State Superintendent
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U.S. Representative Dan Boren honors State Superintendent Sandy Garrett
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Biography and Duties of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Sandy Garrett is the only woman in Oklahoma history elected to the constitutional office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction. In November 2006, she became the only Oklahoma woman elected to a statewide office for a fifth consecutive term.
As Chief Executive Officer of the State Department of Education, Superintendent Garrett has led the timely implementation of the mandates of Oklahoma’s landmark Education Reform Act of 1990, the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and the state Achieving Classroom Excellence Act of 2005. Since taking office in 1991, she has downsized the Department, saving taxpayers a cumulative $50.5 million. Constitutional posts include chair of both the State Board of Education and the State Board of Career and Technology Education, and membership on the State Board of Equalization, the School Land Commission and the Board of Regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma. The state superintendent serves numerous other statutory roles both state and national.
A hallmark of Superintendent Garrett’s administration has been development of Pre-Kindergarten programs throughout the state to the extent that Oklahoma is recognized as a national model by the National Institute for Early Education Research. In 2008, she was named national chair of the Council of Chief State School Officers’ Early Childhood Task Force.
Building on her July 2007 proposals for time reform – increasing the quality and quantity of learning time in Oklahoma schools – Superintendent Garrett partnered with the National Center for Time and Learning in 2008. The result is a Quality Time Analysis tool provided to Oklahoma school officials at no cost to use in local analysis of how instructional time is actually spent. Raising academic standards, improving reading skills, bringing technology to the classroom and making schools safer also are priorities Superintendent Garrett continues to pursue.
With her fellow members of the State Board of Education, school deregulation has been initiated, a uniform financial accounting system for schools enforced, and the state’s first core curriculum was adopted along with aligned assessments for accountability. Among Superintendent Garrett’s initiatives is the nation’s first statewide school safety hot line (1-877-SAFE-CALL, ext. OK1), which has provided to local officials anonymous reports of suspicious or potentially dangerous activity in schools since 1998.
Sandy Garrett was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and graduated from Stilwell High School. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northeastern State University and pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Oklahoma and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. After 15 years as a classroom teacher and gifted programs coordinator in Muskogee County schools, she joined the State Department of Education as Gifted and Talented Programs Coordinator then became Executive Director of Education Programs, which included rural education, technology, satellite instruction, media applications, and library resources.
Throughout her career, Superintendent Garrett has been an outspoken advocate for children and active participant in education reform. She played a pivotal role in implementing the state’s Learning by Satellite program and in establishing an interactive fiber-optic instruction system in the Panhandle region that drew national attention to Oklahoma in the 1980s. In 1988, she was named Cabinet Secretary of Education by Governor Henry Bellmon.
On April 28, 2009, the Oklahoma Alliance for Geographic Education awarded Superintendent Garrett the “2009 James M. Goodman Friend of Geography Award.” Earlier in the same month, she received the “Vision Award” from the Oklahoma State Teachers of the Year Association. In November 2008, Superintendent Garrett was presented the “Equal Opportunity Award” from the Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City in honor of her “leadership and contributions to improving urban education.” Among numerous other honors, she was named a “Woman of Distinction” by the Girl Scouts Sooner Council in 2007 and one of “Fifty Making a Difference” in Oklahoma by The Journal Record in 2004.
Superintendent Garrett was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in March 2001, into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame in August 2000, and is a member of the Northeastern State University Alumni Association Hall of Fame. In 2001, she received the prestigious Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America for her work promoting character education. In November 2000, she received the First Lady's Leadership in Literacy Award for her statewide efforts to improve reading instruction for children and expand literacy programs for adults.
How to contact State Superintendent Sandy Garrett:
Written: State Department of Education
2500 North Lincoln Boulevard
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4599
Phone: (405) 521-3301
Email: Sandy_Garrett@sde.state.ok.us
Duties of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Term of Office
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is elected in a statewide vote for a term of four years.
Statutory Duties
The State Superintendent is responsible for giving advice and making recommendations to the State Board of Education on all matters pertaining to the policies and administration of the State Department of Education and the public school system.
President of the State Board of Education and State Board of Vocational and Technical Education, the state superintendent presides at all meetings, and has the full right of discussion and voting. Responsible for the general administration, coordination, supervision, promotion, evaluation, and improvement of educational programs, the state superintendent interprets and implements the policies of the State Board of Education. As CEO, Oklahoma's state superintendent coordinates all divisions of the State Department of Education and supervises all employees. She is authorized by law to administer oaths and shall perform such other duties pertaining to the public school system as shall be prescribed by law or the State Board of Education. Upon request, the state superintendent shall advise district superintendents of schools on questions as to the powers, duties, and functions of school district officials. Every two years, she shall cause to be compiled, published, and distributed, a book of school laws which shall include Attorney General's opinions, and issue annually a statistical report for the governor and legislators.
Nonstatutory Duties
Advising and counseling legislators, patrons, and local school board members regarding educational matters; speaking at workshops, community events, and commencements in all parts of the state; attending local, state and national educational meetings and conferences representing the state as its chief state school officer; and conferring with representatives of the U.S. Department of Education.
Nonstatutory, Advisory, and Honorary Memberships
The State Superintendent may affiliate with such national and state organizations as she believes will be of service and benefit to the public school systems of Oklahoma, and dues and/or assessments for membership therein shall be payable from any appropriation that is available for the payment of current operating expenses of the State Department of Education. (70 O.S. 1981, § 3-107)
Boards and Commissions the State Superintendent of Public Instruction serves on - Constitutional:
• State Board of Education, President
• State Board of Vocational and Technical Education, Chair
• Board of Regents for Oklahoma Colleges, Member
• State Textbook Committee, Secretary
• Teachers' Retirement System, Board of Trustees
• Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, Board Member
• Oklahoma Board of Private Vocational Schools, Member
• State Board of Equalization, Member
• Commissioners of the Land Office, Member
Other statutory or appointed:
• State and Education Employees Insurance Board
• Oklahoma Commission on children and Youth
• Oklahoma School of Science and Math, Board of Trustees
• Education Commission of the States, Commissioner
• Oklahoma Commission on School Funds Management
• National Professional Standards of Teaching Board
• Oklahoma Curriculum Improvement Commission
• Oklahoma Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Life Skills Advisory Council
• Governor's Aerospace Aviation Task Force
• Instructional Television Advisory Committee
• Kirkpatrick Center Board of Governors
• Junior Achievement, Board of Directors
• Oklahoma Arts Institute Advisory Council
• High School-College Relationships Task Force
• Oklahoma Commission on Educational Leadership
• Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence
• Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce, Education and Business Coalition
• Oklahoma Council on Economic Education, Board of Directors
Advisory Committee, Math & Science Program for Gifted and Talented Students, The Kerr Foundation
• Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Board of Directors