Rep. Jason Nelson Meeting

On February 1st in the afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting with Rep. Jason Nelson-okc in his office.  We have used twitter several times to have discussion on education. I offered to talk anytime and he took me up on that as he scheduled a meeting. Mr. Nelson and I had never met previously, and we live in very different worlds. I gripe about driving in the city every time I go up their. I like having my option to slowly roll through most 4 ways. But it was a good opportunity for us to exchange thoughts on education in the state of Oklahoma. I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived at the capitol for sure. For the record I wasn't the one that called in the bomb threat either. What transpired was a good conversation on education.

Mr. Nelson and myself will never agree on all points education. We have  different backgrounds. We wont see eye to eye on school choice, parent triggers, or SOS laws. But for our time we we were able to put aside those differences and just talk education. I shared with him my thoughts on A-F, High Stakes testing, technology, funding, etc. He was very gracious in our discussions and asked my opinion. Which I shared openly and we were never terse with each other. I hope that I was a good voice for rural and small schools. We face so very different conditions from large urban or suburban school districts.  Mr. Nelson seemed to value my opinions and often jotted down notes on his laptop to either check for information or to just make a note of for further discussion.

Mr. Nelson mentioned two things that I definitely agree on with him. The first was that we need to really look at our funding formula. Do the research and see what it takes to truly fund schools, each kid, each difference that they bring whether that's autism, ELL, or poverty. Look at our funding sources and get them stabilized. He mentioned how he has learned why schools have carryovers, because we never know whats around the next bend. I hope our school leaders and legislative leaders can get together and look what it takes to fund an Oklahoma kid. He mentioned he didn't care about what Texas or Kansas funds we should look at Oklahoma and that is a point I repeatedly make. I often make it with reform too. I don't want to look at Florida I want to take the best of Oklahoma. We are different, unique, and special. I think that should be the same for funding. 

The second point he made was discussion. He mentioned a few things he has done to get discussion going on education. We need that. We desperately need for the SDE, legislature, and education stakeholders to be able to sit down and talk education. Not griping through media streams. We need to be able to sit down and listen to what each other is saying and have open and honest talks. I hope it can happen. I hope we can set aside the "I know best" and work together. Our Kids deserve it!!