Oklahoma Parent Teacher Association joined the movement of those publicly calling for resignation of State Superintendent Janet Barresi.
In a statement Friday, President Jeffery Corbett said, “State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Janet Barresi, has continued to erode the relationship between the State Department of Education and the school boards, administrators, teachers and parents of Oklahoma’s public schools.”
Corbett accused Barresi of stifling parents voice by supporting the Reading Sufficiency Act and rolling out the “flawed” A-F grading system.
He also pointed out to the department’s most recent decision to rehire testing vendor CTB/McGraw-Hill for this year’s end-of-instruction testing window in the winter, after two years of back to back testing disruptions.
“Our students, teachers and administrators deserve to thrive in an educational environment that is cooperative and advances the knowledge and skills of our children and youth. Oklahoma PTA does not believe it is possible for that to occur under the current state superintendent of public instruction,” he said.
Corbett's call comes a day after State Board of Education member Leo Baxter and Republican state Rep. Jason Smalley both called for Barresi to resign.
Baxter and Smalley criticized Barresi's decision to hire a new assistant superintendent who is married to the department's general counsel.
Education department spokesman Phil Bacharach said Friday that Barresi — who was soundly defeated in the June GOP primary — has no plans to step down and intends to finish her term that ends in January.
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