OKLAHOMA CITY — State Superintendent Ryan Walters will resign from office with more than a year left in his term for a new position leading a conservative teacher organization, he announced Wednesday night while speaking live on FOX News.

Walters said he will become the CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a newly formed group that markets itself as an alternative to teacher unions. He expects to resign in early October, his campaign manager and senior adviser Matt Langston told Oklahoma Voice.

His resignation means Gov. Kevin Stitt will have to appoint a candidate to lead the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the state Board of Education through the rest of Walters’ term, which ends in January 2027. Stitt has not yet said who he will choose.

In a brief appearance on FOX late Wednesday night, Walters said he is “excited” to step down and accept his new position. He said his goal is to “destroy the teachers unions.”

“We have seen the teachers unions use money and power to corrupt our schools, to undermine our schools,” he said. “We are one of the biggest grassroots organizations in the country. We will build an army of teachers to defeat the teachers unions once and for all. So, this fight’s going national, and we will get our schools back on track.”

The Teacher Freedom Alliance has 2,617 enrolled members, according to its website.

Langston said he plans to leave the Education Department on Sept. 30. The Texas-based political strategist has been a top leader at the agency since Walters took office in January 2023 while at the same time working on various political campaigns.

Walters, a former teacher turned far-right-wing firebrand, was elected to a four-year term as Oklahoma’s top education official in 2022. He could have been eligible for a second term had he run for reelection.

For much of his two years and 10 months in office, he’s been at the center of numerous controversies, most recently for being at odds with Stitt, a former ally, and the state Board of Education.

His tactics frustrated even fellow conservatives when he abruptly and sometimes silently made significant changes to state education policy. Doing so prompted frequent criticism from both Republicans and Democrats that Walters sought self-promotion more than academic improvement in Oklahoma’s struggling public education system.

While he also put money into improving teacher recruitment and student tutoring, Walters spent much of his time in office railing against perceived liberal ideology while promoting education with a conservative, patriotic and pro-Bible lens.

Although Walters has been widely expected to seek higher office, he mentioned no plans for a future political campaign. His new position won’t require him to move out of state, Langston said.

Like Walters, the Teacher Freedom Alliance is a vocal critic of teacher unions. The Freedom Foundation, a national conservative think tank, created the Teacher Freedom Alliance this year to offer liability insurance, professional development, and “alternative curriculums and pedagogies” to educators.

Walters celebrated the organization’s launch in March by encouraging educators to join it as “an alternative to woke teachers’ unions.”

“Today, Superintendent Ryan Walters announced intent to lead the charge to offer a private industry solution to the far left-leaning Teachers’ Unions that have infected our public education system for decades,” a March 10 news release from his office stated.

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a major departure from decades of state and federal policy, Oklahoma’s top education official said Friday his administration doesn’t plan to administer statewide reading and math tests this school year.

Instead, state Superintendent Ryan Walters suggested Oklahoma should collect data from benchmark assessments that individual school districts select and purchase from private vendors. Oklahoma would be the first in the nation to replace its statewide exams with a patchwork of district-chosen tests.

The plan requires permission from the U.S. Department of Education, and Walters said he expects a “very, very quick” approval from the Trump administration. The Oklahoma State Department of Education is accepting public comment until Sept. 8 on the idea before submitting its final request to the federal government.

“I was elected to make changes, serious changes,” Walters told Oklahoma Voice. “I have done all that I can to bring the changes into place that the voters demanded. And so, that’s where you’ve seen an overhaul of an education system that was failing our kids.”

If the Trump administration agrees to the plan, Oklahoma could “open the floodgates” for other states to do the same, said Dale Chu, a school policy expert and senior visiting fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a national education think tank.

State leaders in Texas, for example, also are considering replacing their state testing system.

Federal law requires every state to test their public school students in reading and math from grades 3-8 and once more in high school. These tests are intended to hold schools accountable to providing a quality, equitable education to every student, and they inform families of their children’s academic results.

Oklahoma law similarly mandates that the state Board of Education adopts a statewide system of assessments that complies with federal regulations.

Walters, though, said he doesn’t intend to bring his idea to the state Board of Education for a vote. He said making this change falls within the Education Department’s authority to choose testing vendors and assessment schedules.

“We don’t need a vote from the state board,” Walters said. “We’ve already done everything we need to, so we’re moving forward.”

For several years, Oklahoma’s state tests have found a majority of students performing below their grade level. This was the case last year even after the state lowered the standard for students to meet grade-level targets in reading and math. Test scores are expected to have another downturn this year after state officials again raised expectations for student performance.

Walters said he’s not trying to avoid accountability for state test results. Eliminating these tests could remove a barrier that parents and teachers want out of the way, he said, and benchmark assessments could provide more helpful and timely data instead.

Many Oklahoma districts already use benchmark assessments in addition to the annual state tests. Students take benchmark assessments multiple times a year for more up-to-date information on their academic progress, and their scores are comparable to the millions of children in other states whose schools administer the same exams.

