Education

State Journal

December 01, 1999 | Corrected: February 23, 2019 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Corrected: This story gave a wrong first name for the state’s secretary of education, Floyd Coppedge.

Divided opinion

Depending on which Oklahoman you talk to, Gov. Frank Keating is either a slick politico who combines a meager understanding of educational issues with a deep-seated dislike of public schooling, or he’s a straight shooter who’s taking on an education cartel that has mired the state in mediocrity.

“He despises public education and has a real problem hiding that,” said Frosty Troy, the editor of the Oklahoma Observer, a twice-monthly independent journal of commentary.

“He’s not interested in fluff, he’s interested in results, meaning achievement gains on the part of students,” said state Secretary of Education Frank Coppedge.

Those appraisals of Mr. Keating surfaced after the self-proclaimed “education governor"—who was re-elected in 1998—recently outlined a set of school proposals for his remaining time in office.

His plans included issuing $100 million in statewide school bonds for technology, providing more remedial and summer programs, and giving cash bonuses to high schools for every graduate who completes four years’ study in the core academic subjects.

He also called for eliminating remedial freshman classes at four-year universities, providing “forgivable” loans for teacher training in crucial subjects, expanding alternative-certification programs, and implementing merit pay.

The Oklahoma Education Association, which represents 27,000 teachers in the state, accused Mr. Keating of being vague and disingenuous.

“He didn’t keep his promise that he would fund the reforms he pushed in the last legislative session,” Carolyn R. Crowder, the OEA president, said.

Teachers took offense when, at a press conference announcing his proposals, the Republican governor said he would hold teacher pay increases hostage to the approval of his other ideas.

The union is pushing for overall increases in funding for public education and teacher pay. Ms. Crowder said Oklahoma schools are losing teachers to neighboring states because of low salaries: “We have teachers that can take a 30-minute drive to Texas and make between $8,000 and $13,000 more,” she said.

Mr. Keating is trying to restrain spending, and wants to target pay increases to teachers in the subjects of greatest shortage, specifically math and science, Mr. Coppedge said.

“You’ve got to pay some teachers more than others because of the market,” he said.

—Andrew Trotter atrotter@epe.org

A version of this article appeared in the December 01, 1999 edition of Education Week

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read