Journalist: Colin Udall (OSU)
Senate Bill TU-001 passed in the Senate 19-2 and in the House 48-5. The “Department of
Education Democratization Act” was proposed by Sen. Bell (TU). It proposes to amend the
means in which the Oklahoma Board of Education is chosen from gubernatorial appointments to
public elections. It would create six elections, five from congressional districts and one from the
state at large.
Sen. Bell sat down for an interview to discuss the bill. In response to a question regarding if this
bill was meant to fix an issue with the current system, Sen. Bell said, “Not necessarily a
problem, per se. I just personally am of the opinion that the people should get more of a direct
voice whenever possible.” Continuing, Sen. Bell said, “I think it is better to safeguard against the
governor appointing his buddies and special interests… leave that up to the people of the state
of Oklahoma.”
One of the five opponents of the bill in the House, Rep. Zachary (OBU), also sat down for an
interview to discuss his opposition to the bill. Rep. Zachary said, “My concern would be that as a
country, we already struggle with voter turnout. The main example would be the past executive
election we had.” Further, Rep. Zachary said, “If we’re struggling so much to vote for the single
most important office in the government, why would we think that our vote turnout would be any
better for a simple board of educators.”
Rep. Zachary also spoke on his other concern for the bill, saying, “The concern [is] that the
individuals that do show up are not mainly concerned with giving their children and their
communities the best education, but more concerned with trying to find somebody who just
agrees with them politically.”
Finally, Sen. Bell responded to the primary concern of voter turnout, saying, “These are already
happening in major midterm and presidential election years. If people see that on the ballot, I
think they are going to be motivated to go ahead and vote for it.” Further, Sen. Bell said, “When
we are talking about education, it is such a hot button issue in Oklahoma. I think this is an issue
specifically that people will pay attention to. You have the state superintendent of public
instruction that is normally a very low profile election, getting national attention, for better or for
worse.”
Senate Bill TU-001 will move to the governor’s desk.