There is a trade-off, though, Chu said. These benchmark assessments aren’t deliberately aligned with the Oklahoma Academic Standards, which dictate what topics local public schools must teach to students in each subject area.

“This is why I always say all the time there’s no single assessment that can do everything,” Chu said.

Each state develops its own set of academic standards to dictate what its public schools must teach to students. Their statewide assessments then test students’ knowledge of those standards.

They also ensure the test scores of every public school and district in Oklahoma are directly comparable.

Chu said he’s not yet seen a statewide assessment system where each individual district, rather than the state, decides which test to take.

“To ensure consistency and comparability and move (the decision) to the district level, I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I haven’t seen a reliable and valid method to do what I’m talking about,” Chu said.

The benchmark system is possible, but implementing it is more complicated than one end-of-year test, said Maria D’Brot, who formerly oversaw state testing and school accountability at Oklahoma’s Education Department.

Using multiple testing vendors could undermine comparability between districts, she said. Fairness issues could emerge if students don’t have equal access to testing formats, or if students with disabilities don’t get the same accommodations or accessibility tools.

“The success of Oklahoma’s transition will depend on embedding strong psychometric infrastructure, disciplined operations, and fairness safeguards from the outset,” D’Brot said. “Without these, the accountability system risks losing its credibility, jeopardizing federal and state compliance, and failing to deliver fair and actionable information to students, families, and educators.”

Walters said his administration already has the proper infrastructure in place to make the change this year. He said the Education Department will make sure scores from different benchmark tests are evenly compared.

His proposal has faced skepticism from both sides of the political aisle.

“While we can all agree that the status quo isn’t working, tossing out the tests without thinking through next steps can be short sighted,” said Nellie Tayloe Sanders, education secretary for Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Sanders leads the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability, a small state board that shares authority over state testing with the Education Department. She said she looks forward to working with the Education Department to “find a path forward to ensure our kids have the skills they need for their futures.”

State lawmakers indicated they want input, too.

“We look forward to continued collaboration with Superintendent Walters and school districts so that any proposed changes to student testing align with state law and provides clear, actionable information on student college and career readiness,” said Rep. Dell Kerbs, R-Shawnee, who leads the House Education Oversight Committee.

Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said legislative Democrats are open to moving on from state testing, but the timing of Walters’ announcement is “reckless.”

Many districts are only days away from the first day of school, and some already have welcomed students back to class.

“Absolutely we should have a conversation about what testing is appropriate and when, and we’ve been bringing up that conversation up for years,” Kirt said. “But him doing it this way, I don’t think complies with state law, and it makes us all have to do a bunch of scrambling to figure out what’s happening.”

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Frustrated with religious content and polarizing language added to Oklahoma academic standards, some parents say they plan to opt their children out of “ideologically charged” social studies lessons in public schools.

Families and liberal advocates across the state, relying on parental rights laws that Republicans championed, are drafting letters to exempt their children from new social studies content that conservative leaders enacted this year.

“Now that it’s being codified and now that it’s being brought more into the public eye, the liberals have realized that those are our rights too,” Tulsa parent Lauren Parker said.

The “biggest glaring red flag” in the new social studies standards, Parker said, is language that casts doubt on the integrity of the 2020 presidential election. President Donald Trump has refused to concede defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 race, despite courts across the country dismissing Trump’s lawsuits claiming election fraud.

Under the new standards, Oklahoma high school U.S. history classes will be required to have students “identify discrepancies” in the 2020 election results, including the “sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”

State Superintendent Ryan Walters quietly added these claims without acknowledging them until after the standards passed a vote by the Oklahoma State Board of Education. Half of the board later said they were unaware of the new content when they voted on it.

A lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court is challenging whether the Education Department and the board followed proper procedures when approving the standards.

Parker said she contacted her home district, Tulsa Public Schools, to opt her children out of being taught about “election fraud that never happened.”

She also objected to Walters’ new requirements that Oklahoma schools incorporate Bible stories and Jesus’ teachings into their curriculum — an effort she views as Christian nationalism and religious indoctrination.

“It literally was one of the most painful experiences of my life growing up in Christianity, and so it’s the last thing that I want my daughters to learn about in school,” Parker said. “Of course, we discuss things, but it’s just that this isn’t about history and facts. It’s about pushing their faith on us, and that’s unacceptable. It’s un-American.”

Walters said he implemented the biblical content not to convert students to Christianity, but to ensure they understand the beliefs that inspired America’s core principles and that influenced the country’s founding fathers.

It’s “concerning that parents would opt their kids out of understanding American history,” Walters said Thursday, but it’s a choice they have a right to make.

“We want parents to have opt-outs,” Walters said. “We want parents to be able to make those decisions. I think that’s a bad decision on their part.”

Local organization We’re Oklahoma Education, or WOKE, is distributing sample opt-out letters through social media. Members of the group are known for regularly attending state Board of Education meetings and protesting Walters.

The organization has about 200 active volunteers in Oklahoma and 1,000 followers on its social media and email lists, director Erica Watkins said.

Many of them are parents frustrated with Walters’ far-right brand of politics and the “ideologically charged” content he inserted into Oklahoma’s academic standards, said Watkins, a mother of two students in Jenks Public Schools.

WOKE, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the label Republicans apply to left-leaning opponents, formed as a liberal counter to Moms for Liberty, a conservative national group also focused on education policy.

“If you believe parents know best, then that applies to all parents,” Watkins said. “And so that’s why we went ahead and used the channels that they put in place to push back against some of their more indoctrinating things that they’re putting into our schools.”

Watkins said her family isn’t religious, so she intends to exempt her children from new standards teaching the Bible.

She said the 2020 election language is also out of the question.

“I don’t want my kids hearing that,” Watkins said. “That’s propaganda, and I don’t think it’s appropriate to be taught in school.”

Stillwater Public Schools parent Saralynn Boren, a WOKE member, said the group first started drafting opt-out letters after Walters invited public schools to use “pro-America kids content” from the conservative media entity PragerU.

The letters also invite parents to opt out of conservative content from Hillsdale College, Turning Point USA and even from “any interaction” with Walters himself.

The group extended the letter template to add social studies standards on Judeo-Christian values, God, the Bible, the 2020 election and other topics. Watkins said they did so after the Republican majority in the state Legislature declined to take action on the academic standards.

A GOP-led attempt to disapprove the standards emerged in the state Senate, but the chamber’s Republican caucus decided to allow the new content to pass after having a closed-door meeting with Walters.

The Senate’s leader, President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said he is supportive of parents who are now choosing to opt out of the standards.

“I think we give parents the ability to opt out of lots of things,” Paxton said. “If that’s what they want to opt out of, I would certainly support them being able to do that.”

Oklahoma law guarantees parents the right to direct their minor children’s education and moral or religious training. Parents are allowed to withdraw their children from any learning material or activity on moral or religious grounds.

Boren, of Stillwater, said her past opt-out requests over PragerU were “well received” by her children’s district.

Stillwater district spokesperson Barry Fuxa said families always have had the right to choose an alternative assignment or learning material. He told Oklahoma Voice the district has not yet received any opt-out requests over new social studies standards.

“At this time, our response to families with concerns would be to ask them to give us time to learn more about the standards and to allow our admin and teacher teams time to develop plans of how the standards will be implemented in our curriculum,” he said.

Tulsa Public Schools also upholds parents’ rights to review instructional materials, both under state law and school board policy, the district said in a statement through its spokesperson, Luke Chitwood.

Tulsa will spend the 2025-26 school year selecting instructional materials that align with the new social studies standards and will implement the new content in 2026-27, Chitwood said. That selection process will involve teachers, parents and community members, he said.

More parental engagement in education is a positive thing, said Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City.

But Kirt said she’s concerned political divisions are becoming wider. The new academic standards, as well as other efforts supporting state-funded religious education, could be a wedge driving Oklahomans further apart.

“If we have separate schools for everybody who has different beliefs, we’re going to have some real challenges about living together and working together and having an economy together,” Kirt said. “So, I’m worried about how that’s going to turn out. But do I want my child learning inaccurate information in their classroom? No, I don’t.”

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — After a private meeting with state Superintendent Ryan Walters, Republican lawmakers made no promises that a leading state senator’s resolution would succeed in rejecting new academic standards proposed for social studies and science education.

Senate Education Committee chairperson Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, filed the resolution Thursday afternoon after half of the Oklahoma State Board of Education said they weren’t aware of changes made to the social studies standards before they approved them in February. Pugh declined to comment while exiting a closed-door Senate Republican Caucus meeting Monday.

Walters joined the caucus meeting midway through. Afterward, he declined to share details of what he discussed but said he had a “great conversation” and “appreciated the invite.”

Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said after the meeting the GOP majority is still discussing whether it will put Pugh’s resolution up for a vote by the full Senate. In previous weeks, he said there hadn’t been “a whole lot of movement to reject those standards” among the caucus.

Both the Senate and the House must agree on a resolution by Thursday to take any action on the standards. State law gives lawmakers 30 legislative days after receiving academic standards to consider them and vote. If the Legislature doesn’t pass a resolution, the standards will take effect as written.

Academic standards dictate the topics that public schools must teach to students. They are reviewed and updated every six years.

Five House members signed on as co-authors of Pugh’s resolution on Monday, including the chamber’s No. 2 Republican leader, Speaker Pro Tem Anthony Moore, R-Clinton.

The group of co-authors also includes Common Education Committee Chairperson Dick Lowe, R-Amber; the committee’s Vice Chairperson Danny Sterling, R-Tecumseh; Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City; and Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond, who is listed as the principal House author.

Lowe said lawmakers are troubled by the review and approval process that took place with the state Board of Education, rather than about the contents of the standards. Many of the constituents living in their House districts are concerned, as well, he said.

“We see the process was probably not as transparent as we’d like to see in state government,” Lowe said.

Pugh’s resolution similarly notes that “questions exist regarding the transparency of the subject matter standard adoption process.”

