Joy Hofmeister

Joy Lynn Hofmeister (née Janosky, born September 7, 1964) is an American educator and politician who served as the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2015 to 2023.

During the campaign Barresi requested copies, under Oklahoma's open records laws, of all emails Hofmeister had exchanged with Jenks Public Schools since 2007.

Hofmeister had been a parent of a JPS student and served on the board of the Jenks Public Schools Foundation.

Two of Barresi's campaign staffers reviewed over 7,000 pages of emails.

The campaign later requested all emails between Hofmeister and Tulsa Public Schools, Sand Springs Public Schools, Sapulpa Public Schools, and Union Public Schools.

Barresi had a financial lead over Hofmeister throughout the campaign, ultimately spending almost $910,000 of her own money.

As a result of her switch, she became the only Democratic statewide elected official in Oklahoma and the first to hold office since 2011.

She is the most recent Democrat to hold statewide office in Oklahoma.

Hofmeister is a former public school teacher and owner of a Kumon afterschool program business from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In the private sector, she spent 15 years operating Kumon Math & Reading Centers of South Tulsa.

This organization works through parent partnerships to ensure higher academic achievement for children.

During that time she personally worked with more than 4,000 students to improve their educational outcomes.

Hofmeister graduated with a bachelor's degree in education from Texas Christian University.

In January 2012, Hofmeister was appointed to the Oklahoma State Board of Education by Governor Mary Fallin to fill the vacancy left by Phil Larkin Jr., who had vacated the seat after he was elected to Tulsa's city council.

While serving on the State Board of Education, Hofmeister opposed Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Janet Barresi's A-F grading scale for schools.

The Tulsa World had been speculating that State Superintendent Janet Barresi would face a serious primary challenge since October 2012.

She resigned from the board on April 24, 2013.

On April 24, 2013, Hofmeister resigned from the Oklahoma State Board of Education to consider a run for State Superintendent.

Hofmeister had allegedly met with Chad Alexander in April 2013, and Alexander later ran an anti-Barresi PAC.

Hofmeister denounced the investigation as politically motivated.

On January 7, 2014, Hofmeister announced her exploratory campaign's steering committee, which included 20 Republican state legislators.

In her formal campaign announcement, Hofmeister denounced what she called the Barresi "reign of terror," critiquing the incumbent for a "cookie cutter" and "one size fits all" approach to education reform.

Hofmeister, however, led in Republican primary polls, and won the June 2014 Republican primary, defeating Barresi.

She defeated Democrat John Cox in the November general election.

In 2014, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater announced his office was investigating complaints alleging that Hofmeister's campaign for superintendent and a "dark money" PAC.

The investigation stemmed from emails the District Attorney's office received from the campaign of Janet Barresi, Hofmeister's opponent.

Hofmeister was sworn in as Oklahoma's 14th State Superintendent on January 12, 2015, after defeating the incumbent Republican candidate, Janet Barresi, in the primary election and Democratic candidate John Cox in the general election.

As of May 2015, she is earning her master's degree in Education Administration with a specialty in Education Policy and Law from the University of Oklahoma.

She was sworn in as Oklahoma's 14th Superintendent of Public Instruction on January 12, 2015.

In 2015, under Hofmeister's leadership, the Oklahoma State Department of Education created a statewide program for all high school juniors to take the ACT at no cost to families or schools.

In 2016, Hofmeister led the charge to eliminate statewide end-of-instruction (EOI) exams for high school students, reducing the number of standardized tests to only those required under federal law (except US History), thereby significantly reducing testing costs.

The program was expanded to allow a district to choose between ACT or SAT in 2016.

Hofmeister was arrested in 2016, and charged with conspiracy and campaign finance violations in Oklahoma County.

She denied wrongdoing and said: "I will vigorously defend my integrity and reputation against any suggestion of wrongdoing ... And I will fight the allegations that have been made against me."

Oklahoma Democrats, as well as a few Republicans, called for Hofmeister to resign.

In 2017, the program sparked a 29 percent increase in ACT participation.

On August 1, 2017, District Attorney David Prater dismissed all charges against Hofmeister.

Hofmeister was re-elected on November 6, 2018, and sworn in for a second four-year term as State Superintendent on January 14, 2019.

Hofmeister won re-election after facing Democrat John Cox a second time, as well as independent candidate Larry Huff.

On October 7, 2021, Hofmeister changed her party affiliation to the Democratic Party and ran in the 2022 gubernatorial election, losing to incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt.