Opinion: The small network of elites controlling Tulsa Public Schools for years has been working overtime to try to frame this year’s school board elections as being between “Ryan Walters’ supporters” and those who want to protect “local control.” This generalization is an intentional lie on the part of narrative experts who need Tulsans’ votes (for now) in order to maintain their control of the institutions. Once they have trained enough children in a way of thinking that serves the agenda of the powerful, they will no longer need to come to you for permission to maintain their power in office. Those are the actual stakes of today’s political battles, both locally and nationally.

When I think about the two “sides” vying for control of the Tulsa school board, I am struck by how organized one “side” is, and the other consists of all the other Tulsans of various backgrounds and beliefs. Our “side” doesn’t have ringleaders, catchphrases, funding, or any kind of community organizing to influence public power. The organized, entrenched interests pretend to be victims of some dark conspiracy to hurt our public schools that doesn’t exist, but it makes for a good story to get people to the polls.

This past summer, I celebrated one of those monumental birthdays that seem to come quicker the farther I go along, and they all seem to end in zero or five. I turned 65 and was flooded with memories of when I was convinced that 65-year-old people were old and had the proverbial one foot in the grave. Since I held that myopic belief, nutrition and medical science have given us 65-year-olds the potential for a longer life. My perspective has changed. When I think of some of my most significant mentors, Coach John Wooden, Paul Harvey, and Art Linkletter, I’m reminded that they all did some of their best and most impactful work in their 90s.

My wonderful wife, Crystal, and some of my friends arranged a party to commemorate my 65th trip around the sun. They invited friends, family, and colleagues and then welcomed those who could not travel to attend the event to send letters to be read aloud. I was humbled to hear letters read with birthday wishes from Steve Forbes, Jack Nicklaus, and Louis Gossett, Jr., among many others. But we received one letter I will never forget.

For most Americans, bomb shelters are a relic of the past, a call-out to the early 1960s when Cold War tensions ran high. But for citizens of Israel, bomb shelters are a very present and living reality. Even more so since October 7.

In an announcement today, the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry in the US and United Kingdom reported donations of 14 bomb shelters to Israel in 2023. Of those, 12 after the ghastly October 7 terror attacks by Hamas.

The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry was founded in 1938 to provide relief and assistance to Jewish refugees who were fleeing the Holocaust. “With theological conviction, we took a stand against antisemitism through humanitarian aid and blessed the Jewish people as instructed by God in Genesis 12:3,” said Dr. Jim Showers, president and executive director.