Republican Robert Franklin elected Oklahoma state superintendent

OKLAHOMA CITY — A former teacher, school district leader and CareerTech center administrator who ran on his decades of experience in education has been elected Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public schools.

Robert Franklin, a Republican from Sand Springs, defeated Democrat Jennettie Marshall, of Tulsa, in Tuesday’s general election.

Franklin, 67, will govern the state’s public schools system as the leader of the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the state Board of Education. He ran a campaign focused on unifying Oklahomans to tackle the state’s teacher shortage and poor academic results. 

He also decried the political partisanship of former Superintendent Ryan Walters, a far-right wing firebrand who resigned last year.

Once sworn into office in January, Franklin will succeed state Superintendent Lindel Fields, who chose not to run for reelection. Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Fields in October 2025 after Walters resigned to lead a nonprofit.

Franklin began his career in 1981 with Sand Springs Public Schools as a special education teacher and later became a principal and assistant superintendent in the district. He joined Tulsa Technology Center in 2010 as an associate superintendent and remained until his retirement in 2024. 

An inductee in the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame, he then began teaching courses in educational leadership at the University of Oklahoma’s Tulsa campus.

Franklin also served on the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board from 2018 to 2024, including four years as the chair. He was one of two board members in 2023 to vote against a proposed publicly funded Catholic charter school. The Oklahoma Supreme Court later decided a publicly funded Catholic school was unconstitutional, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that ruling.

On the campaign trail — while another proposed religious charter school emerged — Franklin reinforced his stance against bringing faith-based teaching into public education, calling it unconstitutional and too heavy a burden to place on teachers.

His campaign focused on hiring more behavioral health specialists and counselors in public schools to help address disruptive student behaviors. He proposed expanding vocational education at the middle school level and changing Oklahoma’s model for state testing.

After jumping into the race shortly before candidate filing, Franklin emerged in the lead of a seven-candidate Republican primary election in June. With significant support from Oklahoma educators, he defeated James Taylor in an August GOP runoff election.

Franklin said his 45 years of experience in education set him apart from his general election opponent. 

Marshall, 68, served eight years on the board governing Tulsa Public Schools, the state’s largest district. She spent her career as a pastor and in law enforcement, including 17 years as a parole officer and case manager for the state Department of Corrections.