State Superintendent Ryan Walters is proposing an idea he said will help Tulsa kids get educated.
"Tulsa Public Schools for years now has been one of the worst performing schools in the state of Oklahoma," he said. "We see this every year when test scores come out."
Walters said he wants to find ways to empower parents and "shrink bureaucracy."
"We've got to think outside the box that includes school choice," he said. "That also includes the potential of saying maybe the school district should be broken up. Maybe we should have smaller schools, smaller districts in that area. So the parents have more say. Maybe they'll be listened to more in that situation."
Shawna Mott-Wright is the president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association.
"Dumbest idea ever," she said of Walters' proposal.
Mott-Wright said splitting up TPS is not the answer, more funding is.
"A good example is we are given a million dollars for transportation," she said of TPS. "We spend 13 million on transportation. So we're not getting the resources that our children need. Which begs the question, are our children less important than other children?"
Walters said TPS gets "record funding" from the state and non-profits.
Mott-Wright points out TPS is the largest school district in Oklahoma.
"I do feel like our children are being picked on," she said. "30% of our kids are English language learners. 80% of our kids are disadvantaged economically speaking, like, our kids have lots of needs, and we want to meet and so this just doesn't make any sense to me."
Walters said he is championing parents of Tulsa kids.
Mott-Wright said Walters' idea would create more administrative structures and pointed out that he did not mention other districts being impacted by his idea.
"I literally don't understand what's coming from unless it's just out of pure hatred for Tulsa Public Schools."
"Do you hate Tulsa Public Schools?" NewsChannel 8's Daniela Ibarra asked Walters.
"That's outrageous," he responded. "You know what I, what I say is, I see I am always going to be on the side of students, and parents. And when you have an institution, to where students are achieving record low levels of education, you have parents that are distraught that are asking to be empowered, they're asking for transparency. They're asking for better results, and you don't see improvement. You don't see changes being made. I'm going to do all I can for those kids, for those parents."
Walters said he wants to look at all options on the table, including school choice.
NewsChannel 8 reached out to Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Deborah Gist.
She was not available for an interview, but provided the following statement:
Parents continue to be our most important partners in education. We have many efforts in place and others in development that are focused on working collaboratively with our families to support students in being successful in the classroom and beyond.
Politicians have said before that the solution to the challenges of chronically-underfunded schools is to consolidate school districts. Now, we are hearing that the solution lies in breaking school districts apart. Urgently, Oklahoma leaders must tackle the real challenges that chronically-underfunded schools are facing and take meaningful action to address and reverse the catastrophic teaching shortage in our state.
Oklahoma’s schools continue to be the lowest funded in the region, and we remain solidly among the very lowest in the country for the investment we make in each of our students. Despite these challenges, with leadership from our board of education and the relentless commitment of our teachers and team, Tulsa Public Schools enthusiastically continues to focus on student achievement and innovative ways we can do even more for the children of Tulsa.