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Oklahoma’s new state superintendent, Lindel Fields, said he’ll spend the next 15 months stabilizing and strengthening the Department of Education for whomever is elected to state superintendent in 2026. Fields, a retired career tech administrator, isn’t running.
“None of the 15 months is going to be about trying to convince you to vote for me, so we’re going to focus on education,” he said.
Appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt last week to replace Ryan Walters, Fields was sworn in Tuesday. In a meeting with local media that afternoon, he laid out his priorities, which includes improving communication with agency staff, school employees, and local media.
The agency will conduct a review of all pending lawsuits, vendor contracts and open records requests. And they’ll be working to assemble the agency’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal to present to the Board of Education at its October 23 meeting.
The board gathers today at 9:30 a.m. for a special meeting. The agenda indicates the board will consider dismissing an effort to revoke the teaching certificate of Regan Killackey, who was targeted over a 5-year-old Instagram photo, among other teacher licensing actions.
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— Jennifer Palmer
Recommended Reading
- Leaders of the state’s third-largest university have engaged in “egregiously anti-free speech conduct” in an effort to control media coverage by ending print operations of the student newspaper, according to a letter a journalism legal group sent to school administrators this week. [Oklahoma Voice]
- Even as the world’s political turbulence deepens, it appears that students are becoming less, not more, informed about civics. [The New York Times]
- Amid Ryan Walters’ resignation and Gov. Kevin Stitt’s shakeup of several appointed education positions, two more candidates joined the 2026 race for state superintendent of public instruction — one a Republican and the other a Democrat — setting up competitive primaries for both major parties. [NonDoc]
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