Sandy Garrett | |
---|---|
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction | |
In office 1991–2011 | |
Governor | David Walters Frank Keating Brad Henry |
Preceded by | Gerald E. Hoeltzel |
Succeeded by | Janet Barresi |
Oklahoma Secretary of Education | |
In office 1988–1995 | |
Governor | Henry Bellmon David Walters |
Succeeded by | Floyd Coppedge |
Personal details | |
Born | Sandra L. Langley February 2,1943 Muskogee,Oklahoma |
Political party | Democratic |
Residence | Oklahoma City,Oklahoma |
Website | Official website |
Sandy Garrett is a retired American Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Garrett is the former Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction.
She was first elected to this office in 1990, and again in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006. [1] Garrett was the first woman to hold the office of Superintendent and is the only woman to hold a statewide office for five consecutive terms. In 2010, Garrett announced that she would not seek a sixth term in office. [2]
Sandy Garrett was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and later graduated from Stilwell High School. She received her bachelor's degree in 1966 and a master's degree in guidance counseling in 1968 from Northeastern State University. [3] Garrett briefly pursued but did not complete postgraduate education at the University of Oklahoma and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She later returned to Muskogee, where she spent 15 years as a teacher and a gifted programs coordinator in Muskogee County schools. After her years as a teacher, Garrett joined the Oklahoma State Department of Education as the Gifted and Talented Programs Coordinator. She would later become executive director of Education Programs, which included rural education, technology, satellite instruction, media applications, and library resources.
Throughout her career in Oklahoma Department of Education, Garrett was 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 a two-way interactive fiber-optic instruction system in the Panhandle region drew national attention to Oklahoma in the 1980s. In 1988, she was named Cabinet Secretary of Education by Republican Governor of Oklahoma Henry Bellmon. Following the election of Democrat David Walters as Governor, Garrett remained in that position.
In 1990, Garrett was the first woman elected to serve as the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction. As the 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. Additionally, since taking office in 1991, she claims to have downsized the department, saving taxpayers a cumulative $52.7 million. A hallmark of her administration, Superintendent Garrett's administration has been key to the development of Oklahoma's Pre-Kindergarten programs throughout the state. Garret has raised standards to the extent that Oklahoma is recognized as a national model by the National Institute for Early Education Research. Increasing academic standards, improving reading skills, bringing technology to the classroom and making schools safer were public relations initiatives.
Election results | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Office | Election | Votes for Garrett | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | |||
1994 | Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction | General | 493,687 | 51% | Linda Murphy | Republican | 484,428 | 49% | |||
1998 | Superintendent of Public Instruction | General | 520,270 | 61% | Linda Murphy | Republican | 343,291 | 39% | |||
2002 | Superintendent of Public Instruction | General | 609,851 | 60% | Lloyd Roettger | Republican | 411,814 | 40% | |||
2006 | Superintendent of Public Instruction | General | 576,304 | 63% | Bill Crozier | Republican | 343,900 | 37% | |||
Muskogee is the 13th-largest city in Oklahoma and is the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately 48 miles (77 km) southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0% decrease from 39,223 in 2010.
Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of Oklahoma as well as one of the oldest institutions of higher learning west of the Mississippi River. Tahlequah is home to the capital of the Cherokee Nation and about 25 percent of the students at NSU identify themselves as American Indian. The university has many courses focused on Native American linguistics, and offers Cherokee language Education as a major. Cherokee can be studied as a second language, and some classes are taught in Cherokee for first language speakers as well.
The Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes called the Oklahoma State School Superintendent, is the chief executive officer for the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the president of the Oklahoma State Board of Education. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is responsible for overseeing, implementing and reviewing the policies of the Oklahoma's public school system.
Elizabeth Ann Nalley is an American chemist and professor of chemistry at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education is the state education agency of the State of Oklahoma charged with determining the policies and directing the administration and supervision of the public school system of Oklahoma. The State Board of Education, the governing body of the Department, is composed of the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction and six members appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate. The State Superintendent, in addition to serving as chair of the Board, serves as the chief executive officer of the Department and is elected by the voters of Oklahoma every four years.
