district. Most recently, Walters posted a video titled “The Real Crisis of Tulsa’s Failing Schools” to his agency’s website late last week. It attacks the district for poor management and failing grades dating back to 2010—when Gist was serving as Rhode Island’s commissioner of education.
In the three-minute video cobbled together from news reports, Walters says in an interview with the Tulsa Word that families and districts are leaving Tulsa schools “in huge numbers.” It also asserts that Tulsa ranks near the bottom for reading among the nation’s 5,000 largest districts. “This could be an incredible district; this could be a district that people are flocking to,” Walters says. “I’m gonna do whatever it takes to make sure every child has an opportunity to be successful and right now that’s not happening in Tulsa Public Schools.”
In its response to the video, the district said it is working with the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s School Support Team to expand interventions that should raise student achievement and is willing to work with Walters on any specific improvement strategies he recommends, NewsOn6 reported.
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“We have a plan, Pathways to Opportunity, which is grounded in the science of reading, strong literacy outcomes, and hands-on post-secondary learning opportunities for our students,” the district said in a statement. “Our publicly elected local school board holds us accountable for this plan, and we are achieving and exceeding the targets that the board has set for us.”
Walters has been threatening throughout the summer to cancel the district’s accreditation ahead of an Aug. 24 vote on the matter by the state’s board of education. The district is facing potential probation, which would give the state more control over Gist and her leadership team, KTUL reported. During an Aug. 7 press conference he called “Tulsa Kids First,” Walters compared Tulsa public schools to a bus that Gist is driving off the road into a tree.
He noted that 65% of Oklahoma’s schools received an F in the state’s grading system, and asserted that 42% of those schools are in Tulsa.”The reality is that Tulsa is uniquely bad in student outcomes,” KTUL quoted Walters as saying. “They are uniquely bad in their accountability around finances.”
In Oklahoma we demand results. We will get Tulsa public schools back on track. Tulsa kids first! pic.twitter.com/0yQL8nMCZW
— Superintendent Ryan Walters (@RyanWaltersSupt) August 8, 2023
Gist said in a Facebook live session on the following day that the district is making significant investments in literacy and reading as part of the wide-ranging Pathways to Opportunity academic improvement initiative. She also refuted Walters’ claims that the district is not investing enough of its state funding in instruction. She pointed out that Tulsa spends less on administration than the state’s 5% limit for schools and other public agencies.
She described the issues that are threatening the district’s accreditation as minor administrative and reporting oversights. She also said the district has been open and clear about its needs—and its extensive plans—to improve student achievement, which she contends do not play a role in accreditation in Oklahoma. “We’re ready to talk about that because we talk about performance all the time,” Gist said on Facebook. “We’re super clear about not being where we want to be. We’re also very clear about the plans we have in place and the work we’re doing in a very focused way to meet the goals that have been set for us by the board of education.”
Walters, meanwhile, has also accused Tulsa Public Schools of taking money from the Chinese government, PoncaCityNow.com reported.
