She also said she was “embarrassed it has gone badly, not just bumps in the road,” particularly because the Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition were backers of the reform and the governor had arranged an earlier visit to Oklahoma by Jeb Bush.

Hudecki wondered how effective the grading system could be, ultimately, given the controversy.

“A large part of the problem is in the handling of people at every level. Alienating people is never a good long term strategy,” she said. “The art of consensus building and compromise is either missing, or has been a hollow process … The public surely must be losing confidence that the reform is soundly implemented, which will make grades less meaningful.”

On the morning of Oct. 8, Gardenhire emailed Altshuler to report that Hudecki was lobbying for a delay, “targeting the weak links on the board.”

He wrote, “That is just appalling to me, the governor’s undersecretary undermining her own agenda?”