Deborah Gist Used to Fight Teachers Unions. Now She’s Marching With Them. - POLITICO Magazine

Deborah Gist Used to Fight Teachers Unions. Now She’s Marching With Them. - POLITICO Magazine

Deborah Gist Used to Fight Teachers Unions. Now She’s Marching With Them.
How a hardcore education reformer switched sides in the teacher wars.

TULSA, Oklahoma — On a fall morning in 2018, veteran technology teacher Abraham Kamara was working with his robotics team at Memorial Junior High School when Tulsa school superintendent Deborah Gist entered the classroom with a TV news crew. Gist was there to surprise Kamara with the school year’s first Golden Apple Award, recognizing him as one of Tulsa’s “outstanding teachers.”


“We have heard so much about everything you do … making sure your kids have all the tools they need to be successful,” Gist said, her exuberance matched by the candy-apple red blazer she wore for the occasion. Handing him the palm-sized trophy, she continued, “We also recognize that you go above and beyond in this room, often at your own expense,” adding that the award comes with a $500 classroom grant.

Gist launched Tulsa’s Golden Apple Awards when she took the helm of the district three years ago, partnering with the local Fox News affiliate, where the awards are a regular morning show feature, and cable operator Cox Communications, which funds the grant.


Kamara, a native of Sierra Leone who fled the country’s civil war, was nearly moved to tears by the award. It’s a gesture of appreciation that goes a long way in a school district beset by steep budget cuts and a long-standing teacher shortage. According to the most recent available Department of Education figures, Oklahoma spends less money per pupil than all but three states. First-year teachers in the state earn less than $38,000 a year, making them some of the nation’s worst paid, and 40 percent of Tulsa’s teachers have less than five years of experience, district officials say.


After years of budget cuts and low teacher pay, Oklahoma has become the latest flashpoint in a roiling national debate over education spending. Last spring, teachers in the state staged a walkout, marching 110 miles from Tulsa to the state capitol in Oklahoma City to demand higher salaries. Last week, a Republican state representative introduced a bill that would not CONTINUE READING: Deborah Gist Used to Fight Teachers Unions. Now She’s Marching With Them. - POLITICO Magazine