Whether the House has the chance to vote on the resolution depends on the Senate passing it first. Lowe said it then would be “a leadership decision” whether the resolution would get a hearing in the House.

House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, will comment on the resolution if it passes the Senate and comes over to his chamber, his spokesperson said.

Gov. Kevin Stitt and one of his recent state Board of Education appointees, Ryan Deatherage, said they would like the Legislature to send the social studies standards back to the board for another vote. Stitt raised doubts about whether Walters’ administration handled the process with the proper integrity.

Walters denied the governor’s claims that the Oklahoma State Department of Education emailed board members a different version of the proposed standards from what they ultimately approved.

The Education Department provided email records indicating board members received a copy of the final draft at 4 p.m. the day before they met the following morning of Feb. 27 to vote on the standards. The board voted 5-1 to approve the standards and send them to the Legislature for final review.

The only board member who voted against them, Deatherage, said he hadn’t had enough time to read through the lengthy document.

He and two other board members, Chris Van Denhende and Mike Tinney, said Thursday they weren’t aware at the time of the vote of changes made from the original draft of the standards, which were posted publicly in December.

Some of the changes include the addition of language stating there were “discrepancies” in 2020 election results, including “sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”

Walters said he made the final decision to add the new language after his administration received public comment and input from focus groups. National conservative media personalities and Republican policy advocates made up the leading committee that reviewed the social studies standards.

Pugh’s resolution points out the short timeframe that the board had to review the updated version. It also noted that the governor and board members requested the standards be returned to the state Board of Education “for proper review and consideration.”

Given “the magnitude of the decision” and the $33 million cost to implement the new standards, the resolution proposes the Legislature reject them in full for both social studies and science.

House and Senate Democrats filed resolutions last month to reject the social studies standards. Last week, they again urged their Republican colleagues to take action before Walters’ proposal becomes mandatory teaching in all public schools.

Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, thought of how the new language would mix with the social studies homework her eighth grader brings home from public school.

“This week we talked about Brown v. Board of Education,” Kirt said during a news conference Wednesday. “We talked about Plessy v. Ferguson. We’re talking about very important concepts in history and social studies, and thinking about teachers having to try to present some of these (new) standards and my children trying to analyze them and understand the angle of them and to have critical thinking around them really deeply concerns me.”

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a litigious week for Oklahoma’s top education official, state Superintendent Ryan Walters has both sued and been sued by advocacy groups.

The Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Walters, his administration and the state Board of Education in Oklahoma County District Court.

The lawsuit accuses the Oklahoma State Department of Education of violating open meetings laws and of improperly withholding records detailing Walters’ Library Media Advisory Committee.

In an unrelated matter, Walters sued the Freedom From Religion Foundation on Monday in Muskogee federal court, complaining of the cease-and-desist letters the Wisconsin-based organization has sent to Oklahoma schools over alleged violations of church-state separation.

“Oklahoma will never be bullied by radical, out-of-state atheists who use intimidation and harassment against kids,” Walters said in a statement.

The two organizations have been involved in a court battle against Walters before. Both supplied attorneys to a pending lawsuit challenging Walters’ purchase of Bibles with state funds and his mandate that schools teach from the Christian text.

Walters’ lawsuit accused the Freedom from Religion Foundation of inhibiting religious freedom in Achille Public Schools when it discouraged the southeast Oklahoma district from having student-led prayer during morning announcements.

The foundation called the lawsuit frivolous and said it won’t back down.

The civil suit filed against Walters on Tuesday was “nothing more than a politically motivated attack,” Walters said in a statement through a spokesperson.

“These extremists are using the legal system to harass and obstruct progress in an effort to push their radical agenda,” Walters said.

Oklahoma Appleseed filed its case after the state agency failed to provide details of the formation, membership selection and activities of the Library Media Advisory Committee despite repeated requests, according to the lawsuit.

The Tulsa-based nonprofit requested that a judge order the Education Department to release the records and pay for the group’s attorney fees.

The lawsuit also asked a judge to declare that the agency violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act and that the advisory committee broke the state’s Open Meeting Act, which requires government boards to conduct their business in public view.

“This lawsuit is about government transparency and accountability,” Oklahoma Appleseed legal director Brent Rowland said in a statement. “The public has a right to know who is making decisions affecting its public schools. Oklahomans have a right to expect that their government will follow the law regarding open records and open meetings.”

The Education Department has said it doesn’t view the advisory committee as a “public body” subject to open meeting laws.

“The Library Media Advisory Committee is a volunteer-based group responsible for reviewing books for suitability to minor students based on content,” the agency’s open records office wrote to Oklahoma Voice on Dec. 17 in response to a request for documents. “Please note that this committee is exempt from the Open Meetings Act, as it does not have decision-making authority or engage in formal deliberations. It does not meet the legal definition of a ‘public body,’ as it does not conduct meetings or engage in decision-making activities. Its role is solely advisory, and it is not supported by, nor entrusted with the management of, public funds or property.”

