Nominees to Oklahoma State Board of Education advance toward Senate confirmation

Yahoo

20-05-2025

Oklahoma State Board of Education member Mike Tinney speaks to the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. The committee advanced his confirmation to the board in a 10-2 vote. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Mike Tinney was parked at a Sonic in Western Oklahoma on Friday when he got the news.
His food had just arrived when the leader of the Senate Education Committee called. Tinney's confirmation to the Oklahoma State Board of Education, which had been mired in uncertainty, was going to move forward.
Tinney, a Norman attorney, said he was unsure before that point whether the committee would consider his confirmation at all. His home senator had declined to support his nomination by Gov. Kevin Stitt to the board, which typically is a death knell for a nominee's chances at Senate confirmation.
He learned in that Friday phone call that the Senate's top lawmaker, President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, would step in to carry his nomination. With Paxton's support, the Senate committee voted 10-2 on Tuesday in favor of confirming Tinney to the state board through April 2027. He must pass a vote by the full Senate for it to be final.
'I'm just glad this is done,' Tinney told reporters after the vote. 'You guys probably know the hurdles that my nomination overcame. I don't want to rehash all that. I'm just thankful that things got worked out and thankful I got the opportunity to be heard. Hopefully I'll be confirmed by the Senate, and then I will get on with doing my job.'
The committee on Tuesday also advanced the confirmation of two other state Board of Education nominees, Ryan Deatherage, of Kingfisher, and Becky Carson, of Edmond. It did so for board member Chris Van Denhende, of Tulsa, last week.
Paxton said Sen. Lisa Standridge, R-Norman, asked him to take over Tinney's nomination. Standridge, who did not return multiple requests for comment from Oklahoma Voice, told other media outlets she objected to supporting Tinney because she is a friend of the state board member he replaced.
The governor appointed Tinney, Deatherage and Van Denhende to the board in February while ousting three members he said were complicit in 'needless political drama.' Stitt did so after the removed board members voted in favor of collecting public school students' immigration status.
Paxton said he decided to carry Tinney's nomination after speaking with Stitt, Tinney and Education Committee leader Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond.
'We didn't want time to run out in the session without going ahead and getting this accomplished,' Paxton said. 'We're going to be able to get that done.'
Tinney, Deatherage and Van Denhende already have had a tumultuous three-month tenure on the board.
In their first board meeting Feb. 27, they voted on new academic standards for social studies education. They said they later learned the standards included significant changes they were unaware of at the time of the vote, including new language that casts doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election results.
The controversy led to a confrontation during the board's April meeting between the three new members and state Superintendent Ryan Walters, who directed the last-minute changes.
During that meeting, Walters said the updated standards were provided to the board members before the meeting, but he couldn't force them to read the information. Records that Walters' administration provided indicated the board members received the lengthy document at 4 p.m. the evening before the Feb. 27 meeting.
The episode stirred up questions about the standards' legitimacy and Walters' compliance with public transparency. A lawsuit already has been filed over whether the approval process of the standards followed proper procedures.
'I hope things smooth out, and the board as a whole can start moving forward and doing some good for education in Oklahoma,' Tinney said.
Tinney, Deatherage and Van Denhende faced numerous questions from the Senate committee about their approach to the board.
'I want to think of it as the state superintendent is like the team captain and the state Board of Education are like the coaches,' Deatherage told the committee. 'The team captain helps run practice and lead the team, but the coaches make the game plan, choose the plays they were running and make sure the captain is doing a good job.'
Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, peppered Tinney, Deatherage and Van Denhende with questions and voted against their confirmation. Deevers, a member of the far-right-wing Freedom Caucus, said during Van Denhende's hearing last week that he had no qualms with the nominee but believes 'there's been a disservice done to our board.'
He said he wouldn't support Tinney because of the candidate's connection to a professional organization for teachers. His wife, Ginger Tinney, leads Professional Oklahoma Educators and his son, Daniel Tinney, is the group's government relations liaison. Tinney co-founded POE with his wife in 1998.
'I think there is too severe a conflict of interest for me to approve this,' Deevers said during the committee meeting.
Tinney said his proximity to POE will be an asset rather than a conflict. He said he would recuse from certain votes, if necessary, and wouldn't share confidential board information with his family.
'I think it's a real advantage that I have access to all those teachers and resources and knowledge about education,' Tinney said of the organization. 'It will help me immensely on the board.'
The governor nominated Carson, a retired Edmond Public Schools teacher, to the board three weeks ago. She is the only recent board nominee who hasn't yet taken office. If confirmed, Carson will fill a seat representing Congressional District 5 that has been vacant for two years.
Carson said Oklahoma must focus on improving student absenteeism rates, classroom funding, teacher retention and test scores.
'There shouldn't be the controversy that is happening in this board right now,' Carson said during the committee meeting. 'They're there for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to make sure that students are given a quality education in the state.'
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