Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — After four years of Republican changes to Oklahoma's public education system that included more high-stakes tests for students and A-F grading for districts, the GOP found its candidates getting hammered on the campaign trail this year — for problems in education.
Republicans still managed to make a clean sweep in Tuesday's general election, retaining control of the governor's mansion, the state's congressional delegation and all statewide offices. But in a state where Republicans have complained for years that you can't just throw money at public schools and expect better results, this year they may have learned that more money is exactly what they'll have to give Oklahoma schools to keep voters' support.
It started with the state's first Republican schools superintendent, Janet Barresi, being soundly defeated in the GOP primary in June. Incumbent Gov. Mary Fallin found herself fending off attacks from Democratic challenger Joe Dorman for her handling of education.
Fallin, who defeated Dorman, campaigned mostly on an improving economy, but now says education will be the top focus of her second term. She even has called for a pay raise for Oklahoma teachers.
"What I really want to get behind is education," Fallin said recently when asked what her top priority would be in a second term. "It's critical for Oklahoma's future that we have a strong, educated workforce."
Yet former Gov. Brad Henry, a two-term Democrat who endorsed Dorman last week because of what he said was Fallin's failure to properly fund education, said he doesn't buy her newfound commitment to education.
"What I would say is it's a little late, and it sounds a little like election-year politics," Henry said. "She had four years to talk about teachers and giving teachers a pay raise when they were crafting record budgets with record revenues."
Earl Stamps, a 70-year-old retiree from rural Cleveland County, said he wants to see more funding for education, but he doesn't have much faith in either party.
"I think education in Oklahoma needs improvement, but I don't think either party is going to get it done," Stamps said Tuesday after his casting his ballot at Providence Church in Moore. "Taxpayers really want politicians who are willing to step up and pay teachers what they're worth."
In Sapulpa, Angie Wilson, 37, said she voted for Fallin, despite disappointment with the governor's performance, especially on education issues.
"Unfortunately, I voted for Mary Fallin," Wilson said. "She let us down on Common Core."
In other statewide races, Republican U.S. Rep. James Lankford defeated Democratic state Sen. Connie Johnson of Oklahoma City and an independent to finish the remaining two years of U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn's term, while Sen. Jim Inhofe won another term against Democrat Matt Silverstein and three independents. Republicans also won all of the U.S. House races and will maintain control of the state Legislature.
Since her election in 2010, Fallin has pushed several Republican-backed education initiatives that have faced resistance from teachers and administrators. Meanwhile, per-pupil spending has declined dramatically. Oklahoma teachers, among the lowest paid in the nation, haven't received a raise in seven years.
"Educators are worn out," Elise Robillard, a teacher from Westmoore High School who is president of the Moore Association of Classroom Teachers, said ahead of Tuesday's election. "This is a high-stakes election for teachers, and also for our students. We're fed up."
Although Democrats couldn't pull off a win in the race for state superintendent, their nominee, John Cox, ran a spirited race against Tulsa businesswoman Joy Hofmeister, the Republican nominee who campaigned on opposition to some of the GOP-backed initiatives and vowed to support a pay hike for teachers.
"We're losing teachers to other states," Hofmeister said following her victory. "We've got to increase the compensation for them."
In his concession speech, Dorman said he was disappointed in the results but that he believed his focus on education made Republican leaders take notice.
"We saw that there will at least be a discussion about giving our teachers a pay raise ... and the elimination of many of these high-stakes tests," Dorman said. "I think goes to the effort of what we've done."
___
Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