The Oklahoma State Department of Education failed to fulfill a request for records detailing its Library Media Advisory Committee, according to a lawsuit from Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)

Walters formed the advisory committee in 2023 to review whether certain books are age-appropriate for schools or whether they violate state rules against sexual content.

Following the committee’s recommendation, the Education Department ordered Edmond Public Schools to remove the best-selling novels “The Kite Runner” and “The Glass Castle” from its high school libraries. Edmond appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, who decided that local schools, not the state Education Department, have control over what books to keep on their library shelves.

Walters and his administration have refused to disclose the names of the advisory committee members but one — out-of-state social media personality Chaya Raichik, who runs an account known as Libs of TikTok.

Raichik and the Library Media Advisory Committee also are named as defendants in the Oklahoma Appleseed lawsuit.

“(The state Education Department) will not be bullied by extremist organizations trying to weaponize the courts and remains committed to transparency and compliance with all legal requirements,” Walters said.

The state agency has denied multiple requests from news media, including Oklahoma Voice, to identify the rest of the committee’s members.

Email records the agency provided to Oklahoma Voice were heavily redacted to cover up individuals’ names. The Education Department’s open records office has so far refused to cite a state law requiring that these names be kept confidential.

Oklahoma Appleseed contended these records should be available to the public with “narrowly tailored and legally justified redactions.”

“In this instance, the state Department of Education has formed a Library Media Advisory Committee to make decisions about students’ access to books when our state Supreme Court has determined those decisions should be made by local school boards,” Rowland said. “State officials cannot hide behind closed doors and avoid public accountability, and why would they want to?”

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma House and Senate Democrats on Monday filed resolutions to reject a controversial proposal of new academic standards for social studies education in public schools.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ administration developed the standards, which dictate what public schools must teach in social studies classes, along with committees of Oklahoma teachers and a group of national right-wing media personalities and policy advocates. The proposed standards would require education on the Bible, Jesus and alleged “discrepancies” in the 2020 presidential election.

Rejecting the proposed standards in full would send them back to the Oklahoma State Board of Education, which approved them on Feb. 27, for revisions. The Republican supermajority in the House and Senate would have to agree to the denial.

Leaders of the minority party said the process that produced the new standards was riddled with political interference.

Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, said lawmakers and the state Board of Education should take a slow, methodical approach “where everyone has their questions answered and parents feel comfortable” with the results.

“We need to slow down and take time and get this right,” Provenzano said.

One newly appointed state Board of Education member, Ryan Deatherage, said during the board’s Feb. 27 meeting that he didn’t have enough time to read through the standards before voting on them.

It later came to light that the Oklahoma State Department of Education made changes to the proposed standards without revealing them publicly, including the addition of language questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Walters responded to the Democrats on Monday by accusing them of promoting “radical gender ideologies and anti-American agendas” instead of supporting “the core truths of America’s history and values.”

“We’re not surprised that Democrats are relentlessly undermining our children’s education,” he said in a statement.

The state Legislature has 30 legislative days after the state board submits the academic standards to approve, amend or reject them, according to Oklahoma law.

Legislative staff determined the 30-day deadline is May 1, said Jennifer Monies, a spokesperson for the House Speaker’s Office.

If lawmakers take no action by the deadline, the proposed standards would take effect as written, according to state law. If the Legislature rejects the standards, then Oklahoma’s current standards, which were established in 2019, would remain in place until the new version is approved.

Republican leaders in both chambers have yet to take a stance on Walters’ proposal.

Walters met with House Republicans in a caucus meeting Monday, the Speakers’ Office confirmed.

House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, said last week he invited Walters to the closed-door meeting to discuss the social studies standards. Hilbert said House Republicans then would deliberate as a caucus and with the Senate on what action, if any, is necessary.

The state reviews and enacts new academic standards for school subjects every six years. Hilbert said the state Legislature has never changed or rejected academic standards before.

“Before making the decision, I think it’s appropriate for the state superintendent to have a chance to make his pitch to our caucus,” Hilbert said.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Calling the inquiry a “manufactured political drama,” Oklahoma’s attorney general declined state Superintendent Ryan Walters’ request for a legal opinion over whether a presidential order blocks federal education funds from benefiting undocumented students.

Walters had asked the attorney general whether any Oklahoma school programs are affected by President Donald Trump’s Feb. 19 executive order blocking taxpayer-funded benefits from supporting undocumented immigrants. He also asked how his administration at the Oklahoma State Department of Education should comply with Trump’s order if any school programs are affected.

Gov. Kevin Stitt similarly has accused Walters of causing “political drama.” Although Attorney General Gentner Drummond borrowed the governor’s phrasing, he also took aim at Stitt in his response letter to Walters.

“I am very thankful for President Trump’s leadership on this critical issue, and I am very disappointed in Governor Stitt’s failures that have cost Oklahoma taxpayers billions and put our families at risk,” Drummond wrote. “(The executive order) should be a model for Oklahoma and every state to ensure their services are delivered only to those legally eligible to receive them.”

