Ryan Walters, our current Oklahoma Secretary of Education visited Allen Public Schools on Tuesday. Mr. Walters is running for Oklahoma State Superintendent to replace Joy Hofmeister who is running for governor.

I had reached out to Mr. Walters to visit with him about rural schools. He agreed to stop by our school, tour it and visit with me about issues that affect our students and community. What is good for Oklahoma City and Tulsa is not always what is good for Allen, Oklahoma. One size fits all does not work and I just wanted him to hear issues that affect us here locally and advocate for local control and our local values.

We discussed teacher shortages. When we have an opening we get very few applicants and sometimes none at all. We discussed school finances. We are dependent on state aid and policies passed in OKC directly affect how much money our school gets each year. We discussed mandates. Mandates are when we get state and federal money but have to use it exactly like they tell us to and many times it is used to push political and social agendas. We discussed preparing our students for the world of work and it doesn’t have to be just college. We discuss many other issues as well.

I was impressed that he came to our school and he seemed genuinely interested in issues that affect our school. I feel we need to stand up for our local values and be as vocal as we can about it. The world is changing around us and the thinking that “it will never happen here” is naive thinking. Decisions made in Washington DC and OKC trickle down to us and not all of them are good. If Mr. Walters or whoever is the next State Superintendent, I want them to know where Allen Oklahoma is and advocate for us and for all rural Oklahoma schools letting them know the issues that affect us here.