Nonpartisan group urges Tulsa school leaders to focus on family priorities

But it’s the aim of at least one group of Tulsans, who are asking school board candidates and district leaders to ignore the distractions and focus instead on what’s most important to families.

ACTION — a nonpartisan civic engagement organization made up of around 15 member institutions, most of them churches or faith-related — conducted extensive outreach over the past two years to identify what it says are the priority issues for school families and other education stakeholders in Tulsa.

Topping that list is mental health, followed by absenteeism, teacher support, parent engagement, school safety and transportation.

The group recently hosted a “public accountability session” at the University of Tulsa, where it asked candidates in the upcoming election for the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education to pledge to work with it on its issues agenda.

“We want to work with whoever gets in that office,” said the Rev. Chris Moore of ACTION member Fellowship Congregational Church. “We don’t tell people who to vote for. We are a nonpartisan organization.”

ACTION set out to learn the primary concerns of families and other stakeholders — those directly affected by school board decisions — in October 2022, when it launched its 1,000 Conversation Campaign.

The group asks people to tell their stories rather than just offer opinions. It’s a better way, it says, to learn about the issues that are happening in people’s lives.

The group quickly attained its stated goal. But it didn’t stop there.

Moore said: “I’d estimate that we’ve had another 500 conversations since then, specifically related to education, where we were speaking to teachers, parents, grandparents, students, experts in the mental health field, experts in education. We wanted to really land on the issues that are winnable and that people have the energy to take on.”

Lynn Minden of group member First Lutheran Church said: “We are just bringing awareness to the people wanting to be leaders in the district and saying this is what is actually happening in these schools. These are what teachers and families are telling us.”

“We want to work with you to focus on that and work together to figure out some possible solutions.”

Christy Emig of All Souls Unitarian Church said the education campaign grew naturally out of a previous effort to better understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on families.

It was already well underway, Emig added, when the district was threatened last year with the loss of its accreditation.

“Honestly, that just amped it up for everybody,” Emig said. “We started hearing more and more stories than what we were already hearing.”

Emig, a TPS graduate and former teacher, said that with the troubles besetting the district and Oklahoma public education more broadly, it’s easy to feel frustrated and powerless.

“But while I can’t do anything about some things, what I can do is work with all these other institutions in ACTION and figure out what issue can we carve out and what difference can we make,” Emig said. “I had to pour all my energy into that because I have to do something with what I’m feeling right now.”

ACTION, which stands for Allied Communities of Tulsa Inspiring Our Neighborhoods, was founded in 2013 with a goal of developing civic leaders who value bipartisanship.

In the time since it has several accomplishments, including fostering the passage of a bipartisan Student Loan Borrowers Bill of Rights in 2021; advocating for $6 million in rent and utility assistance for families during the COVID-19 pandemic; and launching the city’s only area-wide tenant association, United Tenants of Tulsa.

For more information, go to ACTIONtulsa.org.

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