Drummond criticized the governor’s support for resettling 1,800 Afghan refugees, whom the attorney general accused of being poorly vetted, in the state and Stitt’s collaboration with the government of Mexico to establish a Mexican consulate in Oklahoma City, which Drummond said serves undocumented immigrants as well as lawful residents.

He accused Stitt of taking “no substantive action to address illegal immigration here in Oklahoma.” He called Stitt’s Operation Guardian initiative, which aims to deport undocumented immigrants in state prisons, an attempt to “save face.”

The governor has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s immigration policies.

“Sadly, once again, we are just getting noise from people campaigning for their next political promotion,” Stitt said in a statement through his communications office. “Being governor has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I will continue to do everything in my power to protect both Oklahomans and the innocent children in our communities.”

Stitt will be term-limited in 2026 after eight years in office, and Drummond is running to succeed him as governor. Walters hasn’t announced a political campaign for reelection nor for another office, but many consider him a potential candidate in a 2026 race.

The round of comments on Monday deepened the ongoing conflict between Oklahoma’s Republican governor, attorney general and public schools leader.

Drummond declined Walters’ request for an opinion on the impact of Trump’s order because a state attorney general has no jurisdiction to interpret federal law, according to his response letter.

Walters said he is “disappointed but not surprised” at Drummond’s response.

“He has a responsibility to offer opinions on all laws, not just the ones he deems worthy,” Walters said in a statement through a spokesperson. “Once again, he is refusing to support President Trump’s executive order on illegal immigration at a time when we all need to move forward with a unified front to protect Oklahoma families.”

Attorney general opinions interpret state law and sometimes are legally binding. An interpretation of a presidential order is “for the federal executive branch to determine,” Drummond wrote.

“Notwithstanding your rumored aspirations, you are not part of the federal executive branch,” he wrote, hinting at allegations that Walters sought a position in the Trump administration.

Drummond said Trump’s order could direct the actions of the federal Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which provide hundreds of millions of dollars supporting various school services in Oklahoma, including cafeteria lunches, English learner programs and support for impoverished students.

He encouraged Walters to cooperate with federal agencies to “faithfully implement” the executive order.

“In the meantime, I suggest you devote increased energy and focus on improving the test scores and reading proficiency of Oklahoma students,” Drummond wrote. “The people of this state entrusted you with the critical responsibility of administering and managing public education. Fulfilling that responsibility should be your only focus.”

Walters has supported Trump’s executive actions and advanced his own policy to “no longer allow sanctuary schools in the state of Oklahoma.” He proposed a new rule at the state Education Department to require schools to collect students’ immigration status and report the information to the state.

“Taxpayer dollars should be used to support the education of American students, not to subsidize or create a magnet for illegal immigration,” Walters said.

States are required to provide public education to children regardless of their immigration status under a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Many Oklahomans have advocated against the rule, which is now before the state Legislature for consideration, and warned it could drive immigrant students away from public education.

Stitt pledged to block the rule from being enacted and accused Walters of using “kids as political pawns” to launch a campaign for higher office.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday replaced three of his appointees to the Oklahoma State Board of Education, criticizing the state’s top school board for driving up “needless political drama” rather than academic results.

The board shakeup follows “ongoing controversy at the Oklahoma State Department of Education and disappointing scores on the (biennial) National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP),” according to the governors’ announcement.

NAEP scores released last month showed Oklahoma again scored in the bottom 10 of the nation in reading and math and failed to make any significant improvement over the past two years.

“After months of headlines followed by disappointing NAEP scores this month, it’s clear that our education infrastructure has fallen prey to needless political drama,” Stitt said in a statement. “If we want to be the best state for business, we need to make sure our kids have a path to success. It’s time for some fresh eyes and a renewed focus on our top ten goals.”

Oklahoma State Board of Education member Kendra Wesson speaks during a meeting Aug. 24, 2023, at the Oklahoma State Department of Education in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Brent Fuchs/For Oklahoma Voice)

Stitt ousted Donald Burdick, Kendra Wesson and Katie Quebedeaux from the board. He announced he will replace them with Ryan Deatherage, of Kingfisher; Michael Tinney, of Norman; and Chris VanDenhende, of Tulsa.

Wesson declined to comment Tuesday. Burdick did not immediately return a request for comment. Oklahoma Voice has been unable to reach Quebedeaux.

Board members Sarah Lepak and Zach Archer will keep their seats, and one seat on the board is vacant, as it has been since May 2023. The three new appointees will be subject to state Senate confirmation.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters, who leads the board, fired back at the governor with a strongly worded statement Tuesday afternoon, saying Stitt’s move “undermines Oklahoma kids and parents and an America First agenda.” Every board member has voted in line with Walters without exception since he took office in January 2023.

“Governor Stitt has joined the swampy political establishment that President Trump is fighting against,” Walters said. “The board members that stood with us, working with the Trump Administration to make our schools safer and better, have been fired for political purposes.”

State Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks during a meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Education on Jan. 28 while board members Donald Burdick and Katie Quebedeaux listen at the state Department of Education in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

In recent months, the board has approved Walters’ budget requests asking the Legislature for $3 million to spend on Bibles and a slate of new rules that would require schools to check students’ citizenship status, among several other controversial proposals.

