Restore Oklahoma Public Education

2014 Candidate Questionnaire

Return by October

Please choose only ONE answer unless otherwise specified. A line is provided for comments following the question, in
the event you feel you need to clarify any of the multiple choice answers you have chosen.

1. Who has the responsibility for educating the children of Oklahoma?
a. It is the responsibility of the parent to rear their children the way they see fit, but the job of the state to
educate them
b. It is the responsibility of the parent to rear their children as they see fit and it is incumbent upon the
state to provide all aspects of schooling to fit their needs
c. It is the responsibility of the parent alone to rear their children the way they see fit, without
interference from the state, to include schooling their children at home if they see fit
d. Raising children is a shared responsibility as it takes a village to raise a child, therefore the state should
be able to direct families in the education of their children

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2. Which sources would/do you use to help determine the right Educational Policy for Oklahoma (Circle top 3)
a. Oklahoma Christian Home Educators Consociation (OCHE)
b. Oklahoma Council For Public Affairs (OCPA)
c. Arne Duncan and the Federal Department of Education (DOE)
d. American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
e. National Education Association (NEA)
f. Professional Oklahoma Educators (POE)
g. Oklahoma Policy Institute (OPI)
h. Parents and teachers in your district

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3. What two things are at the forefront of your mind when examining Education Policy?
a. Allow for local control of resources and ultimate control of policy
b. Policy implementation can be paid for via grants or funds at the national/federal level
c. The ability to justify the programming via data collection
d. Accountability and transparency for state money
e. Making sure every student graduates and is prepared for college

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4. What are your beliefs about Pre-Kindergarten programming (you may pick 2)
a. Pre-k benefits are well-established, therefore pre-k should be mandated for children at the state level
b. Pre-k should be a state-sponsored program available for any parent who wants to use it
c. Parents may utilize private source, market-driven pre-k programs at their discretion as needed without
state sponsorship
d. Federal pre-k programs exist and it is our duty to utilize the money allotted for those programs to save
Oklahoma tax dollars
e. Because many parents do not provide the early upbringing children need, Oklahoma should utilize
federal and state money to assure children are getting the early start they need to be successful in life

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5. The process to re-write the educational standards for Oklahoma has begun. How important are educational
standards in the overall public education process?
a. Educational Standards are the pillar of public education the foundation upon which all learning occurs.
b. Educational Standards are a framework that allows teachers and schools to select or create
developmentally appropriate curricula to best advance student learning
c. State testing cannot be constructed or accomplished without the blueprint for education provided by
Educational Standards.
d. Not terribly important as long as we have teachers in the classroom skilled in relating developmentally
appropriate curricula to their students

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6. Parents are still complaining that Common Core is being used in their classrooms despite the passage of HB3399
and our adoption of PASS. Will you attempt to work with districts to insure their compliance with the law?
a. Yes
b. No

7. If yes in number 6, what strategies would you utilize to encourage compliance?

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8. What best describes your thoughts on academic testing in Oklahoma? (you may choose more than one)
a. State testing is necessary for accountability since schools utilize taxpayer funds
b. Most testing today is done to comply with various portions of the No Child Left Behind law, if Oklahoma
does not perform the tests we will lose federal money
c. Most testing today is done to comply with various portions of the No Child Left Behind law, Oklahoma
neednt follow a failed education law handed down by the federal government
d. Teachers know best when and how to test the students in their classes over the material they teach
e. State testing should be done once at the end of the year using a test of general knowledge and those
test results should stay at the state and local level in order to provide accountability to parents and
taxpayers
f. There is simply way too much testing going on currently, children need to be taught, not tested

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9. What are your thoughts about preventing 3
rd
grade students from passing to 4
th
grade based primarily upon the
results of a standardized test ostensibly geared toward reading? (You may choose more than one)
a. Students must graduate 3
rd
grade learning and there is not a better way to make that determination
than via a test of their knowledge
b. We must make sure students graduate 3
rd
grade knowing how to read, yet it is the job of the childs
parent and teacher to ensure that happens
c. Testing has a place in determining the ability of a child to read, however, the voracity of the test must be
carefully examined testing children over language arts skills rather than reading comprehension, for
example, cannot provide an accurate determination of reading proficiency
d. School boards need to determine the procedure for whether or not their students move from 3
rd
to 4
th

grade, not the state

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10. As State Superintendent, will you be joining the Council of Chief State School Officers as Governor, will you be
joining the National Governors Association?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Not applicable
d. Why or why not?

