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The Grapes of Wrath: A Modern Version

By
Tom Deighan
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In John Steinbeck’s classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family finally reaches the end of its rope.  Setback after setback, loss of their livelihood, and finally, loss of their land force the Joads to reluctantly leave the only home they have ever known for the promised land of California.  Oklahoma proves to be as indifferent to their absence as it had been to their presence.  The Joads quietly leave everything they have ever known behind, but as backward and misunderstood as they and the countless other Okies were, they never left their dignity.  They never once presumed the world around them would bend to their needs.    

Much of the world still sees Oklahoma through the Okie stereotype.  We are a fly-over state, insignificant and backwards . . . a place of noble victimhood.  We have become the Joads, not because others have branded us Okies, but because we have resigned ourselves to suckling our providers in the abandoned barns of misfortune.  We are a state rich in resources, strong in character, and unrelenting in resolve.  We have traded that strength for a cheap stoicism.  We have become caricatures of the caricatures created so long ago by a pretentious Californian, but the current state of Oklahoma need not be the enduring state of Oklahoma.  Our next generations deserve better than fatalistic surrender to the self-fulfilling prophecies of a boom-bust economy.  We are not bound to the past; rather, we choose to cling to that which we have known – the way of the Joads – motivated by a misguided fealty to suffering as a rite of passage.   Our challenges may be unprecedented, as some have suggested, but I cannot imagine them worse than the challenges overcome by the generations before us.

Oklahomans are by nature independent, self-reliant, and more than a little stubborn.  When things get tough enough, our Wrath kicks in, and we either deal with it or we quietly move on.  Oklahoma educators are cut from the same burlap.  Your classroom teachers and school support professionals have endured a lot in recent years and will continue to endure . . . until one day they won’t.  When they cannot take anymore without sacrificing their dignity, they will quietly move on to something else or somewhere else.  Oklahoma teachers are following in the Joads’ dusty footsteps.  As intimately as they love this state, other promised lands beckon.  As quietly as Ms. Joad and Mr. Joad plied their trades in our Oklahoma schools, they have been quietly leaving.  And just like Steinbeck’s Okies, the Sooner State is as indifferent to their absence as it was their presence.

If you get a chance any time soon, pick up a copy of The Grapes of Wrath, or catch the movie.  It’s worth the popcorn.  For another option, just visit your local public school to see a modern version unfolding right before your eyes. Today’s Joads, however, are neither destitute nor uneducated.  They have options and will reluctantly go where leaders acknowledge their value and loyalty.  None of us educators are naïve, this is not a problem which can be solved overnight, but neither did it evolve overnight.  Past Oklahomans may have endured the Dust Bowl, but they spent that time addressing the causes so their children would never suffer such calamity again.  Our state suffered from the mass exodus of Okies during The Great Depression, but in the end, we will suffer much more from the current Okie exodus.  Oklahoma educators are choosing to follow the Joads because Oklahomans can give up a lot, but they will never give up their dignity.  And unfortunately, our school professionals are losing hope that our state leaders will abandon the past in order to meet the needs of the next generation.

I originally wrote this article in 2017, shortly before Oklahoma teachers walked out because they felt unvalued, but now in 2022 they feel vilified. Whereas the grapes of wrath in Oklahoma teachers’ souls were once “growing heavy for the vintage,” they have now simply withered on the vine because a profession emptied of dignity quickly becomes an empty profession.

Tom Deighan is superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Kiteboarding and Remote-Controlled Public Schools

By
Tom Deighan
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This is the ninth in a series of ten summertime articles mapping the common ground upon which parents, educators, and communities can unite regarding one of the most divisive topics in America: public education.

A friend of mine recently used his drone to record me kiteboarding. From 400 feet up, my local lake looked like a tropical paradise, and I looked like an expert kiteboarder, but closer inspection would have revealed a 50-year-old risking a broken hip in muddy water!  Clearly, remote-control can look impressive, but it’s not always accurate or evidence of sound judgement. 

