Dear Oklahoma Registered Voters

I dislike going to the dentist.  I have gone for visits twice a year as far back as I can remember.  I have rarely had cavities and never had any major dental procedures (other than braces) but I feel intense stress and pressure every visit.  The smells in the office take me back to the adolescent years of braces and not two visits a year, but three!  During the time I wore braces (5 years and counting), I had the same dentist. She had this sign in her office that sat by the checkout desk that said "you don't have to brush all your teeth, only the ones you want to keep".  Do you know how terrifying that motto was to someone wearing metal, frequent gums that bled, and teeth so sore it was nearly impossible to eat?  I go to the dentist religiously despite those experiences and yet I am anxious with every visit.  However, I worry more what will happen to my teeth if they do not get that pristine cleaning every six months.

When I declared early childhood education as my major, I never dreamed I would do anything outside of this field.  I continued onto an advanced degree because I wanted opportunities within the field.  Nine years later, I am worried about this field that I love.  Amazing educators are leaving the classroom, whether it is for advanced opportunities or blessings such as motherhood.  I am worried about how we are going to replace them.  Teaching is a rewarding career opportunity.  I am proud to be a teacher and life long learner but  I am concerned that the only perception people hear is the one that is relayed through media - immense negativity.  It is always hard being an educator but it is even more so when a dentist is making major decisions related to a field you love.  I find it ironic that the sign that said you don't have to brush all your teeth, only the ones you want to keep that sat in that dentist office would come to mind as I think about the perception of teachers and education in a state where that dentist is our current state superintendent of education. I  am scared for education and Oklahoma.  We cannot afford four more years with a dentist as our leader.  

Dear Oklahoma Registered Voters:

I worry about you too.  I worry that on June 24th, the date of the Republican primary, you will not vote or even worse you will turn out to vote and upon hearing name recognition you will cast your vote for the current superintendent.  The list is long of things you should know about our current leader but here are some major ones for me.

Did you know Barresi has never taught? She has degrees in Education and Speech Pathology but she has never spent a day teaching in a classroom.  It is insulting that someone who is making major decisions related to the state of education has never been a leader in a classroom.  She has never planned lessons, aligned curriculum, assessed children, or used assessment to inform her instruction.  The real problem lies in the other stuff she has never done.  She does not realize the impact of other factors and how they impact instruction.  She has never had to worry about meeting the needs of 19 different learners and being held accountable for their success despite the suitcases of baggage they bring to the classroom with them each day.  Sure, she's opened a charter school (which her campaign ads are calling a public school) and that is her basis for her experience in education.  She does not get that one of the biggest factors in children's success is their relationship with their teacher.  

The dentist believes she is a problem solver.  How do you fix "failing" schools?  Why not enact a report card system to tell schools what a great job they are doing.  There are so many issues that make these report cards invalid in my opinion.  The greatest of is the fact that they do not take into account the personal relationship teachers build with children.  We are in year two of the school report cards, everyone is fired up.  So the dentist being the believer that she is goes on news broadcasts and announces that if teacher and educators were as passionate about teaching and learning as those report cards then they would not have anything to worry about. A few months ago, I was beyond angry that someone who has only sat in a classroom for her campaign ads would point fingers at my colleagues and me.  I know that I make a ton of mistakes in my classroom and life but I also believe that I am passionate.  A few months later, I am just tired of being insulted.  One thing that I am truly passionate about Dr. Barresi is that Oklahomans deserve more from our leader.  Educators deserve more but more important the children in this state deserve more.

Being the problem solver that she is, the next solution was to enact a law that if children were not reading on grade level at age 8, in third grade then they would be retained.  There are so many issues that I have with this one of which is that there is so much misinformation given to individuals that certain individuals or groups will be exempt.  The biggest issue I have with this law is that reading is developmental.  Dr. Barresi would understand this if she had ever taught reading.  As a reading teacher, I would prefer that a child read (even if they are a little behind) and fall in love with it rather than read on grade level and hate it so much that they never pick up books outside of school walls.  For a year, I get to spend my days helping children fall in love with books.  It is one of my favorite parts of teaching.  I get to expose children to a wide variety of children's literature, have conversations about characters and story elements, and watch as they choose to pick up books in their free time.  It is a pure joy!  I worry that the only thing this law will do is create a disdain for the pleasure that should be found in books by teachers and children.

In less than a month across the state of Oklahoma, third graders, as well as other grades will sit down to take mandated tests.  These tests will inform the grade a school receives on their school report card and for third graders whether or not they get to move onto fourth grade.  In school, I was a child who did well.  I enjoyed school but tests were not my cup of tea.  I worried about them and had anxiety leading up to and during tests.  There are memories from my own educational experience where I remember filling in bubbles.  I remember second guessing myself and probably changing the right answer for the less than right answer.  I worry about the third graders who have my personality who will sit down to take that test in a few weeks.  I worry about how that one test, on that one day of their educational journey, could make or break them.   

Oklahoma, did you know that I have tried on several occasions to contact my former dentist?   She does not reply to email or written letters not even with a form letter.  I believe that we deserve someone who listens and I think she is really busy making decisions even if they are the wrong ones to find time to listen.  When my kindergarteners and I discussed characters in children's literature such as Yertle the Turtle and King Bidgood as we were talking about different types of leadership, they talked about how those leaders did not really listen to what the people wanted or needed.  It is empowering to think that five and six year olds understand the critical importance of a leader that listens.  My hope is that as voters, we make sure that Dr. Barresi knows we have been listening throughout her tenure as state superintendent of education.  

I wish I had all the answers or solutions to solve our current problems.  I still believe that I am a decisive element in my classroom and when that is not the case anymore then it will be time for me to move on.  Oklahoma, will you be decisive this year when you cast your vote for Oklahoma State Superintendent of Education?  This teacher needs a new signature on her teaching certificate when she renews it.

Most importantly, the children in this state need advocates and that starts with the leadership at the top.  Oklahoma needs to be proactive when making decisions this year or pretty soon rather than a scheduled cleaning we are going to need a root canal.  
 

"If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job.” - Donald D. Quinn