Tulsa World: Tulsa mayoral candidates talk education

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Tulsa mayoral candidates talk education

Candidates for Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett (left), Tom Adelson, and Mark Perkins take part in a debate Tuesday at the Rotary Club of Tulsa in Tulsa. JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa World

By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
Published: 10/14/2009 2:22 PM
Last Modified: 10/14/2009 3:33 PM

Tulsa Elections: Read bios of candidates for mayor, City Council and city auditor and view a map of City Council districts.

Audio: Listen to audio from the Tulsa mayoral candidate event.

Tulsa will rise and fall depending on the quality of its public school system, and that must be a focus of the city’s next mayor, three of the candidates for the job said Wednesday.

While the schools are independent from the local government, there are actions the mayor can take, Republican Dewey Bartlett Jr., Democrat Tom Adelson and independent Mark Perkins said during a noon Rotary Club of Tulsa forum.

Bartlett, Keener Oil & Gas president and former city councilor, said the mayor should use his bully pulpit and even go a step further to make sure public schools improve.

“The mayor needs to have a full-time person dedicated to being a non-voting member of the school board and being able to interact on a daily basis about our common problems and identify what we as a city can do to help,” he said.

Adelson, an Oklahoma senator and attorney, said people won’t live in a city where a quality public education is not an option. He is a volunteer teacher at Booker T. Washington High School.

“Let’s

use the city’s resources to recruit teachers,” he said, noting that could be done with a private-sector partnership to offer subsidized housing and other benefits for educators.

Perkins, an attorney, said most of the city’s challenges, including crime and economic development, are inextricably linked to education.

“Our schools have been underperforming for some time,” he said, adding that “If still we can’t find better solutions, then we need look at changing how our school systems are run.”

It might be that the mayor needs “more control,” Perkins said.

The three candidates will appear on the Nov. 10 general election ballot, along with perennial independent candidate Lawrence Kirkpatrick. By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "Mayoral hopefuls speak at forum," which was published on 10/15/2009. So far, 53 comments have been made.