Emily Harris teaches A.P. U.S. History at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa. She writes here about her faith in the public schools. She is concerned that some students have enrolled in the EPIC virtual charter school, which has a horrible record and operates for profit.
I am a teacher at Will Rogers High School. My husband, John, is a teacher at Nathan Hale High School. We are proud our 1-year-old son, Andrew, will become a fourth-generation Tulsa Public Schools student. As generations of our family have done before us, we will choose Tulsa Public Schools. My grandmother is a Central Brave. My father-in-law is a Will Rogers Roper. My mother is a Hale Ranger. My father, husband, sisters and I are Edison Eagles.
Our public schools are part of the fabric of what makes us Tulsans. Many of you reading this can say the same about your family. These schools have history. They have tradition. They have proud alumni. We cannot give up on them.
Tulsa Public Schools began the 2019-2020 school year planning for a $20 million budget shortfall caused by years of improper state funding and declining enrollment. Despite more than a decade of underfunding, many Tulsa Public Schools teachers have persisted in challenging working conditions. These teachers know what it is like to face obstacles and overcome them for hope that all students will reach their full potential. Tulsa Public Schools teachers will carry the same tenacity and spirit of optimism with them as they take on the challenges presented to them this school year.
The Tulsa Public Schools of my parents’ generation did not have to compete for students with suburban districts and online charter schools. Recent reports show that Epic, an all virtual charter school founded in 2011, is seeing a recent surge in enrollment. It has now surpassed Oklahoma City and Tulsa to become our state’s largest school district. Epic Charter Schools may sound like an appealing option to parents in the short term, but data from an Oklahoma Watch investigation in 2019 showed that only 14.7% of Epic graduates enrolled in an Oklahoma public college or university compared to 43.6% of Tulsa Public Schools graduates. This is concerning as it points to the assumption that Epic’s model is more about compliance to meet graduation standards rather than preparation for a student’s life beyond K-12 education.
Epic is contributing to declining enrollment in Tulsa Public Schools. The result is critical state funding being siphoned away from traditional public schools. Unlike Tulsa Public Schools, Epic is a statewide school district, and does not serve as a pillar of our community. When our community supports Tulsa Public Schools, they are undoubtedly making a worthwhile investment in the future of Tulsa….
Here’s what I do know for certain: I will spend each day working in my empty classroom on the fourth floor of Will Rogers High School. I will do my best with technology to teach American history and serve Tulsa students from a distance. I will work with my talented colleagues to collaborate and come up with creative solutions to challenging and unprecedented issues. We will carry with us a mindset to serve students first.
I choose Tulsa Public Schools, and I will continue to serve Tulsa students for many years ahead. The possibility of a truly equitable Tulsa community for all depends on your support of our public school system. I assure you, my students’ hopes and dreams are worth it. Teachers cannot wait for the day when we get to see our students in person. Until then, I ask that you please have faith in teachers. Have faith in Tulsa Public Schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
An Oklahoma Catholic high school site posted the following related to the, Go for Catholic Schools organization. “GO contributors earn a state income tax credit worth up to 75% of the amount contributed to GO.” The scheme achieves the Koch agenda in at least two ways, defunds government and facilitates privatization of public schools. In the “About” tab group photo of students, I didn’t see a black person.
The school identified above, according to GreatSchools.org’s site has 1% black students. In addition to that type of school, Tulsa has a different kind of Catholic school, one of the Cristo Rey chain schools
(a network that received funding from the Waltons and Bill Gates). In 2016, the school network was described in NCR as having 97% black, Latino of multiracial students. Cristo Rey received endorsement from the white, archbishop of Oklahoma City.
unrelated- what would colonialism look like in America today?
Great post. But I would feel better if this teacher were conducting her virtual classes from home instead of school building. Hopefully the teacher collaboration will be done zoom-style, not in person. Just thinking about those 3 careful AZ teachers team-teaching virtual ed just 2hrs/ day from an empty classroom, following safety procedures (all caught it, one died). AZ positivity rate at that time was triple what it is now in Tulsa County. But OK cases are upticking again after having declined from June spike. Likely to continue as some schdistrs & many colleges open in person.
spikes will surely happen as kids attend classes and then return to homes where entire families can be infected
Right, ciedie. So many colleges opening up just long enough to corral some housing & tuition cash, spike a few clusters in the community, then send students home to infect families/ other communities.
yes — and such a hard truth to simply swallow
Public schools are public assets that enhance communities and increase the value of community property. Private charter schools transfer funds out of the public asset and into private pockets. Privatization is a disinvestment in the local community as money is sent to corporate headquarters. Without accountability corporations may waste or even embezzle funds. Privatization represents a loss to public schools and the community they serve.
Hoorah for this public school teacher and her faith in Tulsa public schools. I am an Edison Eagle ‘64 and taught in Owasso, Ok and New Jersey. Both
my children attended TPS (Eliot and Edison) before our move to SoCal where I taught public school for 24 years. Public schools are the heart of our democracy and are a service supported by public tax dollars. It is criminal for “pseudo” schools such as Epic to drain the resources of public schools into the bank accounts of any for-profit entity. Debra Gist has not helped this situation either. Tulsa needs to be rid of the vampires draining the public schools of much-needed resources.
If America can get a SCOTUS majority that isn’t in the pockets of Charles Koch, the ed privatization schemes of the Friedman Foundation can be voided and America can have a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The Opportunity Scholarship Fund of Oklahoma posted a link to a video explaining the way to avoid 75% of state taxes by handing over money for private schools. The video is by the Friedman Foundation for EdChoice in Indianapolis.
Anyone who donates should be made to post a sign in their yard, “freeloader/leech”. They should be denied use of the amenities they don’t pay for, state roads, state parks, state police, state courts, etc.
If I were a parent after the recent stupidity of TPS deciding to continue this farce of distance learning when the CDC clearly data clearly shows the seasonal flu far more deadly to anyone healthy and under 40, I would do anything in my power to get my children out of public schools, period. They are an abject failure for children and a massive waste of taxpayer funding.
I think it worth noting when taking American 8th publicly educated students into account, fully 2/3 of the students were functionally illiterate and innumerate.
That’s a disgrace and a monument to the failure of public education.
Tex, there is literally no data anywhere that shows that 2/3 of 8th graders are functionally illiterate.
That’s fake news from the rightwing media.
Thank you Tex! Here we are over 320 days since our HS students have been able to go to school in person. We are pushing for an investigative forensic audit before the next Bond. Too much does not add up. Especially the federal funding