EDUCATION OVERSIGHT BOARD MEETING MINUTES February 19, 2003 8:00 A.M. Oklahoma State Capitol Building Conference Room 412B Oklahoma City, OK 73105 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Pete Churchwell, Kenneth Bridges, Gerald Dickerson, Ron Dryden Ed Long, Don McCorkell, Karen Yarbrough, Sen. Penny Williams BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Rep. Barbara Staggs OTHER REGULAR ATTENDEES: Office of Accountability Staff: Robert Buswell, Matt Hesser, Jerry Hsieh, Leonard Hall VISITORS: None Call to Order and Roll Call: Mr. Churchwell called the meeting to order at 8:00 am and declared a quorum present. Mr. McCorkell thanked Mr. Churchwell on behalf of the board for his comments to the Senate Education Committee and his letter to Representative Barbara Staggs. Mr. McCorkell had the feeling they were extremely well taken. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the January 15, 2003 meeting were approved as submitted. Report of FY 2003 Expenditures: Mr. Buswell distributed a report to board members on the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program and the Oklahoma School Performance Review Program budgets with year-to-date expenditures. A brief discussion followed. There were no questions regarding the budgets. Report on the Oklahoma School Performance Review Program: Dr. Hall stated that the program was progressing well, except there were no schools scheduled for review. Although there were a number of schools interested in having a review, the year's budget shortfalls had kept them from being able to pay their 25% share of the cost. Mr. Hall had also spoken with a number of schools, foundations, and trusts in an effort to garner funds to help schools pay their 25% of the cost of a review. A number of board members expressed the need to have the legislation changed so as to allow reviews to be conducted at the discretion of the Board and cover 100% of the cost. A brief discussion followed. It was then decided, based upon a suggestion from Mr. Long, that OSPR focus on districts that served Oklahoma military bases. With the Base Closure Committee preparing to review all of the bases in Oklahoma, it was felt that persons in these communities would be interested in documenting the strengths of their schools before their base was reviewed for closure. Report on New Legislation: Mr. Churchwell asked that Item H be moved up on the agenda to better accommodate Senator Williams' Schedule. Mr. Buswell proceeded to give a report on HB 1711, part of which dealt with abolishing the Office of Accountability. Mr. McCorkell stated that in his opinion the emphasis of the bill was to eliminate external authority and the checks and balances that exist in Oklahoma's common education system. Mr. McCorkell then made a motion that the Board communicate to the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate how important it is to not only maintain the existence of the EOB and the Office of Accountability but also to strengthen that function. Mr. McCorkell stated that he believed the long-term interests of education and the state's children rest in accomplishing that goal. The motion was seconded by Mr. Bridges and passed unanimously. Mr. McCorkell went on to say that in the future the EOB needed to be more public and more open about what it is doing. Mr. McCorkell stressed that the EOB needs to involve stake holders, and needs to invite others to express their concerns about education related issues. Accomplishing these goals would create a situation where the press would want to become involved when individuals tried to close down the Office of Accountability or the Education Oversight Board. Senator Williams described two bills that she had working, SB 235, which would give Superintendents the flexibility, for one year, to manage the financial cuts that have been thrust upon their districts and SB 774 which would have the Office of Accountability report on public college and university performance in addition to the performance of common education's K-12 public schools. The board continued with discussion on ways to strengthen the EOB's mission. Mr. Buswell then reported on a several bills that address the state's testing program. He said that most of these bills were a result of HR-1, the federal No Child Left Behind legislation. Report on the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program: Mr. Hesser reported that all of the data required for the reports has been delivered with the exception of dropouts and valuation. The office was finalizing the clean up and tabulation of the indicators data and the reports would be released on a schedule similar to previous years. Mr. McCorkell asked the O of A staff to share with the board what they felt should be done to improve public education in the state. Mr. Buswell responded by saying that the student data system had been identified as one of the most important issues in Oklahoma education. Mr. Buswell stated that the collection of accurate, student level data would have as much impact on Oklahoma education as anything. Report on Interim Study Committee on HR-1, the No Child Left Behind Act: Mr. Buswell explained that five states had now had their HR-1 applications approved by the USDE. Mr. Buswell had met with a representative from the USDE and discussed the problems the O of A was having getting included in the SDE's HR-1 plans for Oklahoma. The representative said that the USDE does not get involved with state matters and that it was up to each state to decide how their state plan would be carried out. The meeting continued with a discussion about the API and its limited ability to serve as a diagnostic tool. The board expressed the need to have a meeting with the SDE regarding the API. Any of the board's concerns remaining after the meeting should then be shared with the members of the Education Committees. New Business: There was no new business. Announcements: There were no announcements. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:41 a.m. The minutes of the February 19, 2003 Meeting of the Education Oversight Board were approved (as submitted) or (with corrections) on April 16, 2003.