The Republican superintendent candidates differed over teacher pay, private-school tax credits, reading requirements and rural schools, with only a brief departure into pandemic-era disputes.
TULSA — Four days after their first runoff debate veered at times into personal accusations, Republican state superintendent candidates Robert Franklin and James Taylor spent most of Monday night’s rematch on the job they want and the problems they would inherit.
They found plenty to disagree about: teacher pay, private-school tax credits, reading requirements, federal grants and the future of rural schools. Moderators briefly returned to controversies involving both candidates, but those questions did not produce another extended fight.
The sharpest departure from education policy came when Taylor was asked about his firing from Oklahoma City Public Schools for refusing to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taylor stood by his decision, said he believed the district was ordering him to violate state law and asserted that “pretty much everything they told us about COVID turned out to be a lie.”
The one-hour debate was broadcast by Griffin Media’s News 9 and News On 6 and presented by the Oklahoma Hospital Association and its We Care We Vote voter initiative. The full debate is available on the Oklahoma’s Own YouTube channel.
News 9 and News on 6 said Oklahoma Watch would fact-check some of the claims made during the debate.
Pay, support and where the money goes
Franklin’s answer to Oklahoma’s teacher shortage started with pay. He said the state must offer salaries and benefits competitive with surrounding states if it expects to reduce vacancies and its reliance on emergency certifications.
“You cannot go to Arkansas, Texas, Kansas and expect teachers to be making $10,000, $20,000 less,” Franklin said.
He looked in several directions for the money. Franklin said Oklahoma could reduce spending on its student assessment system and return those savings to the school funding formula. He also called for the Legislature, businesses and tribal nations to work together on teacher compensation and classroom support.
Taylor came at teacher retention from a different direction. He said state education funding had increased 51% since 2018 without producing corresponding academic improvement.
“There is not a necessary correlation between more money and better results,” Taylor said.
He said some teachers leave Oklahoma for better pay, but many are more concerned about whether administrators will support their classroom-management and disciplinary decisions. Teachers who send a disruptive student to the office should not see the student return five minutes later with “Cheeto residue” on their hands, Taylor said.
The state superintendent can make the case for teacher raises but does not set salaries. Those funding decisions ultimately rest with the Legislature.
A split over private-school tax credits
The divide was just as clear over Oklahoma’s parental-choice tax credit for families with children in private schools or home schools.
Franklin said he supports school choice but believes the current program treats different educational choices differently. He pointed to the varying benefits for private-school and home-school families, while families choosing another public school receive no comparable tax credit.
His criticism was not an argument to eliminate the existing program. Franklin said lawmakers should establish clearer goals, examine the results and answer more questions before expanding it.
“I’m not trying to take away what we have,” he said. “I’m just saying we need to study before we expand.”
Taylor defended the program, saying participating schools are vetted and the money does not go directly to parents. Families paying private-school tuition also pay taxes supporting public schools, he said.
“Let the parents make the choice,” Taylor said.
Reading and classroom discipline
On reading, the candidates agreed on the urgency of the problem but separated over what should happen when a child remains behind.
Taylor supported ending social promotion. Advancing students before they understand foundational material, particularly in math, can leave them increasingly lost as later lessons build on skills they have not mastered, he said.
Franklin questioned the testing system that will be used to make retention decisions. Without enough intervention and reading specialists, he said, Oklahoma could wind up with third-graders “stacked up, like O’Hare Airport.”
He called for identifying the particular skills a student has not mastered and working more closely with parents rather than broadly labeling the child as struggling.
Their approaches to classroom disruptions followed a similar pattern. Taylor emphasized consequences and alternative placements, including in-school suspension or programs outside the traditional classroom for students whose behavior keeps classmates from learning.
Franklin emphasized additional support inside schools. He called for more behavioral technicians, counselors, mental-health partnerships and trained school resource officers.
Franklin also said the Education Department should resume pursuing federal grants to help pay for those services. He criticized the previous administration for declining to seek some federal money, allowing Oklahoma taxpayers’ dollars to be used in other states instead.
Local control in rural Oklahoma
Both candidates rejected forced consolidation of rural schools and said local communities should remain in charge of those decisions.
Taylor said schools should decide for themselves whether to consolidate. He has discussed consolidating some superintendent positions but said the individual schools would retain their independence.
Franklin warned that a rural superintendent may also be the principal, counselor, coach or bus driver. Eliminating that position, he said, could pull an important piece out of a small community.
The candidates found some common ground in sharing specialized services. Franklin proposed regional centers through which districts could share physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, information-technology support and financial services. Taylor suggested pools of specialists who could rotate among rural districts.
CareerTech offered another distinction. Taylor proposed exploring a third, late-afternoon session to make room for students now sitting on waiting lists, although he acknowledged unresolved questions about funding, transportation and legal requirements.
Franklin pointed to his experience at Tulsa Tech, where he said partnerships with businesses helped add programs and increase capacity. He also advocated exposing students to CareerTech programs beginning in middle school.
Republican voters will settle the choice Aug. 25. The winner will face Democrat Jennettie Marshall in the Nov. 3 general election.