Christine Grant was an American athlete, coach, administrator, and advocate for women's college athletics. Dr. Grant served as the athletic director at the University of Iowa from 1973 until 2000. She was inducted into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Grant was also inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
The Cherokee Female Seminary was built by the Cherokee Nation in 1889 near Tahlequah, Indian Territory. It replaced their original girls' seminary, the first Cherokee Female Seminary, that had burned down on Easter Sunday two years before. The Seminary was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Linda Murphy is an American teacher and politician from Oklahoma. Murphy was the Republican nominee for Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1994 and 1998.
Barbara Masterson Staggs was a longtime educator in Muskogee, Oklahoma and a legislator in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. During her time in the legislature, Staggs assisted as a member of the Common Education Committee and was integral in passing many bills, such as one that lead to the creation of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee.
Dana Tiger is a Muscogee artist of Seminole and Cherokee descent from Oklahoma. Her artwork focuses on portrayals of strong women. She uses art as a medium for activism and raising awareness. Tiger was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2001.
Betty Ann Price was an American music teacher, art director, and ambassador. She served as the executive director of the Oklahoma Arts Council from 1983 to 2007. During her time as executive director, Price worked with eight different Oklahoma governors. She also served as an arts advisor to states, non-profit organizations, and a number of boards. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 1985, among many other awards and recognitions.
Dr. Isabel Keith Baker was a former educator in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Throughout her 43 years as an educator, Baker taught in several Oklahoma schools, retiring as Professor Emeritus from Northeastern State University in 1994. Baker served on the Oklahoma State University A&M Board of Regents from 1991 until 1999. She played a major role in the renovation of Willard Hall, the home of OSU's College of Education. During her career and throughout her life, Baker has been recognized as a champion of gender equity. In the 1980s, Baker ran for Congress and was defeated by Republican candidate, Tom Coburn.
Suzanne Edmondson is the founder of several programs such as Tales for the Rising Moon and The Friends of Eddie Warrior Foundation, all aiding in the rehabilitation and education of incarcerated women. The program allocates funds for textbooks and tuition that allows inmates the opportunity to earn their associate of arts degree through Connors State College. Among other honors, Edmondson was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2009.
Kate Frank was a Missouri-born, Oklahoma teacher who taught for nearly 50 years. She was instrumental in the founding of the Oklahoma Education Association, served as its first president, and later, donated the initial monies for the trust that became a legal defense fund for educators. She served as vice president of the National Education Association in the 1940s and was the first national Retired Teacher of the Year recipient. Honored by many awards, she was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 1983.
Joy Lynn Hofmeister is an American educator and politician who served as the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2015 to 2023.
Cora Louise Boehringer was an American educator who was the first female superintendent of schools in Yuma County, Arizona. She has been called "the mother of the Arizona educational system". In 2008 she was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame.
Kayse Marie Shrum is an American physician and the President of Oklahoma State University. She is the first woman to lead a public research institution in Oklahoma. She was selected as OSU's 19th president in April 2021 and took office on July 1, 2021.
The Lebanon County, Pennsylvania Women’s Hall of Fame was established by the county's Commission for Women in 2010 to "...preserve women’s history, and honor the outstanding achievements of unsung heroes in our community." The following list details those individual inductions. As of the 2020 US Census count, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania has a population of 143,257, of which 50.8% are women. The county labor force is composed of 58.3% women.
Elsie Toles was Arizona's first female superintendent of public instruction, a professor, and an author.
Carlotta Archer was a Native American teacher, musician, and civil servant. She was the only woman to ever serve on the original Cherokee Nation Board of Education. She then served as the Mayes County Superintendent of Schools from 1908 to 1927, before accepting a federal post in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and serving at the Muskogee and Pryor agencies as deputy field clerk until 1941. After her retirement from civil service, she worked as a librarian and executive secretary of the Red Cross. She was one of the first women to hold elective office in the state of Oklahoma.