Tulsa Public Schools' planning documents show that the district has trouble teaching students and retaining teachers partly because of staff members' belief in a lack of support from administration and policy.
The documents obtained by the Tulsa World are presentations district administrators gave to principals and senior staff last month as part of the planning process for the next school year. The documents' information was compiled from University of Oklahoma-Tulsa surveys of district staff at school sites and internal district data.
The documents show that less than a quarter of the district's more than 800 teachers and principals surveyed last year said they "agree" administrators shows concern for their schools' needs.
Deputy Superintendent Paula Shannon says how staff feel about the administration's performance is "more complicated" than the numbers indicate.