(A column of opinion by Gary Reid, Publisher Emeritus)

C. Jack Harrel : Remembering a great man

I was deeply saddened by the news of the death of former Kingfisher Schools Superintendent Jack Harrel.

He might well be known as a superintendents’ superintendent.

Always the same, day after day, doing what was best for the students and teachers fortunate enough to experience his leadership during his superintendency.

Harrel served as superintendent at Kingfisher from 1985 to 88 and again from 1990-96 after a two-year stint as state deputy superintendent of public instruction.

He was inducted into the Kingfisher High School Hall of Fame in 2015.

The thing anyone could respect about Harrel, and there were many things to respect, like fairness to everyone and a deep desire to provide the best start for his students possible, was his truthfulness.

While visiting with Dr A.J. Johnson –Kingfisher’s lonest serving instructor because he loves to help young people – I mentioned that Jack Harrel’s top trait, speaking as a newsman, was that he always gave me the straight scoop.

Johnson nodded his head and remarked, “He never lied to me.”

As the Page 1 story in the Wednesday edition stated, Harrel’s professionalism and leadership amassed honors beyond the local community.

His service to Kingfisher included guiding the district through the worst financial period in its history, due to a combination of factors outside the district’s control.

Oklahoma’s oil bust of the 1980s led to the state’s first-ever revenue failure, which resulted in severe budget cuts to education. The domino effect led to a reduction in force for many school districts, including Kingfisher.

But that also led to a number of changes down the road that benefited education and teachers…and Harrel played a big part in that.

He worked for the passage of House Bill 1017, which passed in 1990.

The legislation established a new, more equitable school funding system and mandated scheduled teacher pay raises, limits on class sizes and new education standards and qualifications.

Harrel’s dedication to public service extended beyond the school building and House Bill 1017. He was also a member of the Governor’s Education Reform Advisory Council, the Kingfisher Regional Hospital Board and the Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce.

His efforts earned him the Lifetime Achievement and Administrator of the Year awards from the Oklahoma Association of School Administrators.

Harrel’s nomination letter for the KHS Hall of Fame praised his “knowledge of financial issues, his professionalism and his appreciation for public education in the state of Oklahoma.”

Another quote in the article from Johnson was this: “Mr. Harrel was one of the best ‘school men’ I’ve ever known. He was the ‘gold standard’ that I continue to evaluate every superintendent by and, to date, no one has matched him.

“A truly great public servant and his contributions to the education community will be long lasting.”

R.I.P. Jack Harrel; You will be long remembered.

Are we all descended from slaves?

I’ve often wondered why the American Left continues to hammer away at slavery, like America was the only place slavery existed.

A bit of reading reveals that slavery was worldwide far back into history.

It was the U.S. and England that largely abolished the system.

It still exists in some areas; those where the government is in complete control of the population. China, Cuba and North Korea come to mind, offhand.

It would be easy to believe that every person alive today has slave ancestors.

The word slave is derived from the word Slav, denoting a people in northern Eurasia whose members were broadly taken as slaves and sold worldwide in earlier times.

The Bible speaks repeatedly of slaves, as if they were everyday commodities. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt.

A main reason people fled their homelands to come to America was because they sought freedom, including the right to own property and think freely.

It seems to me the goal of the leftists today is to put the common folks (everyone but them) back in the same type system.

You may disagree and that’s fine with me because we still live in a semblance of the system the Founding Fathers created for us.

But the Founders were smart enough to realize that a free society would always be threatened by the power seekers – usually individuals lacking in self-confidence who need the power of government to make themselves feel equal, or superior.

Among that number I list former President Barack Hussein Obama, the radical leftist community organizer, who was granted the highest office in the nation and did his darnedest to undo all the good that the Founders created.

Stefanik Writes

I received a text recently from Elise Stefanik, chairman of the House Republican Leadership, that gives credence to this idea.

Stefanik was seeking donations for her campaign for governor of New York and I may try to send her a widow’s mite.

She wrote: Rumors were circulating that Obama was meddling behind the curtain in the New York City Mayor’s race in support of Zohran Mamdani – a communist who wants to abolish prisons and private property. Those rumors have now been confirmed by Mamdani himself. Obama called him to congratulate him and guide him to victory in an election nearly 2 months away. In fact, the entire Obama Network has been quietly meeting with Mamdani. Why? Because they see Zohran Mamdani as the next Barack Obama. You may be inclined to brush this off as a problem for New York City alone… But knowing what you know now, would you have brushed off a similar warning about a relatively unknown community organizer from Chicago named Barack Obama? If you could go back in time and stop Obama before his rise to power, would you? As the most senior elected Republican in New York, I am making a solemn pledge to you right now: I will fight with every fiber of my being to stop Mamdani and FIRE Governor Kathy Hochul who singlehandedly enabled his rise to power. That’s my pledge.