Fact-Checking the Oklahoma state superintendent runoff debate

By Oklahoma Watch

Republican state superintendent candidates Robert Franklin and James Taylor faced off in a debate Monday evening televised on News 9 in Oklahoma City and News on 6 in Tulsa. The candidates had different takes on topics ranging from what’s needed to improve student results in reading, private school vouchers and the role of religion in public schools.

Franklin, a part-time lecturer at the University of Oklahoma, retired associate superintendent at Tulsa Technology Center and former public school administrator and teacher, and Taylor, a longtime pastor with a church in Norman and current history teacher at Little Axe High School, will appear on the Aug. 25 Republican runoff ballot. The winner will face Democrat Jennettie Marshall in the Nov. 3 general election. 

Both Taylor and Franklin made claims that warrant additional scrutiny. Here are the facts, categorized by topic: 

Improving student literacy

The Claim: Taylor said the so-called “Mississippi Miracle,” a slate of comprehensive early literacy reforms implemented there since 2013, now credited with dramatic improvements in student test scores, originated in Oklahoma but was later gutted. 

“Mississippi just did what we initially started,” he said during Monday evening’s debate. 

The Facts: Since 2013, Mississippi lawmakers have mandated that only scientifically based strategies, including phonics, be used to teach reading in public schools; that third-graders who do not pass the state test be held back; and that new literacy coach positions be created in schools across the state. Those reforms are widely credited with closing Mississippi’s student achievement gap with the rest of the nation, even as that state has remained the poorest in the nation. 

By comparison, Oklahoma lawmakers passed a mandatory third-grade reading retention law in 2011 called the Reading Sufficiency Act, but quickly added a provision to allow students who failed the test to be promoted to fourth grade if recommended by a team of educators and parents, which resulted in far fewer students being retained. Lawmakers fully reinstated a strict third-grade retention mandate, with limited exemptions, that is set to take effect in 2027-28.

The Claim: Taylor said Lindel Fields, who was appointed state superintendent in October after Ryan Walters’ resignation, should be “enforcing” new reading instruction requirements from the state legislature.

The Facts: The host of new requirements in the Strong Readers Act, passed with Senate Bill 1778, came with a gradual phase-in. The requirement that third-graders who don’t pass the state reading test and don’t qualify for an exemption be held back, as well as a new requirement for schools to give second graders the state’s third-grade reading test unless their parents opt out, won’t kick in until 2027-28.

The Claim: In calling for even more funding to provide additional personnel for these positions, Taylor said the Oklahoma Legislature added funding for 20 reading specialists, “but that’s not enough.”

The Facts: The Oklahoma Legislature did not fund new reading specialists, which are local school employees with advanced training in literacy who diagnose students’ reading difficulties, provide students with targeted interventions, and coach classroom teachers. Instead, lawmakers invested $5 million to expand the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Help Elevate Reading Outcomes for Every Student literacy coaching team from five to 24 reading coaches and six regional supervisors. Placed regionally across the state, HEROES team members’ mission is to support school districts in implementing the requirements of the Strong Readers Act, by developing or improving sustainable and systemic literacy programming.

The Claim: In addition to mandating science-based reading instruction methods, Taylor said the Oklahoma Legislature also has restored mandatory instruction in cursive writing and he believes that will contribute to higher reading scores for students. 

The Facts: House Bill 3727 was signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt in April 2024 and took effect beginning with the 2024–25 school year. That law requires all public schools, including charter schools, to begin cursive instruction in Grade 3 with the goal of ensuring students can read cursive and write it legibly by the end of the fifth grade.

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Private school vouchers

The Claim: When asked his stance on the Parental Choice Tax Credit, Franklin said he thought the program picked winners and losers. He didn’t suggest any changes, but said the state should analyze its goals and expectations before any future expansion.  

The Facts: The program operates on a first-come, first-served basis, although low-income families get earlier access to apply. The program has broad income eligibility limits. Families with incomes below $75,000 can get the maximum credit of $7,500 per child. The credit steps down across several income levels, reaching $5,000 per child for incomes above $250,000. There is no upper income cap. The state’s median household income is $65,000. 

The Claim: Taylor said the tax credit program has accountability built into it. He said parents do not see the money and instead have to go to school to countersign the tax credit award checks for their children. The schools have already been vetted by the state, Taylor said. 

The Facts: Taylor is correct on the check endorsement process and the state’s requirement for participating private schools to be accredited, although the law gives them until 2027 to obtain accreditation. 

The Claim: Taylor said many parents have children in private schools that aren’t getting the Parental Choice Tax Credit. 

The Facts: Demand for the tax credit has been high, and was among the reasons Republican lawmakers recently raised annual, maximum funding from $250 million to $275 million. The latest data from the Oklahoma Tax Commission shows 39,629 students qualified for the tax credit for 2026-27.

