Bringing A New Vision to Oklahoma Education Reform
Company/Organization: Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition
CEO/Board Chair: Stan Lybarger, President & CEO, Bank of Oklahoma, OBEC Co-Founder and Board Chair
Level of Involvement: State
State: Oklahoma
Type of Initiative: Advocacy & Leadership
Target Education Priority: Prepare All Students for College and Careers
“One of the challenges of education reform is that the interests of various stakeholders - students, parents, teachers, administrators, and political leaders - often come in conflict. Business is in a unique position – with objectives that are in close alignment with those of students and parents, and the resources, talent, and political influence to make a difference.” — Stan Lybarger, president & CEO, Bank of Oklahoma
In 1999, two Oklahoma CEOs, Stan Lybarger of the Bank of Oklahoma and Luke Corbett of Kerr-McGee, became concerned that debates around pending education legislation in the state were creating a wedge between the business community and the education system, pitting groups against one another to the detriment of the state’s economic position. To address these concerns, Lybarger and Corbett convinced twenty other business leaders to pledge an initial $75,000 each to create a nonprofit organization that would coordinate and leverage business efforts to build and help implement a plan to improve public education throughout the state.
The result: The Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition (OBEC) is now a nationally-recognized organization that identifies establishing and maintaining high standards for graduation requirements and curriculum as its first priority. The group’s agenda also emphasizes the need to develop a comprehensive system of assessment and accountability and to create a uniform longitudinal data system in the state.
Soon after its formation, OBEC initiated an advocacy campaign urging the state to raise its standards and expectations for all students, using research to illustrate how the state stood to benefit from increasing the quality and level of education of its citizens. This campaign highlighted the positive relationship between education and taxable income, civic participation, workforce and economic development and low crime rates. The organization’s leadership has been both persistent and patient in their efforts to raise state standards; in the process, OBEC has broadened the base of support for its goals among the education, business, parent and policy communities.
To broaden its campaign, OBEC leaders invested the time and energy to meet with the director of each and every education organization in the state. They recognized the value of these individual conversations because they provided an opportunity to demonstrate that the business community understands the obstacles and challenges facing educators in Oklahoma. Through an open dialogue, both groups had the chance to air their concerns about the pending legislation and debate the most prudent way to shape policy.
At the same time, OBEC successfully solicited and maintained political support from both parties in the state legislature. With a Republican speaker of the house and a Democratic governor, maintaining bipartisan support was key to accomplishing OBEC’s objectives.
OBEC also leads the Oklahoma Scholars program. Oklahoma was one of the first six states to implement the State Scholars Initiative under the management of OBEC in May 2003. Co-chairs of the project are State Superintendent Sandy Garrett and Kerr-McGee CEO Luke Corbett. Through Oklahoma Scholars, business leaders personally demonstrate the importance of the relationship between academic achievement and success in the workplace and how the material being taught in school is relevant later in life.
The Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition incorporates several advocacy and leadership strategies recommended by Business Toolkit for Better Schools, including:
- Join or start local or statewide nonprofit coalitions of like-minded business leaders to advance education reform
- Make the case that the global economy demands higher expectations, a renewed commitment to math and science investments and data-driven decision making
- Provide compelling data and evidence; issue reports and policy briefs
- Communicate with reporters and editorial boards; publish op-eds on education reform; give speeches
- Organize, support and partner with education, civic and political allies
- Serve on local, statewide and national school boards, commissions and task forces
- Focus on state-level and school district policy and practice as the unit of change, rather than individual schools
- Keep the public conversation focused on the vision for the public education system
- Take the “long view” (beyond political election cycles) and bring neutrality to politically polarized situations
- Sustain the public’s commitment to school reform over time
OBEC’s advocacy for higher standards, coupled with its on-the-ground work through Oklahoma Scholars, helped lay the groundwork for sweeping new education reform. In 2005, Governor Brad Henry signed into law comprehensive legislation to raise high school standards, the Achieve Classroom Excellence (ACE) legislation. The primary goal of ACE is to prepare all graduates of Oklahoma public schools for success in credit-bearing college courses and the workforce. As a result, Oklahoma is now one of twenty states in the nation to require all students to complete a college- and career-ready curriculum.
OBEC is committed to help explain the new requirements in ACE to educators, parents, students, community leaders and the general public. Several member companies have offered to help develop a statewide communications strategy to reach these audiences. And OBEC is partnering with the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce to inform and engage local business leaders in grassroots discussions about why the new law is needed and how it will be implemented to help students and schools improve.
OBEC continues to have a strong voice in how ACE is implemented, as OBEC serves as the business representative on the legislation’s Steering Committee, created by the legislature to develop strategies for putting the new student assessment and curriculum requirements into place.
Updated: July 2008
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