Federal

Election Night Brings Highs and Lows for Oklahoma Teachers

By Madeline Will — November 07, 2018 4 min read
John Waldron, a teacher running for House District 77, gives his victory speech at the Democratic watch party held at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame on Nov. 6, in Tulsa, Okla.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Tulsa, Okla.

There were tears of joy and tears of sorrow here at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame tonight, as the “teacher caucus” and its supporters watched the election results roll in.

While teachers across the country ran for their state legislatures to champion public education, Tulsa was somewhat of an epicenter for the movement, with about a dozen area educators on the ballot. Several were here at the Tulsa County Democratic Party’s watch party.

At least two educators from the group, which deemed itself the “caucus,” claimed big victories. Democrats Melissa Provenzano, an assistant principal at Bixby High School, and John Waldron, a social studies teacher at Booker T. Washington High School, both won their races for state House, according to the county Democratic party.

“I think [Republicans] made a mistake when they came after teachers and education,” Waldron told Education Week after his victory.

Melissa Provenzano, an assistant principal in Oklahoma, celebrates her House District 79 win during the Democratic watch party held at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame on Nov. 6 in Tulsa, Okla.

Still, the victory for teachers wasn’t clear-cut. Several more teachers here lost their races. Republican Kevin Stitt claimed the gubernatorial election over Democrat Drew Edmondson, who made public education a centerpiece of his campaign and who teachers had rallied around.

“In the races where the issue of public education was front and center, we’re doing well, but we’re not overcoming party politics on the overall state level,” said Brendan Jarvis, a member of the Oklahoma Education Association board of directors and a 7th grade geography teacher in the Tulsa area. “But there is definitely progress being made in this election. We are much better off than we were after the election two years ago. We have come a long way.”

Teachers running in this state point to the nine-day walkout that took place in April as a critical factor that energized voters and brought education to the forefront of the election. Thousands of teachers had walked out of their classrooms, protesting a decade of stagnant pay and years of cuts to education dollars. Teachers ended the walkout with an average $6,100 pay raise and a small bump to school funding, but it was a far cry from their original goals.

Angela Graham, right, a teacher running for State House District 66 in Oklahoma gets a hug from her campaign photographer, Jamie Glisson, during the Democratic watch party held at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame on Nov. 6.

In Oklahoma alone this election season, at least 66 current teachers filed to run for office, with many pointing to the walkout as the motivating factor. More than half were knocked out during the primaries, leaving at least 29 teachers on the ballot. It’s unclear how many of those teachers won their state legislative races Tuesday.

Nationally, nearly 180 current K-12 classroom teachers had filed to run for state legislature this election, according to an Education Week analysis. More than 100 had advanced past the primary elections.

Angela Graham, a pre-K teacher who lost to an incumbent Tuesday night, said the campaign ultimately came down to the fact that her opponent had more money than she did. Graham ran as a Democrat, but during the watch party she sat with several of her teacher friends, who are Republicans. The fight for public education, Graham said, has transcended party lines.

And she doesn’t view Tuesday as a defeat, she said.

“I personally lost an endeavor that I chose to do, but the people of Oklahoma won because they have more advocates [in the legislature],” she said, pointing to Waldron’s and Provenzano’s victories, along with those of other education-friendly candidates.

Observers gather around televisions to watch election results come in during the Democratic watch party at the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame on Nov. 6.

Meanwhile, Craig Hoxie, a science teacher at Booker T. Washington High School who lost his race for state House, said he was already planning to run again in 2020. In Oklahoma, he said, change is going to happen through “incremental gains.”

As the night drew to a close, educators here were still waiting to see the results for other legislative seats across the state. They were optimistic about voters defeating a controversial ballot measure, which would have amended the Oklahoma state constitution by removing restrictions on how school districts can use some property tax dollars. Supporters had said this amendment would give more flexibility to school districts, but opponents—including the state teachers’ union, the OEA—worried that the measure would have widened the gap between poor and rich districts and shifted the financial responsibility of raising teacher pay to the districts rather than the legislature.

They were also wary of Gov.-elect Stitt, who made raising teacher pay part of his campaign but said he opposed the teacher walkout and that he wouldn’t have signed the subsequent revenue package to raise teacher salaries through a tax increase.

“The battle continues,” Waldron said. “Governor-elect Stitt says he’s for education, so what does he mean? We’ll be asking him these questions, we’ll try to find out what he means, and if he tries to shortchange the students of Oklahoma, … we’re going to hold him accountable.”

After all, throughout election night, students were never far from the candidates’ minds. Several former and current students of the candidates were here at the watch party. As Hoxie checked his phone to look at the election results, he was also seeing student assignments roll in.

Fresh off his victory Tuesday, Waldron said he knew what he would say to his students when he next sees them: “I’m going to tell them I know I’ve been a distracted teacher for a long time, and I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think it was important,” he said. “I felt like we made that sacrifice together, but we made it for a larger purpose.”

Related Tags:

Events

Student Well-Being Webinar After-School Learning Top Priority: Academics or Fun?
Join our expert panel to discuss how after-school programs and schools can work together to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.
Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
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
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata

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

Federal Cardona Defends Biden's Education Budget and Proposals on Student Debt and Trans Athletes
House Republicans accused Education Secretary Miguel Cardona of indoctrinating students and causing drops in test scores.
4 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a ceremony honoring the Council of Chief State School Officers' 2023 Teachers of the Year in the Rose Garden of the White House on April 24, 2023, in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during a ceremony honoring the 2023 Teachers of the Year at the White House on April 24, 2023. He appeared before a U.S. House committee May 16, 2023, to defend the Biden administration's proposed education budget and other policies.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Federal Book Bans and Divisive Concepts Laws Will Hold U.S. Students Back, Secretary Cardona Says
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona participated in a summit this week that drew international education leaders to the nation's capital.
6 min read
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during an interview in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during an interview in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
Alyssa Schukar for Education Week
Federal Opinion The Lies America Tells Itself About Black Education
'A Nation at Risk' created a faux crisis to usher in the right's education agenda, argues Bettina L. Love.
4 min read
President Ronald Reagan is flanked by Education Secretary Terrel Bell, left, White House Policy director, during a meeting in the Cabinet Room in Washington, Feb. 23, 1984 where they discussed school discipline.
President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell, left, during a meeting in the Cabinet Room, Feb. 23, 1984, where they discussed school discipline.
AP
Federal AFT Head Weingarten Says Her Union Didn’t Conspire With CDC on School Reopening Guidance
Some Republicans allege the union exercised its influence to keep schools closed longer than necessary.
7 min read
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is sworn in to testify during a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 school closures, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is sworn in to testify during a House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 school closures, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Mariam Zuhaib/AP