OK Education Association Gives State Superintendent An 'F'

State Superintendent Janet Barresi gets an "F" from the Oklahoma Education Association and the fight over whether it was a political stunt or an actual performance review raged on.

The report card was released Friday morning following the State Department of Education's release of the A through F grades for schools.

"It's a political stunt," said Barresi. "These are individuals that are opposed to accountability. These are individuals that are focused on maintaining their power base in the state of Oklahoma."

11/6/2013 Related Story: Board Of Education Releases Grades For Oklahoma Public Schools

The superintendent was not amused by the report card, but the education union stuck by the grade. They calculated from nearly 4,000 survey respondents who were educators, parents and community members.

"I'm out in schools a lot and I'm out in the public a lot and the frustration I hear is just mounting and mounting," said Oklahoma Education Association President Linda Hampton.

The review asked questions about Barresi's competency, funding, transparency and overall performance. The A through F grading system, however, played a major factor.

Look up the grade for your child's school

"First of all, I don't think the numbers are valid," said Hampton. "I think they're based on flawed information and when I see it, I look at it as a tiny picture of the whole child's reading ability."

Hampton argued that the state-wide grading system was broken before the grades were even calculated and it only punishes teachers and students by labeling them failures. She said she did not believe that schools even in the same district could be compared to one another.

The participants who answered the survey questions were entered to win ticket to a Thunder game, but Hampton told News 9 she did not think that had any impact on the responses to the survey.

The Oklahoma Education Association has not formally endorsed any candidate for State Superintendent.

11/6/2013 Related Story: Despite Scrutiny, Some Schools Stand Behind A-F System