Historically, we have accepted that local school boards, parents, and educators have a clearer view of their students’ needs than any far-away politician, bureaucrat, or teacher-union bosses. In recent decades, however, remote-control planning has become the norm for both political parties, starting with No Child Left Behind, surging with Common Core State Standards, and continuing with the Every Student Succeeds Act. All three initiatives received widespread bi-partisan support at inception and cancellation. (ESSA will eventually be cancelled, too.) Remote-control policy, however, reached its apex during our recent pandemic, and I would hope that we learned that educational central planning in a state as diverse as Oklahoma simply does not work. Once again, I think most parents and educators agree on the issue of local control in their district.

Last year is a good example of remote-controlled chaos. Schools were stuck between certain entities that seemed to incentivize school closures and other entities that seemingly demanded schools ignore those with authority to close schools. Well-intentioned leaders increasingly feel compelled to remote control schools, so local control is largely ignored until central planning fails, and districts are told to figure things out on their own. Constantly running this gauntlet leaves local communities frustrated and confused. We need this chaos to end. 

Little attention was given to districts like Duncan who stayed open last year and even less attention to the fact that most Oklahoma school districts stayed open during the pandemic. Despite remote-controlled, central planning, most Oklahoma school districts successfully ran the gauntlet to serve their kids and parents. We did it on the local level, despite far-away warring factions. Schools did this as communities of parents and educators making tough decisions, not by remote-control.

I hope and pray that everyone looks at the data we now have after a year. Of course, we knew a year ago that COVID spread in schools is negligible, and those studies from other countries encouraged many districts to stay open. In our district, only about 1% of 1,500 quarantined students developed COVID while in quarantine, so it seems the quarantines overreached. Other districts who stayed open reported similar results. We may have had reason to fear last year, but this year, the evidence is clear: schools should be open, masked or not. And may we please stop quarantining healthy children.

Unfortunately, the gauntlet is already forming for the upcoming year, and I hope schools will not be stuck. A slew of new legislation seemingly targeted schools that closed last year, ignoring the schools who successfully served kids in-person. Other legislation micromanaging COVID mitigation may place schools at odds with health departments if last year’s COVID rules are implemented. I cannot see any practical way for schools to stay open with any consistency if that happens.  We may have unwittingly tied school districts’ hands so much that those fighting to keep schools closed with unrealistic demands may inadvertently win, doing further irreparable harm to a generation of students. Extremists on both sides win if schools close again this year, for both can loudly proclaim, I told you so!    

I sincerely believe that the issue of in-person schooling is settled for most educators and parents. Remote controllers win if they can keep us divided, confused, and inconsistent. We must remember that critical issues look very different close-up, in your neighborhoods, which is why local parents, educators, and school boards can be trusted to protect the safety and health of their own children. We cannot always trust remote-control views of education or old men kiteboarding, but we can trust local control.

Tom Deighan is the current Superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com

Oklahoma Schools Cannot Manage a Pandemic

By
Tom Deighan
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When state or federal entities create impossible situations due to unfunded mandates, unpredictability, or conflicting laws, public schools have always managed to figure things out. Inevitably, the central-planned solutions become politically impossible messes that school boards, parents, and educators are expected to unravel. As we have seen since this pandemic started, local control is a very convenient scapegoat when one-size-fits-all solutions hurt more than they help, but we may have finally tied ourselves up in a knot that local schools cannot untangle.

Beginning with the state-wide closures in the spring of 2019 and continuing through the 2020-21 school year, school districts were expected to either carry heavier and heavier loads managing COVID or just give up and close. We figured them out, however, navigating state and federal contradictions at the local level. Districts like Duncan swam upstream to keep schools open despite quarantining 2,500 students and staff. We made tough decisions locally to keep our schools open, despite our hands being tied. 

Last year, schools like Duncan assisted in duly authorized quarantining, contact tracing, isolation orders, and close contact notifications based on very explicit communications that schools must follow these orders.  We were either directly notified or confirmed regarding every COVID case in our schools. Then, under the direction of duly authorized experts, we provided information to assist in their final determinations.  Public school staff did most of the legwork and delivered most of the orders, but we never acted unilaterally, for we do not have the expertise or authority to do any of those things. We truly appreciated the partnership with local health authorities as we worked together to keep schools open safely. It was exhausting, but at the end of the year, we felt like we fought the good fight together.