Personal history

The Claim: A moderator asked Taylor, who was terminated from his teaching position with Oklahoma City Public Schools in November 2021 because he refused to wear a mask, why voters should trust him. Taylor said that it was illegal for the district to institute a mandatory mask policy and he was forced to choose between violating the law and losing his job. 

The Facts: Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 658 into law, which took effect on July 1, 2021, albeit with a swift legal challenge. Among other provisions, it prohibited school boards from implementing a mask mandate unless a state of emergency is in effect. 

Sean McDaniel, then-superintendent of OKCPS, instituted a district-wide mask mandate on Aug. 13, 2021. He said that SB 658 applied only to school boards, not superintendents, and that he was within his rights to take executive action. The rule, which allowed for teachers to request a medical exemption, remained in effect until March 1, 2022. 

Taylor and five other teachers showed up to the first day of school on Aug. 16, 2021, and refused to wear a mask, so they were sent home and placed on paid administrative leave. Nine days later, McDaniel recommended their termination. 

On Sept. 1, 2021, Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai temporarily delayed implementation of the SB 658 provision restricting district mask mandates. In September 2022, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down that portion of the law, ruling that it unconstitutionally restricted school districts from acting independently. 

In August 2023, Taylor and five other teachers filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Oklahoma City Public Schools. The case remains open, according to online court records. 

Local control vs. state control

The Claim: As Taylor expressed his support for local school districts determining what is needed for their students, he said schools currently choose their curriculum, teachers, and other resources. 

The Facts: School districts do select their own curriculum, but the content must closely follow Oklahoma Academic Standards, which the state board of education reviews every six years.

The Claim: Franklin said he’s never touted school consolidation or a move to countywide superintendents and elected school boards. Instead, he said the state needs to invest in long-term data systems to analyze what is happening in each school. He said Oklahoma has started to work on that. 

The Facts: In recent press interviews, Franklin has instead touted the idea of designating regional service centers with shared resources for smaller, rural school districts, such as physical, speech and occupational therapists, as well as information technology and chief financial officer services. Oklahoma School Report Cards and the Oklahoma Office of Educational Quality and Accountability currently track school performance data.

Post-Walters administration

The Claim: Asked how he would restore confidence in the state superintendent’s office following Ryan Walters, Taylor said his opposition to critical race theory is one of his successes, and he helped the attorney general’s office defend House Bill 1775.

The Facts: In a federal lawsuit challenging House Bill 1775, Taylor filed an affidavit in support of the law. In his affidavit, Taylor stated he read the law several times and didn’t find it vague or overly broad and it wouldn’t hinder him from teaching history. A federal judge in 2024 enjoined portions of the law for being unclear. The lawsuit, filed in 2021, is ongoing. 

Religion in schools

The Claim: Taylor quoted John Adams as saying, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other,” and said that Adams was not speaking about religion in general, but Christianity in particular.

The Facts: Scholars disagree. As a Deist — spiritual but not dogmatic — Adams was a fervent believer in religious freedom. Although Adams occasionally made positive references to Christianity, he was not an advocate of any particular religion. Other Adams quotes on religion read, in part, “The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,” “The divinity of Jesus is a convenient cover for absurdity,” and “The United States is not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish nation or a Mohammedan nation.”

The Claim: Franklin said that religious instruction was an undue burden on teachers who were simultaneously tasked with teaching math and English, and suggested that the teaching of religion should be left to family and religious leaders.

The Facts: Opinions vary widely on teaching religion in schools. Some argue that dedicated religious instruction can teach empathy when taught from an academic, non-devotional perspective. Others argue that religion should not be taught by non-specialists because there may be bias toward the instructor’s religion and may overlook non-spiritual perspectives. 

Federal grants

The Claim: Franklin claimed that the prior administration under Ryan Walters did not chase federal dollars. He added that the federal money went to other states and that Oklahoma should have applied for the grants as well.

The Facts: Franklin is correct. In 2023, the Tulsa World reported that Walters vowed not to apply for federal grants that run counter to Oklahoma values. A longtime grant writer told the publication that the Oklahoma State Department of Education had not applied for a single grant and that the list of grants Walters provided to legislators was from his predecessor, Joy Hofmeister.

It is unclear how much grant money Oklahoma lost out on because the prior administration did not seek federal grants.

Success stories

Claim: Franklin cited a Union Public Schools program, through which he said the 2023 or 2024 National Teacher of the Year, Rebecka Peterson, teaches high schoolers aspiring to be teachers pedagogy, school discipline, and classroom management, and they intern in classrooms across the school district.  

Facts: Peterson was the 2020-2021 Union Teacher of the Year, 2022 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year and National Teacher of the Year in 2023. She runs the Future Educator program at Union High School in Tulsa. The first cohort of students graduated this year. 

Claim: Taylor cited a CareerTech in Drumright that offers a teacher preparation program for high school students. 

Facts: Central Tech’s campus in Drumright will offer a new career program for high school juniors and seniors called Teacher Prep beginning this fall. 

“Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.”