OKLAHOMA CITY — The appointment of outgoing Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor as Gov. Brad Henry’s education czar bookends the self-described “education governor’s” two terms in office.

Elected in 2002, Henry has made improving public education the overriding priority of his administration, working to increase teacher pay to the regional average, improve student achievement and increase funding for college scholarships.

As he approaches the end of his second and final term in office next year, Henry has tapped Taylor to secure some of the more than $4 billion in federal economic stimulus money the government has set aside for education grants and re-emphasize the governor’s goals for public education in Oklahoma.

“I’ve never heard him give a speech where he didn’t say that quality education is one of our top priorities,” said Taylor, who served as Henry’s secretary of Commerce and Tourism for three years before she was elected mayor of Tulsa.

“That has been the governor’s top priority and this work will hopefully be kind of the culmination of his eight years in office,” Taylor said.

Henry, whose wife, first lady Kim Henry, is a former teacher who has helped shape her husband’s education policies, named Taylor the Governor’s Chief of Education Strategy and Innovation, a newly created position that will make Taylor Henry’s top education adviser.

Taylor will volunteer her time in Henry’s administration and will not accept a state salary. She will begin her new role after her term as mayor ends on Dec. 7.

Taylor’s focus in her new job will be a national competition among the states for a share of the $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” fund to improve education quality and results statewide.

Another $650 million in federal funds has been set aside in the “Invest in What Works and Innovation” fund and will be available through a separate competition among school districts and nonprofit groups with a strong track record of results.

“We absolutely will go for a Race to the Top grant,” Taylor said. The grants will be made in two rounds, one this fall and another in the spring of 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Web site.

The fund is intended to help states improve student achievement by supporting those that show progress in meeting goals set by the government, including improving student achievement through school improvement and reform and transparency and accountability in how the federal funds are spent.

The grants will reward state for having created conditions for reform and for increasing student achievement, according to the DOE Web site. They will also provide incentives for states to implement comprehensive reform strategies.

Taylor said education reforms supported by Henry and adopted by the Legislature in recent years have put the state in a good position to be competitive as it seeks the federal grants.

Last year, the Legislature passed a plan to revamp Oklahoma’s student testing system. In previous years, lawmakers have adopted programs such as Achieving Classroom Excellence, an effort to make schools more accountable, require students to take tougher courses and eventually require graduation tests.

The Democratic governor has also worked to create new revenue sources for education, including the Oklahoma Lottery, which has raised about $300 million for education since it began operating in October 2005, and revenue from tribal gaming operations, which contributed almost $106 million during the fiscal year that ended June 1, most of it for public education.

In addition, the impact of the Education Reform and Funding Act of 1990, commonly known as House Bill 1017, are still being felt almost 20 years later, Taylor said.

Passed near the end of the late Gov. Henry Bellmon’s second term, the measure is widely considered the most sweeping education reform bill in state history. It called for an increase in funding for public schools by 27 percent, as well as smaller class sizes, compulsory kindergarten and teacher incentive pay.

“We have a great groundwork here in Oklahoma. It’s now time to bring home that change that was envisioned by Bellmon and others,” Taylor said.

Taylor said she has already reached out to legislative leaders in the House and Senate as well as Superintendent of Schools Sandy Garrett and Chancellor of Higher Education Glen Johnson to begin a dialogue on education reform that need to be addressed to position the state for a share of the federal education grants.

“That is still a subject of discussion,” Taylor said. “My job is really helping to convene and find ways that we can agree on innovation.”

The head of a House budget panel for education said she looks forward to working with Taylor.

“The budget is going to need some help next year. I certainly think Oklahoma should try for its allocation,” said Rep. Lee Denney, R-Cushing, chair of the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Education.

“I think we get more done when the two branches of the Legislature and the executive branch work together,” Denney said.

The head of the state’s largest teacher’s group, the Oklahoma Education Association, said she is confident that Taylor will be successful.

“She is a get-work-done type person. I think the governor has chosen well,” said Lela Odom, executive director of OEA.

“I hope that we’ll all look at this as an opportunity,” Odom said. “Our economy depends on a well-educated work force. People want education to be a priority in the state.”