But this year, schools are being “expected” to issue quarantining, contact tracing, and isolation orders unilaterally, based solely on personal, self-reported, and unverifiable health information. We are no longer officially notified of confirmed COVID-positive people in our buildings. Authorities no longer identify specific individuals or groups for quarantine, contact tracing, or isolation. They no longer prescribe the terms or duration of those quarantines. This year, schools have been told that we are on our own. Schools are now expected to do those things that have traditionally been beyond our authority, and we understand that we may lose funding if we do not. So, which laws do we break? 

If schools follow current recommendations, we will be violating SB658, but this is not about masks anymore. We are expected to quarantine, which requires our knowing a person’s vaccination status, but SB658 apparently forbids our requiring documentation that an individual has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Expecting schools to act as public health experts during a pandemic seems to contradict existing laws and virtually everything we have been told since this pandemic started. In the past, schools have always wriggled free enough to find a solution when asked to, but for me the answer is finally “No.”  

No, my schools should not be compelled to violate any provisions of SB658, for it is the law. And, no, educators should not be asked to act as public or private healthcare authorities during a pandemic. These are impossible choices that schools should not be forced to make. Schools can legally send sick people home and close to protect our staff and students, but educators cannot manage a pandemic. If things have changed, we need clarity and certainty before moving forward.  

No one knew if COVID would return the way it has, and no one wanted it, but we all knew that SB658 would create impossible choices if COVID did surge again. That impossible choice was not created by parents, educators, or children, but once again, they are expected to unravel this impossible problem. This time, I respectfully say, no. Schools cannot carry this burden. 

Tom Deighan is currently the superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com  You may read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Adult-Ready Graduates

By
Tom Deighan
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This is second in a series of ten summertime articles mapping the common ground upon which parents, educators, and communities can unite regarding one of the most divisive topics in America: public education. 

Over my career, I have shared the stage with thousands of graduates, and I invariably run into a few after graduation. One encounter at the local athletic store stands out because it was the very next morning. He introduced himself, and we made some small talk about the ceremony, but finally, he just blurted it out, “I don’t know what to do!”  Such is the AHA! moment of graduation. 

Many students graduate with a plan of some sort, but many others live so passionately in adolescence that adulting sneak attacks them as they step onto the stage for their diploma, and they can barely walk. All graduates feel the weight of “What are you going to do after graduation?”  It’s already a ton of bricks, so they really don’t need the constant reminder. (As if we all had a plan when we were eighteen!)

Parents feel the same way, so it is a moment of truth for them both. Parents invariably wonder if they prepared their children, and the newly minted graduates invariably wish they had paid more attention. Despite all our talk of generation gaps, none exists at this moment when both parents and graduates see the entire PK-12 educational assembly line with crystal clarity, and they realize that public schools are the most ambitious of factories: adult factories. 

Of course, we extol the virtue of learning, the passion of the arts, and the thrill of competitions. We love the fun stuff, endure the hard stuff, and cuss the crazy stuff. Ultimately, however, graduates are our final product, and every parent and every child want the same outcome from that factory: functioning adulthood. Over the years, I have described this many ways, from college and career ready to career-bound citizens, but whatever we call it, we need adult-ready graduates. 

Definitions of adult-ready vary greatly from child to child and from family to family, but parents and educators agree on the essentials more than they disagree. I suppose the 80/80/80 rule – 80% of parents and 80% educators agree on 80% of educational issues – applies to kids as well. No one has better clarity on this topic than a recent graduate or their parent because when we backward design school from graduation, education is a much simpler process. Remarkably, we can generally agree on a few core essentials.

Every child needs to graduate ready to enter the adult world to the best of their abilities. They may further their education, get a job, enter the military, or start a business, but they need to be ready for those next steps. They also need to be good neighbors who can fulfill their civic duties. They often kick and scream during the manufacturing process, but upon graduation, these things suddenly matter. More are ready than not because all that nagging from teachers and parents bubbles up just when they need it. If previous generations could pull it together, this generation can, too. (We were a hot mess back in the day, and we know it.)

