OKCPS Foundation Program Highlighting Minority Teachers For Leadership

It’s a program designed to get more bilingual and diverse administrators in Oklahoma City Public Schools.

“There’s data that tells us that kids do better when they see teachers and leaders that look like them,” said Mary Me’lon-Tully, OKCPS Foundation President and CEO.

The program is called the Aspiring Administrators Pipeline Program. “There’s a shortage of not only principal candidates but also principals in the state of Oklahoma,” said OKCPS Deputy Superintendent Jason Brown.

The program specifically targets potential administrators representing minority communities. “We have students that may never have a black teacher until they are a senior in high school. We have students that are Hispanic, who may never hear a teacher speaking their native language until they are in high school,” said Jennifer Reyes-Garcia, who recently completed the Aspiring Administrators program. “We don’t have the same amount or number of candidates as we should to represent our community,” said Brown.

With over sixty percent of students in Oklahoma City public schools identifying are Hispanic or African American, that ratio is not reflected in the number of administrators. “There is just that sense of pride that a child has when they see a teacher and a leader that they can mirror,” said Me’lon-Tully.

The aspiring administrators program allows bilingual and diverse OKCPS teachers to earn their master’s degree on their way to assuming leadership positions within the district. “They were really carefully vetted, and it was really competitive to get in, because of course a master’s degree isn’t cheap, and we funded one hundred percent,” said Me’lon-Tully.

One hundred percent, including tuition, books, and fees, inspiring the next generation of administrators like Jennifer Reyes-Garcia: “I think giving our students the opportunity to see themselves in the classroom, see themselves in a board meeting, see themselves behind a podium, gives them a hope for what’s to come for them,” said Reyes-Garcia.

That hope is not only inspiring students but also more teachers to aspire to bigger and better things. “I think that inspires not only our students but inspires our younger educators as well, that all things are possible, and that they have a chance to become a leader in this district,” said Brown. “Some of them have said that they would like to be superintendent one day, I think that it will happen,” said Me’lon-Tully.

The ten graduates are the first graduating class for the program.