OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City reached another milestone Monday with the hiring of a new superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools.
For the first time, black women will simultaneously lead the state’s two largest school districts: OKCPS and Tulsa Public Schools.
Jamie Polk started as superintendent of OKCPS on Monday, succeeding Sean McDaniel.
Ebony Johnson became the first Black woman to lead the Tulsa district, the state’s largest by enrollment. She was elected interim principal in September and was hired permanently in December.
Polk says she looks forward to working with Johnson to enrich students’ educational experiences and opportunities.
“We believe every child deserves to see themselves represented in the educators and leaders who guide them on their educational path,” Polk said.
Tulsa schools did not respond to a request for comment from Johnson.
New leadership in a state where teacher demographics don’t match student demographics
When Johnson was promoted at TPS, Oklahoma had only one other black female principal serving in the state at the time: Cecilia Robinson-Woods of Millwood Public Schools.
Robinson-Woods said she sees the appointments of Johnson and Polk as a “huge step” for women, especially Black women, to gain the confidence to lead a school district.
It also boosts representation of groups that are not always well served, she said.
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“It’s no secret that minority kids, particularly black kids, have some of the lowest test scores across all dimensions,” Robinson-Woods said. “Just because you have someone of color, it’s not going to change things for those students, but it certainly gives you perspective and it certainly broadens the conversation about what kids need.”
Research has shown that having a teacher of their own race has a positive effect on test scores and long-term outcomes for minority students.
But the demographics of teachers and school leaders in Oklahoma’s public schools differ greatly from those of the students they serve, according to state data from the 2022-23 school year. While 77% of public teachers in the state are white, more than half of all students are racial or ethnic minorities.
Diverse leadership is important in districts that want to prioritize equity, said Karlos Hill, an associate professor of African and African American studies at the University of Oklahoma.
“We care about equity, both in terms of making sure our kids get a fair education, but we also have to care about the people who are educating them,” Hill said, “and making sure that there is a diverse group, not just teachers, but diverse leaders to make sure that the policies (and) procedures of the school are not just reflective of one group, but of the community.”
A ‘long and deep history of exclusion’
Appointing Black female school administrators is important in the context of the “long and deep history of exclusion” of people of color in the state, said Hill, who is also an advisor to the OU president for community engagement.
That history, he said, is why Oklahoma didn’t reach this milestone decades ago.
“If we care about equality, we will also care about that history of exclusion and the ways it plays out today,” Hill said.
Unlike Tulsa, Oklahoma City has had black female predecessors in its superintendent’s office. The first was Betty Mason in 1992, who was also the first woman and the first African American superintendent to lead OKCPS.
“We all owe her a debt of gratitude for setting the stage for the historic moment we find ourselves in today,” Polk said.
The new superintendent said her district will continue to recruit diverse teachers through the “Grow Our Own” program. The initiative, created in 2016 by the OKCPS Foundation, covers the cost of a teaching credential for paraprofessionals working in the district.
Twenty-five teachers, most of whom are bilingual or racially diverse, have earned bachelor’s degrees through the program so far, and another 81 are on track to graduate this summer. The OKCPS Foundation launched a similar program to support aspiring school administrators who want to earn master’s degrees.
Sen. George Young, D-Oklahoma City, said he hopes Polk will continue to emphasize the teacher pipeline program and universal teacher pay. Young has represented the historically black area of northeast Oklahoma City in the state Legislature for 10 years and is a pastor in the community.
“When you have people standing in front of you that look like you, it does make a difference,” Young said. “It doesn’t make the whole difference, but it does make a difference. And so I hope she’ll remember that and see the things that made a difference in her life. And I think that will make a difference in the life of our school district.”
Polk, originally from Iowa, was a teacher, principal and district administrator for 25 years in Lawton Public Schools, where she moved because of her husband’s military career. McDaniel, the outgoing OKCPS superintendent, hired her in 2019 to oversee the district’s elementary schools.
Robinson-Woods, who leads the neighboring Millwood district, says she has found Polk to be a “very pleasant” leader and data-driven problem solver.
Similar descriptions have been applied to Johnson, who is trying to engineer an academic turnaround amid intense pressure from the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Johnson grew up in Tulsa and spent her entire career in the district when the local school board promoted her from chief academic officer to superintendent.
Like Johnson, this is Polk’s first job as a school principal, and she says she is “deeply honored” to accept the position.
“Going forward, OKCPS will remain steadfast in our commitment to cultivating leadership that reflects the vibrant diversity of the communities we serve,” Polk said.
Voice of Oklahoma is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions:info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice onFacebook AndTwitter.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC and Tulsa school districts both led by Black women for first time