And as for that terrified young man?  Our discussion occurred at the athletic store where he had worked through high school, and I knew that any kid who shows up to work the morning after graduation would be fine. I eventually lost track of him, but he stepped into adulthood as we all did, with a little fear and trembling, and he figured it out. I have no doubt he is successful, perhaps even preparing to place his own children on the educational assembly line, wondering who they will be when they grow up. The simplest answer, from whatever perspective, is simple: an adult. Just imagine what our public schools could accomplish if we could start where we agree and work backwards to ensure graduates are truly adult-ready. If you doubt it is that simple, just ask a recent graduate.  

Tom Deighan is a public educator and currently serves as Superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com

Toby Dawn’s Fall Fireworks Prediction

By
Tom Deighan
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The doorbell rang shortly after sunrise. Barely awake, I scurried to the door, but no one there . . . just a faint burning smell that I recognized a split second too late. Pop! Pop! Pop!  And so it started, my annual fireworks battle with my lifelong friend and childhood hero, Toby Dawn McIntyre. He loves Independence Day, and each year, he starts his surprise attacks with a bang.  

Toby has booby-trapped doors, trash cans, and even my sock drawer.  Roman candles in the grill . . . whistling chasers tossed from moving cars . . . and, somehow, underwater fireworks.  No place is safe. Once he tethered a fishing line to my back porch and hid in my neighbors’ tree as he ziplined explosive after explosive to our peaceful cookout. When our neighbors let their dogs out, however, Toby was stuck, and we had great fun with our garden hoses. Don’t worry, no one ever gets hurt except Toby Dawn.  “Eyebrows grow back, Tommy Boy!”

As I celebrate Independence Day, however, I worry about the political fireworks ahead this fall. Predictably, new and terrifying strains of COVID are surfacing, but this year it is exacerbated by an incredibly divisive political season.  The familiar mask-or-no-mask battleline is already forming, and if history repeats itself, we can expect renewed calls for schools to close sometime later this month. (Just a hundred weeks or so to flatten the curve.) I am not sure if this slow fuse leads to a lady finger or an M-80, but if history repeats itself, the start of school will be the opening salvo. For the kids! 

The topic of education has never been more relevant or more divisive. Parents are being told to put on their Gotham City Shades, assured that everything bad they hear about in faraway big cities is also happening in their evil neighborhood schools.  Educators are being told to irrationally resist any changes in public schools, because of course, all public schools are perfect (or would be if we had more funding.) 

Meanwhile, rational parents and educators know better, despite the dire warnings of the Evil Public Schools or the Pollyanna Public Schools crowds. The radical one-percent of extremists, from both sides, continue to set just about everything on fire.  “I warned you about those Flaming Pennies;” Toby reminds me often, “they will burn the world down this election season to make a point!”  Common sense parents and educators, however, are starting to recognize much of these arguments as duds, because neither message describes many of our schools.  

I recently received fifteen fliers about candidates in one day, but none of them were sent by the candidates. In a year of unprecedented dark money impacting state and local elections, I have been fearful about the fireworks to come, but Oklahoman’s have impressed me.  We are stubborn, and we do not like faraway activists telling us how to vote.  A few high-profile dark money campaigns were effective, but overall, Oklahomans have made up their own darned mind.  Nothing makes an Okie bow-up faster than someone from Gotham City telling us how to vote, even if we agree.  

Yes, the fireworks will begin full force with the start of school, leading to a grand finale in November, but maybe, this season will reveal a brighter and more hopeful brand of fireworks: Oklahomans lighting up all this dark money with common sense and thoughtful determination. Oklahomans are too smart to vote locally while wearing their Cable News Goggles or Gotham City Shades. 

According to Toby Dawn McIntyre, “Anyone can blow stuff up, but only a skillful person can use fireworks to bring people together.”  Of course, this wisdom comes from a large red-haired man with only one eyebrow.  Nevertheless, as Fourth of July fireworks fade away, get ready for the real light show as school starts. All this dark money will surely make the fireworks brighter and more dazzling. Lets’ just hope all these flaming pennies don’t light some really destructive fires in our state, for they won’t be around to clean up the mess.     

