“Throwin’ money at the problem.” Have you heard that one? Me too. Have you heard this one, “Don’t give’em any money. That will solve the problem.” Me either. Exactly how defunding Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) was going to improve a student’s standardized test scores had me scratching my head.
I recall a time when you wanted your children in the Tulsa Public Schools. They were the crown jewels of public education in Oklahoma. Tulsa Public Schools were building new schools to service the new housing developments along the city’s edges.
TPS opened Charles Mason High School in January 1974 and closed it in March of 1979. A miscalculation. Then, in the past 50 years, something happened. Mason butted up against Jenks. New housing growth and the young families that go with it were now out beyond the TPS boundaries.
If you live in eastern Oklahoma and follow the local news you are aware TPS is struggling mightily. Median or Mean scores on standardized test are no longer a source of pride. Rather the results are presented with more than a modicum of concern.
It should concern us as Oklahomans. Tulsa is one of our two major cities. No matter where we currently reside, many of our children and grandchildren will live and be educated in Metro Tulsa. I haven’t always agreed with Newark, New Jersey native and United States Senator, Corey Booker, but he said, “I’m concerned that there will never be a great Newark unless there is a great public-school system for our city.” I agree.
Now I want to remind you that I’m guy who enjoys correlating “death by drowning and sale of chocolate ice cream.” When it comes to statistics, I’m cautious. But there are some numbers I want to share. I’m not certain what they mean but I believe they mean something.
In 1970, Tulsa’s population was about 332,000 and the Tulsa Metro areas population was 393,000. 82% of the population of the Tulsa Metro lived within the Tulsa city limits. In 2020, both the population of the city and the metro had grown considerably. A major difference was come 2020 only 43% of metro population was within the city limits. I don’t believe it is a revelation to anyone who had driven through Broken Arrow, Jenks or Owasso to know that the suburbs continue to grow. These communities are building new schools. I wonder if each will in their turn build their Charles Mason High School. Oh, wait. We can just stop funding them and that will solve the problem.
I’m sitting on my porch and trying to digest this. I do not believe the student population of Tulsa Public Schools of 1970 and 2020 are the same. Eastern Oklahoma’s major city isn’t the same.
I’m convinced there are any number of folks, most with a vested interest of some sort or another, folks who have statistics to support their positions. I’m skeptical. Be skeptical. Think chocolate ice cream. Apply common sense. Common sense. That commodity seems to have been in awfully short supply.
Something else that puzzles me. How did the resignation of the TPS Superintendent solve the problem?
I’m blinded by Coke fizz.
The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. – Abraham Lincoln
