The Oklahoma State School Boards Association is hosting five virtual information sessions for Oklahomans interested in serving on a local school board.  The first three “So You Want to be a School Board Member?” sessions – at 6 p.m. Oct. 24, noon Nov. 15 and 6 p.m. Nov. 30 – are free and open to anyone who wants to learn more about school board service. […]

All-State School Board Awards Distinguished Service Awards   OSSBA recently honored five school board members from across Oklahoma as this year’s 2023 All-State School Board, recognizing their outstanding service to their communities, school district and state. Combined, this year’s honorees have served more than 10 decades as locally elected civil leaders. OSSBA is proud to […]

Annual OSSBA Survey Tracks Teacher Shortage Challenge A new survey shows the struggle to recruit and retain educators in Oklahoma is reaching new levels.  Oklahoma schools reported 1,019 teaching vacancies as the 2022-2023 school year began even as they are on pace to employ record numbers of emergency certified teachers and plan to expand the […]

The Oklahoma State School Boards Association selected two organizations that exhibited a strong commitment to their school districts and public education as the recipients of the 2022 Barbara Lynch Community Partner Award – North Tulsa Community Education Task Force and Seaboard Foods. Both organizations exhibited extraordinary passion for their school districts, providing outreach opportunities, furthering […]

Collins, Snell, Humphrey, Lewis, Gowin recognized for dedication to public education The Oklahoma State School Boards Association (OSSBA) has selected five Oklahoma school board members, who demonstrated outstanding service to their local school boards and communities, to be a part of the 2022 All-State School Board.   The honorees are Kandy Collins, Verdigris; Andrew Snell, Locust […]

By W. Scott Abbott There’s not just a single defining moment in my more than two decades serving on the school board in Fort Gibson that stands a lasting reminder of the importance of the work we do in helping educate the children of our communities. For me, it’s actually a moment that happens every […]

By Brandon Carey  OSSBA Staff Attorney On May 7, 2021, the Oklahoma governor signed House Bill 1775, which included a detailed list of what teachers can’t teach in an Oklahoma classroom regarding race and sex. Fortunately for educators and for school districts, the toxic rhetoric around the bill bore little resemblance to the actual bill language.  Coming […]

  For years, we’ve closely tracked how Oklahoma stacks up when it comes to teacher pay. The reason is simple: children need and deserve the best teachers. Oklahoma remains in a teacher shortage and must stay competitive to keep and reward the great teachers already in our classrooms. Just as important, our state must be […]

By Scott Abbott My three boys were young and not even all in school yet when I first ran for school board in Fort Gibson. I knew that over the next two decades, the lessons they learned, the friends they made and the teachers they encountered would shape them and their futures in ways I […]

By Michael Ray In 2019, it’s still easy to think about school as a place and education as an activity that happens mostly within the physical confines of a school. I don’t think that’s ever really been the case, and it’s certainly not true today. Education at its best has always been a partnership between […]