Anyone who reads or hears my discourse and philosophy for living knows that I often quote Winston Churchill when deciding what route to take in making decisions. I don't believe its enough to just talk the talk, but to walk the walk, so to speak. I've often thought of the speech Churchill made to Harrow School graduates on October 29, 1941, just as Adolph Hitler and the Nazis were sweeping through Europe). It appeared as if all was lost for England as one country fell after another. Churchill offered a lesson he'd learned over the last 10 months, as inspiration to his alma mater: "never give in, never give in, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force..." This thought occurred to me as I pondered whether or not to submit another public/private classification plan to the OSSAA for consideration. Our first effort to re-classify private schools for competition in the OSSAA was voted down with 11 "no" and 1 "yes". We almost gave up our quest to "level the playing field" for public schools and private schools when competing in the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activity Association. I say "almost", because we submitted a second plan (Oklahoma Plan B) to the OSSAA Board on April 25, 2018.
The Oklahoma Plan B for reclassification of public and private schools in the OSSAA closely resembled the Tennessee Secondary School Activity Association (TSSAA) rule for classification, which classifies all private schools and all public schools separately for playoff competitions only. What is truly unique about the TSSAA classification rule is that a private school AD proposed it. In TSSAA Approves Public-Private Split for 2019 (Athletic Business, March 2018) - "The proposal, which was submitted by Harding Academy, a Memphis based private school that participates in Division II, goes into effect during the 2019-20 school year... 'I think it levels the playing field,' said Harding Academy athletic director Kevin Starks... 'I think independent (private) schools can do things that public schools can't do.' "
Update: OSSAA votes down second proposal on private vs. public school split... April 25, 2018...
Update: April 30, 2018 - Many high school sports fans have now heard of the legislative effort to separate the six largest schools in the OSSAA from other class-6A schools in competition. Senate Bill 1599 "would have placed Broken Arrow, Tulsa Union, Jenks, Owasso, Mustang, and Yukon in their own classification if passed". The bill was not well researched and OSSAA officials nor directors knew anything about it until it was sprung yesterday. It was a bad bill because it wasn't appropriately vetted, and inaccurate data was presented to justify it.
Many public school officials question an assertion, however, made by the OSSAA Executive Director that he is "disappointed that the state legislature is running any bill for a member-driven organization". He also stated "We have mechanisms in place where the membership can change our rules and policies that govern our organization." Many public school members of the OSSAA believe they have reason to doubt the executive director in making these two assertions, considering the facts of the "private/public split" when voted on by the directors.
For instance, 55 "member" signatures were obtained in order for the board of directors to consider a "membership vote" on two separate classification rule changes. The board only had to consider sending either plan out to a membership vote - not to consider actually implementing the rule change. The 55 schools believe strongly that if the entire membership would have been allowed to vote on either plan, it would have been approved. The 13 or 14 directors probably also believed the rule change would have passed a membership vote - but did not allow it. As a result of this "director vote" to disallow "membership control", many believe the OSSAA is not a member controlled organization,and does not have mechanisms in place where the membership can change rules and policies. I believe the OSSAA must have a good reason to deny a membership vote on any re-classification plan, although no director has said as much. Many public school supporters want to know 'the reason', so please let us know...
politics plan & simple
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