Walters, who is Stitt’s former education secretary, and the governor have mostly avoided criticizing each other directly over the past two years. Tuesday’s events mark a significant shift in dynamic between the two Republicans.

“Stitt believes that the federal government, and not the people, need to continue to control our country,” Walters said. “This is disappointing but not surprising. We’ll keep fighting for school choice, parents, kids, and our teachers.”

Stitt appointed Burdick and Wesson in January 2023 and Quebedeaux in March 2023.

Lepak has served on the board since February 2022 and Archer since October 2023. Lepak and Archer were not present for the board’s most recent meeting in January when the remaining members approved Walters’ controversial rule proposals that include citizenship checks in schools.

Deatherage is the 911 director for Kingfisher County. Tinney is an attorney. VanDenhende is the CEO of Mint Turbines.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — As national testing again ranks Oklahoma in the bottom 10 for academic results, lawmakers on Wednesday debated whether the state is headed in the right direction or is pursuing policies that distract from better outcomes.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released 2024 reading and math results from every state Wednesday. The NAEP tests showed Oklahoma was among the lowest-performing states in the country, had no significant progress since 2022 and still has not reached pre-pandemic performance.

The same day as the NAEP release, lawmakers at the state Capitol heard a budget presentation from the head of Oklahoma’s public education system, Superintendent Ryan Walters, who said his administration is making a difference for schools and students by funding teacher recruitment efforts, literacy programs and high-dosage tutoring.

But, House Democrats said Walters has spent too much time focusing on divisive rhetoric rather than school needs.

“We saw some rosy pronouncements. We saw a lot of hand waving about educational performance improvements,” Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Oklahoma City, said after the budget hearing. “The sad reality is year-over-year scores did not improve, and we saw that confirmed in the release this week of the NAEP scores.”

A spokesperson for Walters did not return a request for comment on Oklahoma’s NAEP results. Walters didn’t discuss it either during his budget hearing even when a Republican lawmaker asked how Oklahoma compares to other states in education.

“We are still not where we need to be in math, reading and ACT (scores),” Walters said during the hearing in the House chamber. “I believe what we’ve got to continue to do is continue to aggressively help the schools in the bottom 5% (of the state).”

Improving scores from the lowest-performing students corresponded with an overall upward swing in national test results through the mid-1990s and early 2000s, officials from the National Center for Education Statistics said in a NAEP town hall Wednesday. The 2024 results, though, show the gap is widening between the top and bottom performers.

Walters also touted a new rule that would penalize a school district if more than half of its students score below a basic performance level in reading and math. His administration proposed the rule, and Gov. Kevin Stitt signed it into law last year.

“We’ve got to continue to move forward with reforms that are focused on student outcomes,” Walters told lawmakers.

He asked for an extra $1 million to support a new program mentoring early career teachers and another $4 million to meet demand for teacher maternity leave.

Walters’ policy priorities divide lawmakers

But, Walters’ request to spend $3 million on Bibles for classrooms came under question from members of both political parties.

Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, D-Norman, noted multiple versions of the Bible are available for free online, and Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa, questioned whether $3 million could be better spent on literacy or early childhood programs.

Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, R-Piedmont, asked why the state couldn’t seek out donated Bibles rather than buying them with taxpayer funds. Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay, said she worried whether inviting the Bible into classrooms might open a door to the Quran, Wicca, atheists and “other religions outside of Christianity.”

Walters said the Bible should be physically present in classrooms, along with the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, to help contextualize American history.

His pursuit of requiring proof of U.S. citizenship in public school enrollment also came under fire at the Capitol on Wednesday in multiple Democrat-led news conferences.

Members of the Legislature’s Latino Caucus said the idea could drive up chronic absenteeism rates among immigrant students, whose families are fearful of the state superintendent’s support of immigration enforcement in schools. Alabama saw a similar trend when it enacted a law in 2011 to check students’ immigration status.

“Walters accusing immigrants of being the one to overburden our system is exactly the opposite of the truth,” Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City, said. “It is him that’s overburdening our schools by bringing these political issues into the classroom.”

Some of Walters’ fellow Republicans, though, praised the state superintendent’s work on improving academic results. The head of the House subcommittee on education funding, Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, thanked Walters during Wednesday’s budget hearing for his work “to move our state forward.”

The subcommittee’s vice chair, Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, R-Elgin, even joined Walters’ news release Wednesday to compliment his budget request.

“We appreciate Superintendent Walters’ dedication to our students and proven programs like high-dosage tutoring,” Hasenbeck said in her statement. “He has proven that he is willing to go to bat, time and time again, for Oklahoma’s teachers, parents, students and school safety.”

Oklahoma ranks toward the bottom in reading, math scores

Underscoring the day’s proceedings is yet another bottom-10 ranking for Oklahoma education. NAEP assessments, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, found Oklahoma showed no significant improvement since the previous round of national testing in 2022.

NAEP has been testing fourth and eighth graders across the country since 1992.

