News (USA)

Oklahoma GOP wants to impeach anti-LGBTQ+ education head Ryan Walters

Walters has hired anti-LGBTQ+ extremists and demanded that schools teach the Bible. Republicans are fed up with his antics.
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Oklahoma's superintendent of public schools Ryan Walters
Oklahoma's superintendent of public schools Ryan Walters Photo: WPDE-TV screenshot

Republicans in the Oklahoma state legislature are turning against state Superintendent Ryan Walters (R), as 21 officials have called for an impeachment investigation.

“Since Superintendent Walters took office 18 months ago, I have grown increasingly concerned about the budget performance, spending priorities, and transparency surrounding the Department,” State Rep. Mark McBride (R) wrote a letter to state House Speaker Charles McCall (R). “Conditions at the Department, the manner in which the Superintendent and the Board of Education have treated members of the Legislature — from both parties and from both the House of Representatives and the State Senate — has been, to say the least, unprofessional, beneath the dignity of a statewide elected official, and most importantly, contrary to the best interest of the taxpayers and students of the State of Oklahoma.”

Related:

Oklahoma’s head of education hires Christian Nationalists to revise social studies curriculum

Superintendent Ryan Walters is indoctrinating school-age kids with the same Christian Nationalist ideology planned for Trump 2.0.

The actions Walters has allegedly taken include denying Republicans in McBride’s committee access to meetings within the Board of Education, failure to answer questions from McBride and his committee, failure to fulfill requests in a timely manner, failure to comply with budgetary directives in the legislature, neglecting to give information about state funding for travel, and failing to provide funding for asthma inhalers.

Walters responded to this letter by telling KOCO 5 News, “If they decide to move forward with that, it would be the most unprecedented move in state history to undermine the will of the Oklahoman voters. We’re going to continue to put parents and grandparents in charge of their kids’ education. We’re going to continue to put Oklahoma on a path to be successful in education. So, I will never back down to moderate Republicans partnering with Democrats to try to overturn the will of the people. We’re not going to allow it.”

As for the “will of the people,” Walters was appointed to his position, not elected by voters.

Walters also rambled about how Republicans are trying to “bring back” teachers’ unions. It is unclear what relation this has to the claims made in the letter. Right-wingers have constantly claimed that teachers unions are greedy, bureaucratic groups that aren’t concerned with students’ education.

McCall has stated publicly that 30 more Republicans need to sign the letter calling for an impeachment investigation before he can take action.

Walters has erupted in controversy since he was appointed as the state Superintendent. He appointed right-wing ideologue Chaya Raichik of LibsofTikTok to the state educational office in spite of her having no clear credentials, as well as hiring Dennis Prager of the right-wing YouTube channel Prager U and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts to help draft educational policy in the state.

Walters has introduced anti-LGBTQ+ rules while in office, including forced outing procedures, the censorship of LGBTQ+ topics in classrooms, and forcing schools to teach the Bible. He has threatened to revoke the licenses of teachers in the state and to persecute school districts that don’t comply with his directives.

McBride’s letter said, “I have repeatedly met one-on-one with the Superintendent, where I pled with him to please focus on the responsibilities and duties of his office, and work with the Legislature to improve and advance the cause of Public Education in Oklahoma. These pleas have fallen on deaf ears and the Superintendent has chosen to pursue an aggressively opposite path, one filled with name-calling, obstruction, defiance, and secrecy.”

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