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11. What does the term workforce mean to you in the context of education?
a. We must educate children to ensure businesses have adequate workers in the future
b. Children must be educated using best practices for business in order to insure they have a job in the
future
c. It means nothing - we dont educate children for jobs, we educate children broadly to be everything
they were meant to be and do whatever theyd like when they graduate
d. We must work with businesses to ensure that kids are well enough educated to be good members of the
workforce

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12. Regarding homeschooling:
a. Homeschooling is a right recognized in the Oklahoma State Constitution and it shall be forever upheld
without infringement including coercion or mandate from the state in any area including state testing
b. Many parents do not properly school their children at home and the only way to ensure these children
receive a proper education is to have them take a state test yearly
c. Parents often remove their children from public school because they engage in a lifestyle to include
drugs and other illegal practices so the state must ensure the safety of these children by monitoring
homeschool families in some way
d. Students who are homeschooled are not well-socialized and should be allowed by law to attend
public school functions in order to make sure they are ready to attend college or get a job

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13. Common Core State Standards were to inculcate 21
st
Century Skills in our students. What exactly are 21
st

Century Skills? (you may choose more than one)
a. A national program based on the works of John Dewey that is predicated on the notion that teachers are
not truly necessary in classrooms as students are more capable of imparting knowledge to one another
in groups (project based learning)
b. A notion that students must utilize technology to a much greater degree than traditional education
encourages, as society is becoming quickly dependent upon highly specialized computers and machines
c. A program from the federal government that provides grants to districts through the state in order to
provide after school programming that includes behavior modification and the collection of personal
information to populate databases to make predictions about student success
d. Another way for merchants to make money off the backs of taxpayers; by providing programs to meet
the necessity to forward yet another experimental pedagogy

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14. Oklahoma adopted new Social Studies standards last year. As ROPE has reported, these closely mirror the
Council of Chief State School Officers, C3 Social Studies Framework that uses sources such as the American
Poverty Law Center and refers to the American Republic as a Democracy. Today, in what has become a very
controversial move across the US, AP US History standards are being changed to demote examples of Americas
greatness, remove large sections of study on the Constitution and the war for Independence as well as
Americas Godly heritage. What are your thoughts about this issue? (You may choose more than one)
a. US History should be taught in public school using historical facts derived from actual historical
documents and art such as that found in and around our nations capitol and in the Library of Congress
b. The Mayflower Compact and other historical records documenting the reliance of our Founders on God
should never be taught in public schools as we must observe the legal separation of church and state.
c. US history is complex we must study the good with the bad in order to provide students with the most
well-rounded picture of the country in which they live
d. National organizations such as the CCSSO have greater access to history scholars and historical
documentation were lucky to be able to take advantage of their access

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15. Public Education curricula should be chosen by the:
a. Department of Education
b. State Superintendent
c. State School Board
d. District Superintendents
e. Parents and teachers within local districts

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16. Are you willing to apply for Federal education assistance, such as School Improvement Grants, or the Race to
The Top Early Learning Challenge to provide preschool education needs?
a. Yes
b. No

17. What are your thoughts on taking federal money and/or applying for federal programming for Oklahoma public
education? (you may choose more than one)
a. Frequently, it costs more to administrate federal programs than expected, leaving less money for the
program than was initially advertised
b. Many times federal programs require matching funds that result in the purchase of unnecessary items
either unused or discarded in the final analysis
c. It is important to apply for federal programming as this is the only way to return money sent to the
federal government from Oklahoma, back to Oklahoma
d. The state budget allotment for public education has always fallen short of need, the only way to provide
Oklahoma students an appropriate education, is to accept federal money
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18. School lunch programs (you may choose more than one)
a. are absolute necessity in public school as children who are hungry cant learn
b. are becoming more expensive than ever for states to administer because of new federal dietary
guidelines
c. are a large source of public school funding and as such, cant be cut
d. might be better served by utilizing private organizations geared toward providing food to the needy
than the federal government
e. needs to be examined and returned to state jurisdiction from the federal government in order to help
return local control of public education spending

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19. ROPE does not favor the term school choice, but supports instead the phrase parental choice to identify the
ability of a parent to direct the education of their child within the public education system. What are your
thoughts regarding this term? (you may choose more than one)
a. Parents should be given the money they are taxed for their childs education in order to spend it in a
way that best benefits that child/family
b. Parents should be able to enroll their child in any public school in any district that best needs the needs
of the child/family
c. If parents would stay engaged in their childs education influencing their local school
board/administration/teachers to the best of their abilities there would be no need to remove a child
from their local district schools
d. Because public funding is insufficient, the state is simply unable to direct funding from the budget back
to parents for their use
e. If parents are allowed to send their children to the school of their choice using the tax dollars they
provide the state for public education, many rural public schools would simply vanish for lack of funding

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20. Please number the following starting with 1 as the most important and 5 as the least important in terms of
rights and responsibilities for Oklahoma students in your opinion, not as a function of statute.
a. _____The Oklahoma Department of Education (SDE)
b. _____Department of Health and Human Services (DHS)
c. _____Federal Department of Education (DOE)
d. _____Parents
e. _____State School Board
f. _____District School Board
g. _____Principle
h. _____Teacher

Please use only the space provided to answer the following questions:

Provide a summary of your knowledge relating to the collection of student data in Oklahoma public schools. Please
indicate your policy on the collection of student data and how you will insure the privacy of Oklahoma all Oklahoma
students whether in public, private or home schools.

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Provide a summary of your thoughts on the use of technology in public schools. What is the appropriate use of
computers and iPads for example? What about technology in relation to developmental appropriateness? What do
academic studies say about the effect of technology use on children?

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