Executive Officers

Roy Bishop
President

Roy Bishop, of Stillwater, Oklahoma, is president of the 40,000 member Oklahoma Education Association (OEA).  Roy has been a teacher in Oklahoma for 15 years.  At the time of his election to statewide office, he had served 13 years in the Stillwater Public Schools where he taught geography and history at the junior high level.  He has previously been the golf coach and sponsor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He also taught for two years in Oklahoma City.

Roy served as OEA Vice President from 1997 to 2003 before being elected OEA President.  He is currently serving his second term as president. Prior to taking state offices with the OEA, Roy served the Association at the local level as president, building representative and member on various committees.  At the state level, he has served on the OEA Board of Directors, as a delegate and as a committee chair.  He also served on the National Education Association Resolutions Committee and on NEA task forces on charter schools and early childhood programs. 

He has served on the State Department of Education Task Force on School Violence; as president of the Oklahoma Commission on Educational Administration in 2001-2002; and as chair of the Oklahoma Education Coalition.

Roy received his education degree from Oklahoma State University.

His wife, Katherine, is a teacher in the Putnam City School District in Oklahoma City and is an active member of her local Association, the Putnam City Association of Classroom Teachers.

OEA Board of Directors

Oklahoma’s NEA Directors

OEA Delegate Assembly

OEA Committees

Becky Felts
Vice President

Becky Felts is serving her sixth and final year as vice president of the Oklahoma Education Association. She was elected in 2003 to represent the 40,000 members of OEA. While teaching, Felts served the Association as a local president and OEA Board Member. She also represented OEA members in Washington, D.C. for six years as a member of the NEA Board of Directors.

The Tahlequah, Okla., native began her career in the classroom at Peggs, a small rural school in northern Cherokee County, before moving to the Tahlequah Public School District.  Becky taught elementary school in Cherokee County for 27 years and has been recognized as Cherokee County Teacher of the Year and Tahlequah’s, Cherokee Elementary Teacher of the Year. She also served on the Tahlequah Public Schools Professional Development Committee for several years.  She has taught various subjects and grade levels including Title I remedial reading and math and fourth grade math and science.

She served as a commissioner on the Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation for two years, appointed by former Speaker of the House Larry Adair.

Becky is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma Class XVII and is also a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International of women educators.

Setting OEA's direction in promoting quality teaching and learning while protecting the rights and enhancing quality conditions of employment for public education employees will be the challenge of OEA's Leadership Team.

Oklahoma Education Association
PO Box 18485
Oklahoma City, OK  73154
Office 405.528.7785
Office 800.522.8091

Roy Bishop, President
rbishop@okea.org

Becky Felts, Vice President
bfelts@okea.org

Lela Odom, Executive Director
lodom@okea.org

Lorraine Newton, Administrative Assistant
lnewton@okea.org

Janice Trent, Administrative Assistant
jtrent@okea.org

Lela Odom
Executive Director

Lela Odom has spent her entire professional life working for the Oklahoma Education Association. Whether as a dedicated member or in a variety of positions on the OEA staff, she brings a wealth of experience to the position of executive director.

Odom was born and raised in Oklahoma City. After graduating from Southeast High School, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1971 from Central State University (now known as University of Central Oklahoma).

After graduating from CSU, she taught second and third grades at Kelley Elementary in Moore and was named Teacher of the Year in her building in 1976. Odom was a very active OEA member, serving as building rep and in various leadership positions in the Moore ACT, including president.

Odom joined the OEA staff in November 1977 as a UniServ director, and, over the next ten years, worked with various local Associations in Oklahoma, Canadian, Cleveland, Garvin, Grady and McLain Counties. In 1987, she was promoted to UniServ manager. As a manager, she supervised all areas of OEA services except Legislative and Political Organizing. 

In addition to Lela’s responsibilities at OEA, she will serve a 2 year term as chair of the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust (OETT) during 2008-10.  OETT is a Trust that was created by a $30 million settlement between the state of Oklahoma and ATT.  The Trust provides grants to schools for technology and professional development to implement technology into classrooms across the state.  Lela also serves as 2008-09 chair of the Oklahoma Commission of Education Association’s, which is a group of K-16 education representatives who work with the State Department of Education on the latest education issues. 

In her spare time, Lela loves to read and spend time with her family.  She also serves on the board of her neighborhood association and is a member of Women of the South, which is an organization that promotes and does good deeds for South Oklahoma City.