Scott Pendleton for Tulsa school board, Office 5

A word about the other three active candidates:

John Croisant, a former teacher, gave some good answers, particularly on the importance of empowering teachers to tailor their approach to the needs of their students, rather than top-down imposition of methods, as a key to teacher retention. But Croisant's list of campaign donors, which includes two former school board members and former Mayor Kathy Taylor and other major Democratic donors, suggests to me that he may be too connected with Tulsa's establishment to push for needed reforms.

Kelsey Royce has the enthusiastic support of many who want reform at TPS. Royce has shown an aptitude for digging into the details of school district finances, such as this Tulsa Kids article from last September which calls out Gist and her team as responsible for "a public school district made sick by Munchausen-By-Proxy Policies inflicted by the Superintendent, other administrators, and approved of by the Board of Education." In her answers to the BatesLine questionnaire she describes her attitude toward curriculum as "anti-gimmick" and decries "pilot programs tied to grants or paid for with donor dollars proliferating in our classrooms - programs unproven in their efficacy and being tested on our children." She points out how these experiments hurt our kids. "There are important developmental windows in the education that close and are harder to open again when inappropriate curriculum is utilized."

I've known two of the candidates in the race for a long time. I met Shane Saunders during his time as a staffer for Congressman John Sullivan, and I supported his run for State House District 70 in 2012. All other things being equal, I might have been inclined to back the Republican in the race who has the connections to raise campaign funds and understands the nuts and bolts of campaigning.

But there are a few factors that stop me from supporting Saunders. He is the only candidate in the race that hasn't committed to removing Deborah Gist as superintendent. (I will give Shane credit for engaging a hostile, anonymous Facebook post in a winsome way.) Saunders won the endorsement of the Tulsa Regional Chamber and is proud of the fact. (As I've explained many times before, Chambers of Commerce in general and our local Chamber in particular are not friendly to conservative ideals or institutional reform.)

While I cheered many of Saunders's answers to the BatesLine questionnaire, his praise for what he called "a forward-thinking and comprehensive policy dealing with a wide-ranging set of issues related to LGBTQ rights and protections," was a huge disappointment. That policy, based on unscientific gender ideology, was developed in accord with Obama administration's wild interpretation of Title IX rules against sex discrimination, a demand that schools treat young men pretending to be women as if they really were women for all purposes. Wisely, this foolishness was rescinded by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, but Gist doubled down on the misguided policy, and Shane Saunders agrees with Gist. Voters who value private, safe spaces for girls and a fair opportunity for young women to compete in athletics won't be happy with Saunders's answer.

I got to know Scott Pendleton over a decade ago through Tulsa's music community. Scott and his wife Virginia and their two daughters, Emma Jane and Marina, formed the Pendleton Family Fiddlers and performed around the region, including regular appearances at the historic Spotlight Theater's "Olio" of variety acts. Scott, who plays rhythm guitar, is a regular as an accompanist at fiddle contests and festivals. Emma Jane and Marina have grown up and finished college and continue to excel in state, regional, and national fiddle contests alongside professional pursuits. Scott's leadership has been credited with putting the Spotlight Theater on a firm financial footing.

A 1997 item in the New York Times highlights Pendleton's proactive approach to problem-solving: Learning about national academic contests for school students that failed for lack of entrants, he assembled and published a directory of contests to connect students with opportunities, and he supplemented it with a website in the early days of the World Wide Web.

Scott Pendleton began his career as a journalist, working as a correspondent and editor for the highly esteemed Christian Science Monitor. For the last two decades, he's been an independent software developer, creating database and user interface applications customized to meet unique business needs. As his own boss, Pendleton isn't beholden to the local Tulsa power structure. Scott's analytical mindset, persistent curiosity, and work ethic, qualities that have served him well in journalism and software development, are just what we need on the Tulsa school board.

Pendleton believes that this is a high-stakes election, calling it "a referendum on Tulsa's future." He is confident that, with the right leadership, TPS can become America's best school district. He wants to see TPS aim higher than pathetic goals like TPS's current target of 28% proficiency for third graders in reading and math.

I especially like what Pendleton has to say about the role of the school board:

A school is only as good as the board that holds it accountable. ... A board must never be isolated. Board members need to visit classrooms, listen to teachers, walk in on meetings unexpectedly, read documents, seek records, and ask awkward questions. The power of asking and then listening is colossal.

Pendleton has a special interest in special education, dating back to his work as a camp counselor for special-needs students and more recent work as a one-on-one Sunday School teacher for an autistic child. Pendleton says special education is another area where TPS administration is failing students.

Last April the news broke of a scandal at TPS: the individualized education plans (IEPs) of the special education students were anything but individualized. An alert parent of two SPED students was the one who noticed. Her kids were in different grades at different schools and had different disabilities, but their IEPs were identical. She complained to OSDE, which investigated in a hurry, because lots of federal funding was at risk. The investigation showed that the problem was widespread at TPS, and that district policy was just to cut and paste. The district took corrective action, but parents of SPED students claim that problems remain.

Pendleton notes that 19% of TPS students are enrolled in special education, "likely their one chance to acquire the skills to achieve an independent life." He writes, "We cannot neglect them."

Even as a candidate, Pendleton has succeeded in stopping a foolish expenditure. When a Federal grant application for $140,000 for Transcendental Meditation for 240 students and 20 staff was on January's school board agenda, Pendleton spoke against the grant, pointing out the disconnect between the district's pleas for more funds and this wasteful spending. He mentions a teacher who improved student focus by implementing a period of calm quiet, without needing to pay TM licensing fees or any other costs. He called the TM grant to the attention of State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who promised to review the situation; a few days later the TM plan was dropped.

Pendleton's answer to my question about transgender issues was spot-on: "Every student should be treated with dignity and have the right to use a bathroom. Gender-neutral bathrooms should be arranged at TPS facilities. Biological boys should never be allowed to compete on girls' athletic teams or use their locker rooms, and vice-versa."

Tulsa's children, parents, teachers, and taxpayers need a school board full of intelligent, hard-working, analytical, and persistent members who aren't afraid to barge in on meetings and ask awkward questions. Electing Scott Pendleton would be a great start in that direction. If you live in Election District 5, I hope you'll join me in voting for Scott Pendleton on Tuesday, February 11, 2020.