TPS's Image Problem

[owassoguy]

Tulsa Schools Image Problem A Main Reason For Move To The Suburbs  
Friday July 01, 2005 5:56pm   Reporter: Kristin Dickerson   Posted By: Kevin King  


Tulsa - Some parents are moving to the suburbs to avoid the Tulsa Public Schools. TPS seems to be dealing with an image problem. But, they're ready to fight it.

New research shows the Tulsa area's growth over the past five years. Bixby's population grew by 33 percent. Jenks was up by 28 percent. Owasso's population jumped 21 percent. But, Tulsa lost two percent of its population. NewsChannel 8's Kristin Dickerson found out Tulsa Public Schools is one of the reasons.

Out of 80 schools in the Tulsa school district, 30 of them are on the "needs improvement" list. That's a fact that is heavily researched by most parents. And, it's causing them to head for the suburbs to avoid Tulsa.

The Killpack family moved from Houston to Green Country last year, the first thing they heard about Tulsa?

"Not to live in the Tulsa Public School (district). Is that a bad thing to say? Probably. sorry."

After visiting five school districts, Kimmy's parents prioritized her education and chose Jenks because "no child left behind" left almost half of TPS on the "needs improvement list".

"The attitude of the district is there's not any among us who do not need improvement," says TPS Spokesman John Hamill. "And, if you're not improving, you're stagnant."

Tulsa Public Schools has the largest district in the state, making it easy to overlook the good and the bad.

"Of the top ten schools in the state, we have more than half of them," Hamill says. "Likewise, bottom schools in the state we have a handful there, too."

And the bottom schools are sending new residents to the suburbs, damaging the TPS image.

"Obviously, if we had the resources to run a high-level media campaign, be that I'm talking paid advertising, we would," says Hamill. "But, we devote our resources to the classroom."

And now, their energy will be devoted to a a proactive outreach effort with information booths at a local mall, the state fair and for the first time, they'll offer one stop enrollment at every school to help the target audience understand the reason behind this marketing makeover.

"What I do like is the fact that we've got some strong leadership, we've got some of the most experienced teachers and it's going to get better," says former teacher Aaron Doyle.

Right now, TPS is finalizing its marketing plans. And, the information booths could be set up by the end of the month.



I used to go to TPS and comparing to OPS, TPS is about 60% as good as OPS. The last time I went to TPS, they didnt have high technology or air conditioner. The classrooms were usually overcrowded and the hallways were polluted. The parking lot was in disrepair and the lawns were infected with weeds. About school discipline, about 70% of the students were paying attention in class and 10% of them were troublemakers. I did like TPS programs since they did offer lots of extracurricular activities. But I do think TPS still do need some fundamental improvements.