Tom Deighan is author of Shared Ideals in Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Toby Dawn’s Serious Summer Plans

By
Tom Deighan
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Please pray for me, for every year shortly after graduation, my lifelong friend and childhood hero, Toby Dawn McIntyre, attempts to whisk me away for a summer adventure. He once surprised me with a motorcycle and sidecar immediately after graduation ceremonies, “Hop in, Tommy Boy!” He said, tossing me a pair of old aviator goggles. “Summer Vacation starts tonight!” I was wearing a suit and tie, so I passed.  The next summer, he sent me a box full of fish heads as an invitation to join him at an Alaskan fish cannery. Last summer, he begged me to join him as a truck driver in Europe.  They had a serious driver shortage, “And they’ll pay us to see the sites!” he told me. So far, I don’t know what he’s planning this year, but he has been texting a lot of Mickey Mouse memes. 

No one takes their summers more seriously than Toby Dawn McIntyre, but few people can take three months to kayak down the Mississippi, not even most educators, despite the perception that we take summers off.  Mountains of work pile up during the summer, including most of the maintenance and technology projects.  If you have a student, you know about the endless stream of summer camps for everything from STEM to sports to the arts.  Many schools also offer summer school, which often includes busing and feeding children.  

In fact, summer is the busiest time of the year for principals and other administration because we must wrap-up one fiscal year, start another, and hire staff.  Many of the other staff also have summer jobs.  When I was a classroom teacher, I drove a semi, hauled hay, worked at a truck stop, and even worked at a summer camp. (I was a terrible camp counselor – too many spiders.) Those without summer jobs get recruited for stuff all summer long. Visit any Vacation Bible School or summer church camp, and you will find a slew of school staff.  They make summer stuff work when they are not working at school.  

Assuming that educators do nothing during the summer is like assuming that wheat farmers only work during harvest or that tax accountants only work during April.  Summers are less hectic, but the pressure is on for a good school year.  Great athletes are made in the off-season, and so are great school years, so whenever something looks easy from the outside, it probably wasn’t.  Hard workers and gifted people make things look easy, and most “gifted” people are really just hard workers.  All of this applies to students, too. 

Busy kids are happy kids, so put them to work, keep them engaged, and kick ‘em outside once in a while, so they can learn to drink from garden hoses. (Hose water is tangy!) And if you really want happy summer kids, make their bedrooms device-free zones overnight.  Sure, they will kick and scream a little, but within a short time, you might see those Tik-Tok “ticks” subside.  Let them start a summer job or project. I have mad respect for hard-working kids because they grow up to be successful adults. As Toby Dawn says, “At some point, you can’t fix lazy,” and I have rarely seen a hard-working kid become a lazy adult.  

As the 2022 school year wraps up, begin this summer with intentionality, for great summers do not happen by accident, and next school year depends on it.   Whether you are a parent, an educator, or a student, purposely plan now for a great 2022-23 school year. Work hard at having fun this summer, like my friend Toby Dawn, for summertime, like childhood, is fleeting.  Cherish every moment.  And if you see a large red-haired man riding a motorcycle with a screaming man trapped in a sidecar, move out of the way.  If we are also wearing Mickey Mouse ears, you can bet we are headed to Disney World.    

Tom Deighan is superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. You may email him at  deighantom@gmail.com and read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

Mostly Education: “Hitting the school bubbly”

By
Tom Deighan
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0

Third-graders wiggle. They fidget. They giggle and laugh for no apparent reason. Honestly, they are a little goofy. This time of year, however, they hit the bubbly for the first time, as they take their first standardized tests, and they seem to lose a bit of their own bubbliness. As kids, we penciled in bubbles, but kids now click bubbles on a screen. Never mind that 9-year-olds often lack the fine motor skills to use computers effectively, and never mind that 9-year-olds’ maximum attention spans are below 30 minutes. By federal and state decree, they must endure numerous tests that require 60 to 80 minutes of intense concentration, mouse-clicking, and keyboarding. Their answers not only decide if they enter fourth-grade but also their teacher’s employment, their school’s funding, and their community’s A-F Ratings. Those are pretty high-stakes resting on a nine-year-old’s mouse click, but a little bubbly never hurt anyone, right?

