Letter to the Community: From Superintendent John Q. Porter
Letter to the Community: From Superintendent John Q. Porter

Published: January 5, 2008

Oklahoma City Superintendent John Porter provided a letter exclusively to The Oklahoman on Saturday that affirms his intent to work to improve the district’s schools.

A story in today’s Oklahoman revealed that the school district hired someone to conduct an investigation of Porter and that his job may now be on the line.

Read Porter’s letter here now and look for more on the story in tomorrow’s paper.

An Open Letter to the Community: From Superintendent John Q. Porter

It was a tremendous honor for me six months ago to come to Oklahoma City to help make the public schools of our great city world class, schools that would make sure our children get a high quality education today so that they will be able to compete in a global economy. I have been so impressed by the parents, teachers, administrators, business, and religious and community leaders who share this vision for change and who have stood with me in this effort. I am convinced that our vision for great schools can become a reality, and it will as long as we all keep the interests of children first.

I am writing this letter for three reasons. The first reason is to reaffirm my pledge to the greater Oklahoma City community to help make our public schools the best in the state and nation. I understand that not everyone will agree with all my decisions all the time, and certainly I will make mistakes along the way. But my intention is to give to other people’s children what I would want for my very own. Given that core motivation, although I may make some mistakes, I will never intentionally do anything to hurt the beautiful students who attend our schools.

My second reason for writing this letter to the community is to tell you about some allegations that will be made against me by the chairman of the Board of Education. The substance of these allegations is false.

On Thursday, Jan. 3, I received, for the first time, these allegations in the form of a report of an investigation that apparently was commissioned by the chairman of the school board. I understand that on Monday, Jan. 7, just four days after I received the report of these allegations, the chairman of the school board intends to call a meeting for the purpose of suspending and then firing me.

I know that the community is as shocked and disappointed by the actions of the school board chairman as I am, but I intend to fight this issue and stay on the job doing what I came here to do: to help improve the education of our children.

One allegation is that I hired a company to put a new reading program in place in the Oklahoma City Public Schools without using the correct bidding process. This allegation is false.

The Wireless Generation reading diagnostic program has been approved for use in schools all over America and all over Oklahoma by both the United States Department of Education and the State Department of Education. And research shows that this program works — it helps children to learn to read better. Anything that helps children learn more is something our school district should provide for our children. That’s what moms and dads expect us to do and it’s what we will do.

Because this successful reading program already was used in some of our public schools, my goal was to make it available to every child in grades Kindergarten through third throughout our school district. And when we made this decision to buy this successful reading program for our children, I understood that we followed the very same selection process used by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

The second allegation is that I turned in questionable expenditures for reimbursement. I can state strongly and without equivocation that I had no intention of seeking any improper reimbursement for any expenditure.

Typically, when I travel or engage in business on behalf of the school district, I simply collect the receipts of my expenditures and turn them over to the appropriate officials at the school district to sort through and handle according to the policies and procedures that are in place. I never, ever intended to seek reimbursement for any expenses that were not allowed for reimbursement. It’s wrong and I simply would not do it.

A few months ago the school board chairman asked me to resign. I told him, “No!” I am here to serve the children of Oklahoma City and I am going to do my job.

Since then the board chairman has engaged in an effort to undermine my leadership and to make it very difficult to do the job I came here to do for our kids. The board chairman’s comments to me have been belittling, disrespectful and very, very hurtful and disappointing.

I hope that the board chairman and I can put this behind us and get on with the business at hand. I have a great deal of respect for him: he has done a lot for the Oklahoma City Public Schools, giving his time and energy to help children. Working together, we can get this job done.

I came to Oklahoma City six months ago to improve educational opportunities for all of our children. I am still committed to this goal. Change is difficult. Sometimes the adults don’t want to change to a new way of helping children succeed. But that change is necessary. In Oklahoma City, we cannot continue to do things the way they’ve always been done and expect to help our children make strong academic gains. As uncomfortable as it is, we must change as an organization if we are going to create world class schools.

I bring to this job a vision for change that will move Oklahoma City schools from some of the lowest test scores in the state and nation to the highest. I don’t believe that this should take a very long time but it will take an unrelenting focus on improving teaching and learning.

What I know for sure is if we are to give all of our children the best chance for a great education, we can no longer pretend that what we have done in the past is good enough. We must raise the bar for all of our students. We must push our good schools to get better while closing a very serious and persistent achievement gap in some of our poorest performing schools. We must reverse the alarming data that shows our African American and Hispanic students with poor attendance, high drop out and suspension rates and some of the lowest test scores in the state and country. Oklahoma City will never be a great community without public schools that produce an educated citizenry.

Yes, the data is frightening. Yes, change is often uncomfortable for the people who benefit from the status quo. However, I came to Oklahoma to lead a school system that will provide all children with an equal access to a quality education, regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion or economic circumstance.

I am not sure what Monday will bring for me as your superintendent. What I know is that I believe in our children and the teachers, principals and staff who work closely with them every day. I believe that our parents and community members want a better public school system. I believe that if we are able to mobilize all of our resources and focus on putting the children and not the adult issues first, we can reform our schools and improve achievement for all.

I once heard that when the elders in some African countries would visit the villages, they would ask one simple question. The question: “How are the children?” Only if all of the children were well would the village be considered well. In Oklahoma City, not all of our children are doing well in our schools. However, I am confident that this can change. If we, as the adults entrusted with their care and academic well-being, “put the children first.”

Your thoughts!