Convening 1,500 at Oklahoma City University Sunday afternoon, VOICE leaders challenged a bipartisan panel of candidates for Oklahoma State Superintendent with stories and questions around the state of Oklahoma schools; 5 of the 7 invited candidates directly heard from community members, teachers and parents, and responded with answers to direct questions.

Over the last six months VOICE leaders (including the Oklahoma Educators Association) have been presenting "High-Stakes Testing: Is it Worth the Cost?" all over the state. The presentation exposed the cost of and examines the impact of high-stakes testing and created opportunities for students, teachers, parents and school administrators to weigh in. VOICE leaders collected input regarding what would make an "A" school, identifying four main themes:

Read more

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."

Read more