Because the stakes are so high, these tests shape every aspect of our schools. They drive our schedules and calendars, determining how and what teachers teach every day. We no longer just teach to the tests; we live and die by them. They shape our entire school culture. They impact our property values and economic development. We even mow around the tests!  Bubbly, anyone?  

Ok, the tests may monopolize our time and focus, but they least measure the right third-grade skills, right?  We have all been third-graders, so we remember critical skills like multiplication that prepared us for things like long division, algebra, geometry, and higher math courses. Logically, therefore, most parents know what skills third-graders need for success, like multiplication, yet less than half of the test focuses on Number and Operations (44-48%). Over 50% of the test measures students’ understanding of Algebraic Reasoning and Algebra (12-18%), Geometry and Measurement (26-20%), and Data and Probability(12-18%).  I wonder if a 9-year-olds’ time is well spent focusing on Algebra before they have mastered multiplication. I wonder if our teachers feel pressured to cover test specifications even when they know their students have not yet mastered essential skills. I wonder if the educational corporations or bureaucrats who produce our standardized-tests know better than our parents.

But let’s just drink the bubbly Kool-Aide and assume that these tests accurately measure what a third-grader needs to master. Let’s also assume that teaching to these tests with such high-stakes is entirely appropriate. Maybe, just maybe this makes sense if it has all at least been consistent. Unfortunately, over the lifetime of our current third-graders alone, our state curriculum has been a hot mess, changing at least four times since 2014, when we abruptly scrapped Common Core for the old PASS Curriculum (that we originally replaced with Common Core). We soon replaced PASS again with the hastily produced Oklahoma Academic Standards (that bear an uncanny resemblance to Common Core). It takes several years of consistent curriculum and reliable testing to determine validity on a statewide scale, but Oklahoma has changed course so much over the last decade that no one can keep track. And since we did not test last year due to the pandemic closure, this year’s scores are literally another start-over. Need some bubbly yet?

For most of my career I willingly drank the bubbly, but “teaching to the test” has not worked. Perhaps it is because of the inconsistency or perhaps because the tests do not measure the right thing, but we cannot rely on an unreliable system. After over 20 years following the advice of central planners and corporations, maybe we should provide parents and teachers more input on our school culture. Yes, we must take these tests, but they do not have to drive everything. We fill out our taxes this time of year and go on with our lives. Likewise, let’s take the tests but focus more on mastering what is age-appropriate and critical to their academic success, good character, and overall health. And maybe, our third graders can truly be bubbly again. 

Tom Deighan is a public educator and currently serves as Superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com

Our Next State Superintendent

By
Tom Deighan
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I have written literally hundreds of articles and two books about very controversial issues, but I am reluctant to address specific individuals because it’s too easy to inadvertently villainize people nowadays. When we face an election like this week’s primary, however, we must consider people and pick sides. I am not sure the traditional sides fit anymore, so let’s start by focusing on the qualities of our next leader.

By “sides,” I refer to the extreme Pollyanna Public Schools (PPS) and Evil Public Schools (EPS) options that dominate public discourse lately. The PPS crowd insists that the only change needed in our public schools is more funding, and the EPS crowd insists that the only answer is giving them the same taxpayer funds to dismantle all public schools. Lost in the debate, however, are the majority of Okies alienated by both sides. Our next State Superintendent should reflect the following values. 

Inclusive: Our state superintendent should genuinely include all stakeholders, not just those who subscribe to a certain orthodoxy. Both sides claim to support parents and educators, but both sides quickly marginalize anyone who disagrees with them. We need a state superintendent who will listen to our sensible parents and educators more than the flaming pennies (the radical one percent willing to burn the world down to make a point). 

Peacemaker:  Tiny (but loud) factions of people continually stoking controversy currently dominate our public square. They seek either to force everyone to embrace radical beliefs or force taxpayers to fund our own separate schools. Our next state superintendent must bring peace and consistency to the sensible majority, not capitulate to partisans.

