Oklahoma City’s Jamie Polk: Greatness & grace at InspireOK 2025

The Oklahoman headline read: “How Ryan Walters, OKCPS leader work together despite disagreements,” which is likely about the InspireOK conference the State Department of Education (OSDE) held in Norman Friday, June 27. Instead of reading that, I’d like to share some thoughts on it, the issues, and the good news. [An aside to friends: THANK YOU to the public servants at the OSDE and to the hundreds of educators from across the state who participated because it was inspiring.] Now, to the education elephant in the room. …

Long-time followers know I'm an unabashed fan of Dr. Polk, who was assistant superintendent at Lawton Public Schools when I worked with her more than a decade ago, and is now superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS). On Friday, she modeled how to be a positive force for change as well as a giver of grace. While I am not a fan of Ryan Walters, I agreed with him several times both during Thursday’s meeting of the State Board of Education and Friday’s open discussion with Dr. Polk.

Supt. Walters praised OKCPS’ “CSI work” as having “taken more schools off the designations list than any other district.” He mentioned the work they have completed together to maximize use of the Teacher Empowerment Program, which provides what the legislation calls "progression incentive bonuses” - now in the form of stipends - to support teacher retention. Dr. Polk expressed gratitude for the state team “because I have to align with what the state does.” She said leaders must first work at solving problems and then are immediately “looking to the outcomes.” Supt. Walters mentioned how Dr. Polk “always speaks her mind,” noting that for a “very large district, Oklahoma City is incredibly innovative.” That perception likely comes from how Dr. Polk works.

“Sure, I’m wanting to be accountable, but I want to know what you want,” Dr. Polk told a group of at-risk students with whom her team met last year. She asked one student who was working two jobs and trying to keep up in his classes, “What can I do for you?” He answered, “I need some grace.” Immediately, she asked her team: “What does grace look like here?” The superintendent said once she shared the vision, Oklahoma City community partners came with lots of help.

“Success only comes from the perception of those we are trying to help,” Dr. Polk explained. “We must ask the students! …

“When we tackled our Chronic Absenteeism factor, we brought the students together to find out what THEY needed, not what WE needed.”

My video isn’t great but Dr. Polk’s words are SO important these three minutes are worth the time. - WSP

Leading the largest school district in the state, Dr. Polk spoke highly of the free, research-based resources and guidance readily available from the OSDE. For his part, Supt. Walters spoke of working to reduce paperwork on schools and teachers, and even of developing AI tools that will evaluate lesson plans for alignment to the Oklahoma Academic Standards. Both would be incredibly helpful to new and veteran teachers.

Dr. Polk spoke passionately about her opposition to “negative talk about public education.” She referenced how students get an attitude of “Why should I try, if we’re 49th in the nation anyway?” [No, that is not useful, and I’m making a note. …] She noted that disparate groups of stakeholders have one thing in common: “We agree on taking care of the kids.” Friction comes with accountability, but she hastened to point out: “Data is evidence; it’s, like the kids say, it’s ‘the receipts’,” she told the teachers. “So, let me see your receipts.”

Stakeholders with differing opinions also support principals and support staff and they recognize protecting instructional time is critical. On the age-old issue of requiring lesson plans or not, she said: “Lesson plans are the only thing I, as an administrator, can use to protect you” if suddenly a teacher was removed from the classroom. Lesson plans provide documentation” of the teacher’s process and content. If, for any reason, a teacher cannot continue in the school year, their plans are available for the educator who steps in and provide a legal record as well.

The bottom line: Merriam-Webster offers many definitions of “grace,” most spiritual but some secular, such as “disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency.” While Dr. Polk’s positive attitude toward our state superintendent is no surprise, she modeled grace with:
“I call him and he says, ‘Let’s see what we can do.’ And that’s important.” Yes, it is, Dr. Polk, and that is good news.