This is a curious article about the makeover of Tulsa Public Schools, where the superintendent is Broadie and former Rhode Island Superintendent Deborah Gist.
Under the previous superintendent, a plan called “Project Schoolhouse” resulted in school closings and consolidations. The leaders persuaded the public to accept these “reforms.” In the background was a management consultant brought in by the Gates Foundation; he had no education experience but understood how to use data analytics to persuade the public to go along with his ideas.
When the fate of Rogers High School was on the table, the superintendent was stunned that people cared whether the school remained open.
About nine years ago, a public meeting in the Rogers High School library was so packed that former Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Keith Ballard had to shoulder his way to the front.
Alumni drove from out of state to attend. Neighborhood residents, students, parents and community leaders joined.
The outpouring didn’t line up with other measures that showed a waning interest in the school. It made a difference in the reforms being planned.
“You couldn’t fit one more person in there. I was stunned to see so many people,” Ballard said. “A person stopped me and said, ‘We want our high school to be great again.’ We did, too. This was an opportunity to hear what people had to say and for us to talk about changes in the high schools.”
That was just one evening in a year of developing the last TPS district-wide reform, known as Project Schoolhouse.
A similar process is beginning. TPS will be cutting $20 million from its budget in the next school year. School leaders say this is a chance for the public to shape how TPS serves students moving forward.
This is a massive undertaking in a short amount of time. The board is expected to approved a modified budget by Dec. 16.
So the next job is to persuade the public that a budget cut of $20 million will make the public schools great again.
Oklahoma is notorious for tax cuts for corporations and the fossil fuel industry and underfunded public schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Wish I could build a sound proof WALL around Gates. That man has done SO MUCH HARM in the name of $$$$$$.
Tulsa is ideal for billionaire takeover. T Boone Pickens lived 47 miles away after his corporate takeover of Phillips. He advocated for privatization of water and paid for the Swift Boat Captains’ campaign against Kerry. Oklahoma has twice as many evangelicals compared to other states. Trump won with 65% support from the people of Oklahoma.
Evangelical Tulsans may love the 4 times married Pickens similar to their affinity for the thrice married Trump.
Gates’ colonialism- the unrelenting attack that robs Americans and, that funds his minions to betray both their neighbors and the common good.
Presumably, given Bellwether’s call for ed deformers to reach out to churches, the people of Tulsa will learn that giving up their democratic rights is God’s will and that owning things like schools for the common benefit goes against spiritual teachings.
Bringing in Broadies with fake credentials and Gates appointed consultants is like take a wrecking ball to your public assets. They will pick the bones of your “common good” and manipulate ways to destroy your public schools. Tulsa will be left with polluted water and earthquakes from fracking and diminished public schools that are already suffering from charter drain. No wonder teachers are fleeing to work in Texas where working conditions and salaries are better.
Gates and Bloomberg were attracted to Tulsa where Oral Roberts University is located. (Evangelicals voted 80% Republican in the 2016 Presidential election.) Authoritarian religions can be counted on to convince congregants to give up democracy, to embrace patriarchy and, to go along with oligarchy- taking public assets i.e. the goods that people collectively built for the community’s benefit.
Yup and yep.
It seems strange to me the supt (9 yrs ago) needed a mgt consultant to figure out that the public will push back if you try to turn their schoolsys upside-down thro secret mtgs resulting in a “proposal” that sounds like a fait accompli. And that you can get public involvement and backing if you go out of your way to open up the decision-making process, consult them extensively & include their suggestions. Gosh who’da thunk it?
“In the background was a management consultant”
When you see ANY management consultant firm coming anywhere near educational institutions beware. They take huge fees and make parents, kids & teachers sacrifice.
TPS Shaping Our Future
See dates below for TPS’ Shaping Our Future work around strategic investments and resource allocations. Sessions will be held on the following dates/times at the district high school locations listed below. For these sessions, all are welcome to attend and participate. Individuals may attend as many sessions as they prefer to.
· Tuesday, 9/17 5:30-8pm – Webster
· Wednesday, 9/18 5:30-8pm – Central
· Thursday, 9/19 5:30-8pm – Booker T. Washington
· Thursday, 9/26 5:30-8pm – McLain
· Saturday 9/28 12:30pm – 3pm – Rogers
· Thursday, 10/3 5:30-8pm – East Central
· Tuesday, 10/8 5:30-8pm – Hale
· Wednesday, 10/9 5:30-8pm – Edison
· Thursday, 10/10 5:30-8pm – Memorial
With the focus of shaping our future for long-term success, the district is undertaking three important areas of work this year:
1. Implementing a unified enrollment system with one application, one application period, and relevant and timely information for families to help them identify the best school for their child;
2. Exploring how to create consistency in grade configurations district-wide, making it easier for students and families to move between schools and grade levels as children grow; and,
3. Evaluating our budget structure to identify both strategic investments and resource reallocation to help our schools thrive within our continued fiscal constraints.
Anyone who is quite astute knows that TPS has its own data team, lead by a TFA alumni, and guided by the chamber and city. The speculation in the reason for current closures is that Wright has a high number of special education students, and there is a backroom deal between TPS’ banker BOK (owned by Kaiser) and Gist to lower special education numbers to get a larger return on impact funding. Creepy? Right.
Bingo! Glad to hear someone mention impact funding!