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Head of Oklahoma teachers union resigns

Katherine Bishop was president of the Oklahoma Education Association from 2021 to 2025
AJ Stegall
/
Provided to Oklahoma Voice
Katherine Bishop was president of the Oklahoma Education Association from 2021 to 2025

The head of Oklahoma’s largest teachers union has stepped down.

The Oklahoma Education Association announced Monday that its president, Katherine Bishop, has resigned to spend more time with her family. Vice President Cari Elledge will succeed her.

Bishop had been president of OEA since 2021. Before that, she had been vice president since 2015.

“We are grateful for her time and dedication to the profession and OEA and wish her all the best,” the association wrote in its announcement.

Bishop was a National Board Certified special education teacher and instructional coach in Putnam City Public Schools for 23 years.

“I have loved every minute as an educator and my time of advocacy and would do it all over again,” Bishop said in a statement.

Elledge was a fifth grade teacher in Norman Public Schools for 15 years and has been OEA’s vice president since 2021.

OEA counts about 30,000 members, including retired educators and students, the organization’s spokesperson, Monica Royer, said. It is an affiliate of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union.

The OEA Board of Directors has chosen Zach Grimm, a Spanish teacher from Moore Public Schools, to be vice president-elect. Grimm has represented Oklahoma on the NEA Board of Directors since 2020.


Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence.

Nuria Martinez-Keel covers education for Oklahoma Voice. She worked in newspapers for six years, more than four of which she spent at The Oklahoman covering education and courts. Nuria is an Oklahoma State University graduate.
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