Published: November 10, 2009 12:25 pm      

Sen. Paddack to run for state superintendent

Ada — Oklahoma State Senator and long-time Ada resident Susan Paddack announced her candidacy for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Monday morning to a crowded Chickasaw Nation Community Center in Ada.

“First of all, I want to say, ‘Thank you,’ to each and every one of you,” Paddack said. “You’ve taken time away from your jobs and your busy lives to be a part of this announcement.”

Former State Superintendent Sandy Garrett recently announced her retirement and Paddack said she’d been thinking and talking with her family for weeks before she decided to run.

“I chose to make this announcement here in Ada because of you,” Paddack said. “This is such a great area and you are just magnificent. I appreciate your support. I’m just overwhelmed by the numbers that are here today. I am honored and I am just so blessed.”

If elected State Superintendent, Paddack would be the second woman to hold that job in Oklahoma, after Sandy Garrett. Paddack said she will continue to work as a State Senator until she is either elected to the office of State Superintendent or her term runs out in 2012.

“I will continue to multitask and I will continue to be your Senator,” Paddack said. “I want every child in Oklahoma to get the education they need to achieve their goals. If we don’t take care of our kids and if we don’t give them the highest quality education, we can not be successful as a state.”

During her years in the State Senate, Paddack developed the Grants to Teachers program.

“There are a lot of people who don’t realize that I was the one who started that,” Paddack said. “Back in the days when I did it, I did all the paperwork, too.”

“She’s going to do a great job,” attendee Lavonda Jones said. “She’s always very committed. She has a passion for Oklahoma. She has a passion for kids.”

“I think it’ll be great. She’s such a hard worker at whatever she does,” another attendee Mary Scalf said.

The first in her family to graduate from college, Paddack has a long history with education.

“I’ve been an educator, I’ve worked with higher-ed, I’ve worked with businesses and communities all across the state to form local education foundations and I’ve been education and education appropriations chair in the Senate,” Paddack said.