Nominees for education secretary, state regents and state Board of Education approved

Four key executive nominations by Gov. Kevin Stitt, including his current state education secretary, received confirmation Tuesday by the Oklahoma Senate Education Committee, but the committee’s final meeting of the legislative session adjourned without two other nominations being heard.

Senators confirmed the nominations of Nellie Tayloe Sanders as education secretary, Ken Levit as a member of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, Zachary Archer as an Oklahoma State Board of Education member and Broken Arrow Public Schools Superintendent Chuck Perry as a member of the board of regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO). All the approval votes were unanimous except for that of Archer, which state Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, opposed.

The nominations now move to the Senate for final consideration. The nominations must be voted upon by the Senate before 5 p.m. on Friday, when the current legislative session ends.

Stitt publicly campaigned last Friday for two other nominations to be considered. He specifically asked for consideration of Alex Gray for a seat on the state Board of Education and of Audrey Katigan for a seat on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. That didn’t happen. A senator must carry each executive nomination through the confirmation process, and Hicks said last month she would not carry the nominations of Katigan and Gray in the Senate.

Sanders was the first nominee considered Tuesday, and before answering questions from senators, she turned to her sons, Davis and Walker, and told them, “When you guys were diagnosed with dyslexia, I told you back then that I would never stop fighting for you, until my heart was black and blue. It’s because of you that I am sitting here. I am so proud of you, and I appreciate you making room for those 1.3 million children in our state that need me, too. I love you guys! Thank you.”

Sanders, who also has dyslexia, has said her passion is helping kids who struggle with learning find better ways to succeed in the classroom.

More: Stitt pushes for 6 of his executive nominations to be considered by the Oklahoma Senate

“It is a guiding force in my life, because if you do not have the ability to learn to read the same way as everybody else, you have to fight for it, and it is a right that can never be taken away, once you receive the gift of literacy,” she said.

Only one committee member, Hicks, asked questions of Sanders during the hearing. Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, and Sanders’ Senate sponsor, Sen. Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, spoke in support of Sanders. Paxton said she “hit the ground running” after her appointment and noted she’d made the effort to speak to educators in the Tuttle district about successful teaching methods. He said he’d watched her “eagerness to learn from people on the ground.”

'Monolithic' voting by state Board of Education questioned by Senate committee chair

Archer, a former member of the Hammon Public Schools board in far western Oklahoma, has served since October on the state Board of Education, which is led by state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters. Since taking office, Archer has not cast a vote opposite that of Walters on any issue.

Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, the Education Committee chair, noted the state board’s “monolithic” voting record under Walters, telling Archer he was “not there to work for any agency director; you’re there to represent the interest of all Oklahomans.” Pugh told Archer he “will always have your back if you’re doing the right thing.”

Hicks, one of two Democrats on the committee, aggressively questioned Archer about how his nomination came to be and about the lack of attorneys at the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt, encouraged his colleagues to vote for Archer, whom he said would provide representation for rural Oklahomans as a state board member.

“I am like the least political person you will ever run across,” Archer said. “We’re in the kid business. That rings more true to me than anything. … Ultimately, we’re trying to help our kids learn and provide for themselves.”

Levit is a former president of the University of Oklahoma’s Tulsa campus and now is the executive director of the George Kaiser Family Foundation in Tulsa. He faced questions from Pugh about a number of state higher-education institutions raising tuition rates, even after legislators provided a funding increase last year, and from Sen. Michael Bergstrom, R-Adair, about fee increases at state schools.

“I have a commitment, as I approach this role, of excellence and access,” Levit said. “If we cannot be affordable, if we cannot provide access to kids in rural areas, in urban areas, across this state, then we will have failed miserably. Access and affordability to me is crucial.

“I’m very interested in being a very close student of the Oklahoma’s Promise program and how that can be made simple and easy for enrollment. But I share some of your skepticism. I probably shouldn’t say this as a future higher ed regent, hopefully, but higher ed … is a more robustly funded system than a lot of other important areas of our economy. I think it deserves a microscope.”

Perry has been the superintendent in Broken Arrow, which has the state’s largest high school, since December 2021. He is a University of Tulsa graduate who earned his master’s degree from the Broken Arrow campus of a RUSO school, Northeastern State University.

Perry told senators he would “bring a unique perspective from the K-12 education side” to the RUSO board and that he’d “like to bridge the gap” between K-12 and higher education. The RUSO board governs Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, East Central University in Ada and the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Senate education committee confirms Stitt executive nominees