Voters in south Tulsa face a choice between two lifelong residents, incumbent Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education president Susan Lamkin and retired teacher Michael Phillips, in the April 7 general election for TPS District 7.
District 7 covers the southernmost portion of the school district and runs south of Interstate 44 from Riverside Drive to Memorial Drive.
Lamkin has served on the TPS Board since 2022 and is currently its president. Lamkin and her husband run a real estate appraisal business, and she is also active with the Girl Scouts of America. Her four children attended public schools in TPS District 7, and she is an alumnae of the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas Christian University.
Phillips is a University of Oklahoma alumnus, a former Tulsa Public Schools teacher and a Navy veteran. Before he retired, Phillips worked at Nathan Hale High School, Gilcrease Elementary School, Central High School and Edison Preparatory School. He said his favorite subjects to teach were Algebra I and II. Since 2022, he has been a regular attendee of school board meetings.
Both candidates spoke with NonDoc ahead of the election. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, with early voting available April 2 and 3 at the new Tulsa County Election Board office.
Lamkin: Students need ‘life skills,’ ‘real world’ preparation
Asked her constituents’ top issue, Lamkin said her main focus involves improving student outcomes.
“First and foremost, I think all of us continue to be concerned about our students and their outcomes. Of course that’s reading, literacy, but also things like just being prepared for the real world and having life skills. Having trade skills and not just college readiness,” Lamkin said. “But people in the community also are very in tune with the fact that there are so many issues and challenges for our urban district, with the demographics we have and (TPS) being the largest district in the state.”
She advocated for expanding access to college and vocational classes by having those classes taught at a TPS site instead of at a partner campus.
“My kids have had the opportunity to take a (Tulsa) Tech class at their school,” Lamkin said. “We can have career opportunities and internship opportunities and trade certification opportunities at every high school so that kids — even if you know you’re going to go to college — can be exposed to some jobs or have some of those credentials by the time you leave high school.”
During an interview, Phillips said his main issue in the campaign involves bringing more oversight to TPS.
“My issue — and apparently it’s not an issue of my opponent — is saying ‘Yes’ to everything it is the administrator [asks],” Phillips said. “I see the objective of being a person on the school board as being one of oversight. And saying ‘Yes’ when the answer should be ‘Yes,’ and saying ‘No’ when the answer should be ‘No,’ and sometimes the answer should be ‘No.'”
He argued the TPS Board should be more willing to resist administrators’ requests.
“My complaint stays the same. My complaint is you’re supposed to be there for purposes of oversight,” Phillips said. “If you’re going to say ‘Yes’ to everything, you’re not doing oversight. That’s not oversight in anyone’s calculation.”
Phillips: Union, administration and board should be ‘fighting’
Despite Phillips’ complaints, Lamkin argued the district’s transparency and accountability had increased during her tenure.
“I personally have seen, since I’ve been on the board all that time, the immediate reaction when we had a new superintendent in place who restructured her cabinet and chiefs,” Lamkin said. “And those people went right to work on internal controls just to be sure everything they could think of was in place to avoid future problems.”
Phillips argued that educator associations, district administrators and board members should naturally be in tension. He said their tight working relationship has actually harmed oversight.
“There are three entities there. There is a union — which I don’t disagree with the union nearly as much as some people do — the administration, and there’s the board. And each of those three have different goals in mind — different goals that make them look good if they can achieve their goals,” Phillips argued. “And yet, (in TPS), they get along fine. They get along well with each other, and I think the reason they get along with each other is because everyone is taking care of everybody else’s goals. And I’m thinking that’s not what it is supposed to be about. What it’s supposed to be all about is fighting and arguing and doing whatever it takes to achieve your goals, and you won’t always achieve your goal.”
Lamkin also supports efforts to found parent-teacher associations at all TPS school sites.
$609 million bond also on the ballot
(Editor’s note: This section also appears in NonDoc’s preview of the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education District 4 race.)
Beyond TPS District 4 and TPS District 7 races, Tulsa Public Schools voters will also decide on a $609 million bond package April 7. Four propositions comprise the package, which has increased by $19 million since it was first introduced in November. The increase stems from the addition of contingency funds and additional STEM funding, according to the Tulsa Flyer. The package would not increase property tax rates, according to TPS’s bond information page, but it would extend otherwise expiring taxes.
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The first proposition, valued at nearly $201 million, is for “student opportunities.” Funds would be spent on items such as instructional learning materials, district-wide fine arts facilities, wellness and physical education equipment, district-wide STEM labs and equipment and district-wide post-secondary readiness and career academies.
The second proposition, valued at $276 million, will “provide modernized HVAC, roofing and more to cut energy costs and improve building conditions.” Projects include remodeling of district-wide facilities, safety and security upgrades and district-wide roof replacement and repairs.
The third proposition is focused on technology and is valued at nearly $105 million. Projects include student and teaching technology and cybersecurity, data storage and network systems and software.
The fourth proposition, which is intended to fund transportation needs and is valued just north of $27 million, includes the purchase of buses, driver’s education vehicles and programming, fleet vehicles and camera and WiFi equipment for buses.
During a March 10 forum hosted by the Tulsa Flyer and Tulsa Press Club, TPS Superintendent Ebony Johnson said strong schools lead to a strong city.
“We are not holding anything back. The students deserve to know that we are being transparent, fiscally responsible, and they also deserve to know that strong schools means a strong Tulsa for them,” Johnson said.
Johnson also addressed transparency concerns related to the audit of the district’s 2015-2023 expenditures released in February 2025 by State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd. The audit found “a systemic lack of internal controls and administration,” Byrd said during a press conference releasing the report. The audit was requested by Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2022 after two TPS board members sent a letter notifying him about “troubling information” amid allegations of embezzlement by a former administrator.
Johnson said the district is bringing in outside support to offer “a fresh set of eyes” to look at past financial practices while setting and achieving goals for the future. She said district officials are in “very close conversation” with the auditor’s office as the second phase of the TPS audit begins.
“When I think about our young people and I interact with them, it is not fair to them that there are alleged people who behaved badly. (…) Our students do not even know who they are, and it is not fair to them that they even need to care about people who did not take care of their responsibilities,” Johnson said. “What matters is that we have a fresh start in order to provide our young people right now with what they deserve.”
