Editorial
Among the statewide races on this year’s Nov. 8 General Election ballot is one that is essential to public education.
This is the contest for the State School Superintendent’s position between Democrat Jena Nelson and Republican Ryan Walters.
We think there is a clear choice in this race. It’s Jena Nelson.
Nelson is a seasoned educator that will bring common sense to the State Department of Education. Having taught at Deer Creek Public Schools for the past five years, she has spent 16 years in public education teaching subjects like English and theater.
She currently serves as the student support coordinator and teaches academic enhancement at Deer Creek Middle School.
Prior to her time at Deer Creek, Nelson taught at Edmond Public Schools, Putnam City Public Schools and in East Baton Rouge, La. She was named Deer Creek Middle School and Deer Creek District Teacher of the Year in 2019 before receiving the statewide honor of Oklahoma Teacher of the Year in 2020.
Nelson has said she will bring a teacher’s voice to the State Department of Education.
She said her promise to her kids and her promise to all Oklahomans is that she will do everything in her power to keep Oklahoma’s public dollars in its public schools.
“Our kids are not for sale,” she has related during her campaign.
One of the central issues, we believe, in this all important race deals with school vouchers. It would take public dollars and allow them to be spent on private education.
That idea is bad for education and bad for rural Oklahoma.
On that issue of the proposed voucher plan to funnel public funds to private schools, Nelson has stated, “Absolutely not, no. I believe wholeheartedly that our public dollars should remain in our public schools.
“I believe that all Oklahomans are entitled to a quality education and taking more money out of our already chronically underfunded public schools will do tremendous harm.”
We think this is paramount to public education in this state.
Walters, on the other hand, is an ardent supporter of the school voucher proposal.
He currently serves as Secretary of Public Education for the State of Oklahoma, and was named to that position by Gov. Kevin Stitt in September of 2020.
He is a strong supporter of allowing our public tax dollars to be spent on families who homeschool their children or send them to private schools, and of expanding school choice.
He’s critical of the Legislature’s public school open transfer policies, saying they don’t go far enough and too many children are still being denied transfers due to capacity and the decision of “a government bureaucrat.”
The state of Oklahoma and public education will be much better off with Jena Nelson as the State School Superintendent.
That is why we strongly recommend her in this race.