By Chairman Matt Pinnell

With the most critical presidential election of our lifetime quickly approaching, it's difficult to focus on other races. However, please give me a moment to make you aware of a statewide election taking place in Oklahoma in less than a month. An election, you could argue, that has more impact on your kids and/or grandkids than the presidential election.

School board elections are taking place in Oklahoma on February 14, 2012. One of the most basic forms of local government is the school board. There are over 15,000 school districts in America, with roughly 85,000 school board members. Those members oversee the K-12 education of about 50 million students, with K-12 educational expenditures exceeding $550 billion a year. Yep...these unpaid public servants that we call school board members are kind of a big deal.

"We need reform-minded candidates willing to serve at the local level on school boards to ensure reforms aren't watered down or rolled back. And we need strong conservative voices on school boards to foster more transparency and accountability in districts." - Janet Barresi

Despite the money being spent, however, American test scores continue to decline, and as a nation we continue to lose ground to other countries around the world.

It's disingenuous for Oklahoma Democrats to critique the excellent reforms that our new Superintendent of Public Instruction, Janet Barresi, is pushing. Why weren't Democrats pushing for needed reform the last two decades when they were in charge? The simple answer is they want to keep the status quo intact, and they do this by getting their candidates re-elected to school board seats in districts all across Oklahoma. It's time for us to understand our battle is first local, it all starts there.

After all, it's this sort of "farm team" that makes our large House and Senate majorities possible. And it’s also important to surround Janet Barresi with a new conservative crop of school board members who support her common sense reforms.

"The next few years will be absolutely crucial for implementing the bold package of education reforms we have advanced,” says Superintendant Janet Barresi. “Implementation can become a graveyard for good reform if it isn't done right. We need reform-minded candidates willing to serve at the local level on school boards to ensure reforms aren't watered down or rolled back. And we need strong conservative voices on school boards to foster more transparency and accountability in districts."

Please contact your local county chairman today for a list of those school board elections in your area. Then contact the list of candidates to see if there's a candidate you may want to help. Believe me, school board candidates need the help! These are men and women just like you who believe Oklahoma's future is only as bright as the next generation.

We must fix our public education system, but as we've seen from previous battles, it won’t be easy. Thankfully we have the biggest piece of the puzzle in place, Janet Barresi. Now it's critical that we surround her with the supporting pieces. As Alexis De Tocqueville wrote “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”

Tags: Education, Janet Barresi, Matt Pinnell