Failures and successes: Of course, we want a state superintendent who has a successful track record, but we also need someone who can be open, honest, and reflective about their failures. Winston Churchill overcame terrible public failure to become a great (but flawed) leader. Our next leader must not only have learned from missteps but also have taken ownership of them. If a leader is all thumbs, we would certainly have less finger-pointing!

Discernment and boldness: Our state needs a leader willing to champion bold change (which usually means betraying both sides), but we also need someone willing to check the bathwater before throwing out more babies. The last decade is a revolving door of hastily constructed change atop hastily scrapped ruins. Before we start swinging wrecking balls, let’s make sure we know what we are demolishing . . . and have a sensible solution ready to replace the rubble.

Solutions: Partisanship in education is both naked and blind, which means it is exposed and vulnerable to a pragmatic leader who can serve the sensible majority of parents and educators. Imagine a willingness to work with the opposition instead of an eagerness to gloat and lord power over them. Unfortunately, even when both sides agree something is good for kids, they will not currently hold hands because the other side is involved. 

Oklahoma’s sensible educators and parents cannot embrace a progressive march toward Marxism or a progressive march toward crony capitalism. My proof? If educators were widely motivated by the far-left rhetoric, then they could easily run rule any election. If parents were widely motivated by the far-right message, then schools would be privatized tomorrow. Instead, they focus on kids’ needs and try to avoid engaging the flaming pennies. They just want safe, caring, healthy, open, orderly, learning spaces. (S.C.H.O.O.L.S.)

After over a decade of inconsistency and partisanship, Oklahoma needs a state superintendent who will serve our sensible educators and parents over far away partisans with deep pockets. I believe that all of our remaining candidates sincerely want what’s best for our state, even if they disagree, but we won’t really know whom they serve until someone gets into office. Let’s hope it’s not the Pollyanna or Evil Public School caricatures. We need a superintendent committed to real, sensible Oklahoma parents and educators. After all, who loves their children more?

Tom Deighan is a public educator and author of Shared Ideals in Public Schools. You may email him at deighantom@gmail.com 

Muddy Bottom Blues and Open Schools

By
Tom Deighan
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0

In “Muddy Bottom Blues,” the modern Delta Blues artist Tab Benoit describes what it’s like to get stuck in a shallow, muddy swamp, when it’s “too soft to walk, too hard to swim.”  To make it worse, swamps are full of alligators waiting for night fall, when the moonlight glints faintly in their reptilian cornea. You got the muddy bottom blues: “That gator eye on me . . . that gator eye on me . . .”  

Schools that decided to stay open this year certainly experienced a long, hard year with gators always close by. Fear and uncertainty. Conflicting science and dueling experts. Pro-maskers and anti-maskers. Changing guidelines. Kaleidoscope maps. A face full of swamp gas in every email and social media post. A constant battle between drowning or being trapped. CDC and NIH and OSDE and OSDH and OMG!  

Every public-school staff member and board member who committed to in-person learning slogged through this daily all year. But it was no easier for parents or students, either. Would we close at Labor Day or Fall Break or Christmas Break or be ready for the surge after Spring Break?  On top of this, they had the quarantines. 

Through all this, schools that stayed open felt like the exception, alone in a swamp at nightfall. Whichever news source you choose for daily affirmation, the topic of crisis schooling with kids isolated behind screens served both sides of the narrative well. Honestly, it seemed like the system incentivized schools to close and penalized schools who fought to stay open. Barely any attention was given to districts who made the other hard choice. Despite the inconvenient fact that most schools in Oklahoma were open all year or only closed temporarily, we all felt “stuck on muddy ground . . . that gator eye on me.”

Nevertheless, districts that stubbornly refused to close did not do so out of ignorance or for political reasons. On the contrary, by July of last year, the “science” was pretty clear regarding the low risks of transmission in schools as evidenced in studies of schools in Switzerland, China, New South Wales, France, and Germany. Similar studies also determined that the risk of outdoor transmission was almost nil. Despite the swamp gas, in schools that remained open, educators, parents, and our school board slogged through these issues on a local level, focused on our kids’ and communities’ needs. Our kids needed school; parents needed to work; businesses needed to open. We cussed and discussed, as Okies do, and we figured this out. Local hospitals, departments of health, and emergency management all helped.  None of us ever agreed completely on any particular detail except one: school must be open. Everyone pulled together, and somehow, by the grace of God, we all emerged from the swamp.  Seniors graduated!  You made it, so congratulations! 

