By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of profiles on the seven Republican candidates seeking the party’s nomination for state superintendent. Profiles will run in alphabetical order.
James Taylor is “in the trenches every single day” as a teacher at Little Axe High School.
That’s what sets him apart in the seven-candidate Republican primary for state superintendent, he said. Voters will head to the polls on June 16.
The early U.S. history and government teacher would lead the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the state’s top school board, if elected.
Taylor, 67, of Oklahoma City, is the father of four adult children and two adopted children, ages 7 and 8 — one attending a private school and another in a center for children with disabilities.
He joined Little Axe five years ago after he was one of six teachers fired from Oklahoma City Public Schools in 2021 for refusing to wear face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taylor and the other five teachers have a pending lawsuit against the district.
“I didn’t wear the mask,” he said. “I just chose not to do that. That was not going to happen. What’s really interesting is now we know that almost every single thing they told us about COVID was an absolute lie.”
Taylor, who’s also a church pastor, said he’s been interested in serving his community through public office for several years. He ran against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cole four times and now is making his first bid for state superintendent.
He said the biggest challenge in Oklahoma schools is the number of students unable to read at grade level. The state should correct the issue by emphasizing phonics and hiring more reading specialists, he said.
Taylor said he was supportive of former state Superintendent Ryan Walters’ effort to have public schools teach Christian beliefs and Bible stories that influenced America’s founding fathers.
He said “I would do everything I can” to reinstate social studies standards that explain the Bible’s influence on the country’s founding.
“I appreciate what Ryan Walters was attempting to do,” Taylor said. “I really do, and (it) had nothing to do with me being a pastor. It has to do with history. And so, I appreciate what he was doing. I just think he was flawed in his methodology in many ways.”
The Oklahoma Supreme Court threw out Walters’ social studies standards. The Oklahoma State Board of Education has since approved new standards that delete references to the Bible and Jesus.
Walters’ frequent media appearances and controversial policies, including his push to place a Bible in every public school classroom, put a national spotlight on the state superintendent role. The far-right Republican stepped down with more than a year left in his four-year term to lead an anti-teacher-union organization.
Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Lindel Fields to finish Walters’ term. Fields kept his pledge to the governor that he would not run in the 2026 elections to keep the seat.
On June 16, GOP primary voters will choose between Taylor, Peggs Public Schools Superintendent John Cox, William Crozier, former school district and CareerTech administrator Robert Franklin, state Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, Southern Nazarene University senior research analyst Debra Herlihy and state Sen. Adam Pugh.
Two Democrats, former Tulsa Board of Education member Jennettie Marshall and retired El Reno Public Schools Superintendent Craig McVay, round out the nine-candidate field.
