The Democratic nominee says work in corrections, child welfare, Christian ministry and public education prepared her to lead the State Department of Education.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jennettie Marshall says her preparation for the state superintendent’s job began long before she joined the Tulsa school board.
Her career has taken her through corrections, child-welfare investigations, Christian ministry and public education. She said each job required her to work with people, solve problems and act when something did not look right.
Now the Democratic nominee for state superintendent, Marshall is asking voters to consider that full record as she makes her case to lead the State Department of Education.
Her eight years on the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education remain a central part of that case. She helped oversee a district budget of about $800 million, worked on an education task force serving north Tulsa and pressed for an audit before state auditors documented years of poor financial oversight and misspending.
Marshall will face Republican Robert Franklin in the Nov. 3 general election. Franklin won the Republican runoff with 54.6% of the vote.
Both candidates say they want to move Oklahoma education away from political division. Marshall says her career and Tulsa record show how she would approach the job.
A career built around public service
Marshall worked for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections as a probation and parole officer and case manager and later investigated child-welfare cases for the Department of Human Services. She is a longtime pastor and holds a doctorate in pastoral psychology.
Marshall says her administrative experience in government and nonprofit organizations, along with eight years on the board of Oklahoma’s largest school district, prepared her to lead a state agency.
Asked to identify an accomplishment from her board tenure, Marshall cited the North Tulsa Community Education Task Force, which she helped establish with then-Superintendent Deborah Gist and the school board in 2018.
The task force recommended expanding Monroe Demonstration Academy to serve sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students from seven elementary schools feeding into McLain High School. Marshall said the project also brought counseling and other support services into the school, giving students with behavioral problems help without immediately removing them from the classroom.
Audit fight anchors Marshall’s argument
Marshall said she began seeing financial warning signs shortly after joining the board in 2017 and spent years asking for an audit. She and then-board member E’Lena Ashley eventually sought help from Gov. Kevin Stitt, who requested the state investigation in 2022.
The first major report, released in February 2025, examined district finances from 2015 through 2023 and described weak controls, efforts to avoid board scrutiny and a broader lack of financial transparency.
A later forensic audit of the district’s bond operation detailed $3.7 million in alleged fraud and improper payments. A former district official and two contractors face criminal charges related to some of the transactions. The charges remain pending.
Marshall said board members cannot simply defer to administrators or the majority when financial questions arise. She said that willingness to stand alone would carry into state office.
“I will stand when it’s not popular to stand. And I will make decisions in the best interests of the students, the educators and Oklahoma.”
Not every governance fight has gone Marshall’s way.
She and Ashley joined a lawsuit challenging the process used to appoint Ebony Johnson as Tulsa superintendent, alleging the district violated Oklahoma’s Open Meeting Act. A district judge granted summary judgment to Tulsa Public Schools.
Marshall and Ashley appealed the ruling. The appeal remains pending.
“I believe in doing the right thing,” Marshall said. “There are no regrets for upholding the law.”
Faith, evidence and City Elders
Marshall’s ministry also has prompted questions about how she separates personal religious conviction from public decision-making.
The issue drew wider attention after a March 2025 appearance before City Elders, a Tulsa-based organization that describes its mission in terms of biblical governance.
While discussing the origin of her audit concerns, Marshall told the group that before seeing documentation, “the spirit of the Lord God said that deception was in the house,” according to StateImpact Oklahoma.
Marshall said faith may prompt her to look more closely, but facts, documents and warning signs still must support a public decision.
“I’m a dot connector,” she said, “and I’m that because I’m a retired investigator.”
Marshall said a pastor invited her to speak and that she did not know about City Elders’ political orientation. She said she attended as an elected school board member to answer citizens’ questions about the audit, not to support the organization’s ideology.
Marshall said religious teaching should not be part of public school instruction.
Priorities and the November matchup
Franklin takes the same position on religious instruction. He was one of two members of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board who voted against approving the publicly funded St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.
His campaign has focused on the teacher shortage, reducing class sizes and providing schools with more behavioral-health and counseling support.
Marshall said teacher pay would be her first major priority. She wants Oklahoma salaries to become competitive with neighboring states and said the state superintendent should work with lawmakers to make it happen.
Oklahoma establishes a statewide minimum salary schedule, while local school boards may pay more. The minimum for a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree is $41,601 for the 2026-27 school year.
Marshall did not identify the size or total cost of the raise she would seek for teachers. Her broader platform calls for stronger literacy instruction, improved special education, greater financial accountability and a top-to-bottom review of the State Department of Education.
Asked how she distinguishes herself from Franklin when both nominees oppose religious instruction and promise less political conflict, Marshall pointed to her record.
“I’m a visionary,” she said. “I’m one who will make hard decisions.”
Marshall said she will try to reach voters regardless of party.
“What people want to hear is that their candidate is going to be focused on education,” she said. “They’re going to get out of the political calisthenics and do what is right for students.”
