African American clergy from VOICE-OKC called on State Superintendent Janet Barresi and her 6 opponents to participate in an accountability session June 6th focusing on testing and the quality of public schools in Oklahoma. Said Reverend Ray Douglas, senior pastor of Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church in northeast Oklahoma, "These kids are the people who are going to have to be our leaders and take care of us in the future...The future is in their hands, and it has to be in educated hands if we're going to survive and prosper."
Asserting that children are being "taught to test and not to learn," leaders from the 27 member institutions of VOICE-OKC are challenging all candidates to commit to improving the education of the state's poorest schools. Lead Organizer Kris King detailed that the discussion will include high-stakes testing and the effects that it has on teachers, communities and schools.