In NAEP’s 2024 results, Oklahoma ranked 47th in fourth-grade reading and 48th in eighth-grade reading. Oklahoma fourth graders ranked 44th and its eighth graders 45th for math proficiency.

Christy Hovanetz, a senior policy fellow at the Foundation for Excellence in Education, speaks at a panel about school accountability during the foundation’s national summit at the Omni Hotel in Oklahoma City on Nov. 14. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

The state’s reading scores indicate students are about a full grade level behind where fourth and eighth graders were before the COVID-19 pandemic, said Christy Hovanetz, a school accountability expert at the education-focused think tank ExcelinEd.

Oklahoma’s decision this year to reduce its own expectations for student performance on state-administered tests won’t help, she said. The state quietly lowered the bar in 2024 for students to reach a proficient score on its yearly exams for reading and math.

States that shot up the NAEP rankings in recent years, like Mississippi, have done so by maintaining high expectations for students and schools, Hovanetz said.

She said Oklahoma also must ensure it has a qualified teacher workforce that is trained in the science of reading. That’s an issue Walters has put money behind to improve.

“I just don’t want to see us saying this is all we should be expecting of our kids, knowing that 10 years ago we were getting a lot more from them,” Hovanetz said. “We know what works. We know how to do it. It’s just not easy, but it’s time to start implementing some of those tougher reforms again.”

Reporter Emma Murphy contributed to this report.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s top education official said he would support immigration enforcement raids in schools to assist with the White House’s promise of mass deportations.

This week, President Donald Trump threw out a federal policy that had been in place since 2011 that discouraged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from making arrests in “protected areas” like schools, medical centers and places of worship.

Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters said in a TV interview posted Friday that he would help the Trump administration in “any way they see fit” to carry out immigration enforcement, including ICE raids in schools.

“For years the liberal media has been vilifying Republicans for separating illegal immigrant children from their parents,” Walters said in a news release Friday afternoon. “Now they want us to explain why we’d let ICE agents into schools. The answer is simple: we want to ensure that deported parents are reconnected with their children and keep families together.”

Chicago Public Schools said ICE agents attempted to enter an elementary school on Friday, but the school denied them entry. However, the U.S. Secret Service later clarified it was one of its agents in the area investigating a threat, not ICE conducting immigration enforcement.

Walters has proposed a rule at the state Education Department, which he leads, that would require schools to ask for students’ proof of citizenship or legal immigration status during enrollment.

His proposal would not prohibit any students from attending public schools, but districts would have to report to the Education Department the number of undocumented children they enroll.

Walters said Friday he intends to share this information with the federal government to assist with immigration enforcement.

“The first step is getting them the information,” Walters said in an interview with Tulsa TV station KTUL. “That’s part of what they flagged is, you know, schools haven’t been working with law enforcement on this. Well, in Oklahoma, we’re going to work with law enforcement. We are going to work with the Trump administration.”

The Oklahoma State Board of Education, which Walters also heads, is expected to vote Tuesday on the proposed immigration rule. If it passes, the state Legislature would have the choice of voting on it or allowing the governor to decide whether to approve it. The rule would carry the force of law if OK’d by the Legislature or governor.

Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office remains focused on deporting undocumented immigrants who committed crimes unrelated to their immigration status, spokesperson Meyer Siegfried said.

“Governor Stitt supports the strong enforcement of immigration laws and believes we have a responsibility to know who is in our state and how taxpayer dollars are being spent,” Siegfried said.

The office of the Senate president pro tem did not return a request for comment Friday. House Speaker Kyle Hilbert’s office declined to comment on a rule that hasn’t yet passed a board vote to be submitted to the Legislature, nor did he remark on potential ICE involvement in schools.

Walters initially suggested the rule last month as a way to gauge current and future needs for English learner programs and other school resources to accommodate immigrant children.

Advocates of Oklahoma immigrant communities warned citizenship checks in schools could dissuade undocumented families from enrolling their children in public education.

Schools should be a safe haven from immigration enforcement, said Juan Lecona, a member of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education.

“This is not about red or blue,” Lecona said Friday. “It’s about the future of our students. Let them learn. Let them become whoever they want to be in the future. By doing this, you are breaking up families, and on top of that, how are the schools going to benefit from it?”

Lecona is the first immigrant to serve on the Oklahoma City school board. His parents brought him to the U.S. from Mexico when he was a child in 1990 with a legal visa and permit, he said. Once that paperwork expired, he became undocumented.

Lecona is now a U.S. citizen with children attending the Oklahoma City district. As a school board member, he represents a majority Latino area in the city’s south side.

He said immigrants living in his community are afraid and “don’t know what to do.”

“I’m concerned for my community, our working people, because that’s what we want. We just want to work and achieve our American dream,” Lecona said. “We’re not here to cause trouble.”

Oklahoma City Superintendent Jamie Polk has said the district has no plans to collect students’ immigration status. The district administration did not return a request for comment on Walters’ statements Friday.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office, which was provided after initial publication. It also has been updated to include new information from the U.S. Secret Service regarding a Chicago elementary school.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com.