On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, a general election will be held for a member on the Tulsa Public School Board representing District 1. Two candidates are seeking the position: the incumbent, Ms. Stacey Woolley, who is also the current president of the board, and Mr. Jared Buswell.
As a “a proud citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma,” Ms. Woolley is a speech-language pathologist and dyslexia interventionist. She considers herself to be “an advocate for public education [which is] a pillar of Democracy.” With three of her own children attending Tulsa public schools, Woolley certainly has a vested interest in the success of the school system.
Mr. Buswell is a graduate of Oral Roberts University, and is a National Merit Scholar, a Google Trusted Photographer, certified life design coach, and a 15-year resident of west Tulsa. As the board chairman of Favor International, Buswell helps direct the African educational nonprofit to transform war-affected villages throughout South Sudan and surrounding nations. His work experience includes designing online courses, writing curriculum, training federal census workers, and assisting an oral education project for Afghanistan’s first presidential election.
While the school board election is “non-partisan,” a reading of the candidates’ Facebook pages show some fundamental differences. Ms. Woolley endorsed Jena Nelson for State Superintendent and Joy Hofmeister for governor in the past state election. In addition to supporting the Trevor Project, Woolley thinks Oklahoma schools’ being dependent on federal funds is a good thing. On the other hand, Mr. Buswell believes all students should be treated as individuals, not as unimportant units of the collective. Therefore, he supports “school choice,” i.e., other educational options besides public schools to meet the individuality of students. Even though other options exist, Buswell wishes to ensure that the tax-supported school is achieving superior results in accordance with its stated mission.
Regarding the preparation of young people to become productive citizens, Ms. Woolley states that this goal requires “achieving a high level of literacy” among students. However, Mr. Buswell insists the desired goal cannot be achieved without “moral character,” and the schools must ensure adequate instruction in both knowledge and ethics.
Ms. Woolley believes favorable outcomes in the schools cannot and will not be achieved “without very real intentionality on achieving the wildly important goals.” As the president of the board, Ms. Woolley has focused her attention on the plans and the funding to ensure the school system “is moving toward improvement.” Wanting more local involvement, Mr. Buswell desires Tulsa’s “resilient and generous business community” to be proactive with the schools by offering to the students more experiences. Also, to realize the goal of the school system, Buswell emphasizes the necessity to improve communication with parents and to have their active participation in all decisions affecting their children’s education.
The candidates’ campaign websites are:
Stacey Woolley
Jared Buswell