And what about those muddy bottom blues?  Washed away by tears of joy. Those gator eyes?  Handbags and boots. The swamp gas of Facebook and cable television remains, however, so don’t light a match just yet!  As hard as it was, I have heard from many in districts who went virtual, and they seem to have been miserable. As tough as this was, it was worth it for communities who kept school open. We got muddy, but we definitely made the right choice. We made the decisions locally, and we made them together. We should all rejoice to be Oklahomans, where schools and our economy could reopen. 

As your local educators, however, we are most honored and blessed, for you trusted us with your children, and you crawled through this swamp, too, despite all the gators. We all put on a brave face, for courage is not the absence of fear but rather moving ahead despite the fear. Thank you for courageously making this school year possible, and for our own local versions of “The Muddy Bottom Blues” all over this Great State.  Enjoy a well-deserved summer!

Tom Deighan is a public educator and currently serves as Superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com

A Simple Academic Vision

By
Tom Deighan
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0

Through the years, I have read volumes of academic visions containing indecipherable educational jargon that seems to create more questions than answers.  (Unfortunately, I have also produced my fair share as well!)  Yet, I have rarely seen any succinct academic visions for Pk-12 education through the elementary, middle, and high school levels.  Education is an infinitely complex journey, but the challenge of a long journey has never stopped anyone from starting with a simplistic road map. Likewise, I think we need more clarity in education about progression from elementary to high school.  Like a long road trip across the country, we need to know our destination, and we need to know which way to turn at Albuquerque.  Below is a simple academic vision for PK-12 education:        

At the elementary level, each grade will foster high character, healthy relationships, and strong morals as evidenced through personal accountability.  Mastery of essential academic skills and facts necessary to succeed at the next grade level will be the primary focus for all students, with reading and math literacy always taking precedence.   Mastery of reading and math skills will be further evidenced in their application through writing and speaking about science, history, civics, and other academic subjects. Graphic and performing arts will enrich and support academic growth.  Physical education and unstructured play will be incorporated as essential components of childhood and necessary to learning. 

At the middle level (middle schools and junior highs), mastery of elementary skills will be expected upon entry, and if necessary, students will be rigorously remediated until mastery of essential academic skills necessary for middle level coursework can be evidenced.  High moral character and behavior are expectations as students grow and mature socially. Middle level coursework will provide deeper exploration of distinct academic subjects. Students will support results and conclusions with evidence, facts, and logical discourse through written and oral communication.  Graphic and performing arts will support deeper understanding of history and culture through artistic expression.  Health/physical education, athletic competition, and extra-curricular participation will be promoted for all students.   Pre-college and pre-career diagnostics will provide students and parents with insight regarding possible career paths as they prepare for high school.

Finally, high schools will be structured as college and career preparation centers that foster strong social connections.  All academics, programs, and discipline will prepare students to enter the workforce, to further their education, and to be productive community members.  College and career readiness assessments will guide all academic instruction.  Whenever possible, students will be challenged to address real-world academic, civic, and business issues within a given field and model professional behavior.  Highest evidence of proficiency will be demonstrated through written and oral communication, artistic expression, professional experiences (internships/mentorships), and concurrent enrollment.  Participation in extra-curricular activities is affirmed as an essential component of students’ growth. Every student will graduate, and every student will graduate with college or career experience.

As a career educator, I wonder if we have unnecessarily complicated the educational process.  Oversimplification is certainly not the answer, but in an increasingly complex and divisive world, parents, students, and educators need to identify their common ground and shared expectations regarding education.  In my experience, when they are given that chance, they will agree much more than they disagree, and when they disagree, they will do so with tolerance and dignity. Perhaps my little academic vision is imperfect, but that’s ok if it will begin crucial conversations to rediscover the role and nature of schools.  

Tom Deighan is currently the superintendent of Duncan Public Schools. He may be reached at deighantom@gmail.com  You may read past articles at www.mostlyeducational.com

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