{"id":35245,"date":"2022-10-06T05:30:46","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T10:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=35245"},"modified":"2022-10-05T13:32:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T18:32:05","slug":"how-important-is-education-in-oklahomas-race-for-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2022\/10\/06\/how-important-is-education-in-oklahomas-race-for-governor\/","title":{"rendered":"How important is education in Oklahoma\u2019s race for governor?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 20px; border-radius: 6px; overflow: hidden;\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%; height: 200px;\" src=\"https:\/\/player.captivate.fm\/episode\/fd509afe-c6bf-4016-844d-3b21d473ce7f\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before they were political foes, Gov. Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister were united.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2020, when both were Republicans, the pair stressed the need to be vigilant in schools. This was mere hours after COVID-19 had infamously shut down an NBA basketball game in downtown Oklahoma City.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe are working with our schools all across our state to evaluate the developing situation on a day by day basis,\u201d Stitt said <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2020\/03\/12\/oklahoma-officials-say-school-districts-should-be-prepared-to-close-for-coronavirus\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at a press conference<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> following the game.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThank you, Governor,\u201d Hofmeister said. \u201cNothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our students and their families and those who work in schools to serve them.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the pair had been more or less aligned.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But things have changed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They broke off on policies related particularly to masks and keeping schools open amid skyrocketing case counts. Hofmeister changed parties and became a Democrat.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today the pair are squaring off in a race for governor, and it appears to be a close one. Hofmeister is polling just one point behind the incumbent Republican governor per a recent nonpartisan report by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.soonerpoll.com\/post\/governor-stitt-leads-joy-hofmeister-by-just-one-point-in-baseline-poll\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sooner Poll<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhat we&#8217;re seeing this year is that while Kevin Stitt is getting about 70% of Republicans, he&#8217;s losing 15%,\u201d said Bill Shapard, Sooner Poll\u2019s founder.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the poll was surprisingly close in deep red Oklahoma. While Hofmeister has won over many in her new party, Shapard says Stitt seems to be losing more Republicans to his challenger.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSo kind of why is that?\u201d Shapard said. \u201cIs it because they kind of see her as a Republican and they liked her as a Republican and they&#8217;re willing to kind of stick with her a little bit? Maybe they have some sort of beef with Governor Stitt over education or something else.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Education is normally relegated to the back burner in political races \u2013 especially in national races \u2013 said OU political scientist and education policy expert Deven Carlson.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEducation policy can enter into those gubernatorial races because education is ultimately a state level issue,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Education is a sharp dividing line between Hofmeister and Stitt. The governor has made it clear he is all in on vouchers and school choice, while the state superintendent says those kinds of policies would hurt traditional public schools. That\u2019s become a common dichotomy in races <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2021\/11\/04\/1052101647\/education-parents-election-virginia-republicans\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">across the country<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHistorically, you know, public education was really kind of supported by both parties,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cAnd over time, education has become a more partisan issue where public education and the attendant interests are associated with the Democratic Party, and school choice is more generally associated with the Republican Party.\u201d<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But school choice also faces a good deal of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kgou.org\/politics-and-government\/2022-03-28\/oklahomas-massive-school-voucher-bill-is-dead-but-the-ideas-behind-it-are-unlikely-to-go-away\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">opposition<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> within the GOP. It\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2022\/03\/17\/what-does-school-choice-look-like-in-rural-oklahoma\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">especially unpopular<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with rural Republicans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, education policy changes come down to money. And no matter who wins, advancing their goals will be highly dependent on what the legislature is or isn\u2019t willing to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the last session, lawmakers kept public education funding flat and also failed to pass a major private K-12 scholarship bill. At the same time, they put billions of dollars into rainy day funds.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSince the teacher walkout and the subsequent legislation that did address a number of the asks from the public education community, we haven&#8217;t seen a whole lot happen at the state level with respect to education, and I kind of see that continuing for the next several years,\u201d Carlson said.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The race is tightening. Sooner Poll and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kgou.org\/politics-and-government\/2022-09-28\/amber-integrated-poll-shows-democratic-lead-in-state-superintendent-race\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amber Integrated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have both come out with polls showing a narrow lead for the incumbent governor in a deep red state. Education could be playing a role, especially in driving pro-public school voters toward Hofmeister, who had a presence at the 2018 walkout as state superintendent.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abortion. Inflation. Education. All those issues will combine to motivate people to the polls. But how much the issues ultimately move the needle in Oklahoma remains unclear. Ultimately, voters will decide that on election day.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEducation is perhaps more relevant in this race than in many,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cBut it&#8217;s still far from the only issue that voters are going to think about or care about when they cast their ballot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before they were political foes, Gov. Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister were united.In 2020, when both were Republicans, the pair stressed the need to be vigilant in schools. This was mere hours after COVID-19 had infamously shut down an NBA basketball game in downtown Oklahoma City.\u201cWe are working with our schools all across [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":32507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35245"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35245"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35248,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35245\/revisions\/35248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}