I recently wrote about the Oklahoma state legislature’s plan to build a memorial plaza and statue to honor Charlie Kirk, while mandating signage signifying him as a “civil rights leader.” That post was labeled as a “Part 1” and this post was intended to be “Part 2” for reasons we’ll get into. We’ll have to scrap the numbering convention, however, because it was going to be about state Superintendent Ryan Walter’s plan to mandate a chapter of Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization in every single public high school in the state… but then Walters resigned his post two days later.
Late Wednesday, Walters went onto Fox News to announce that he was resigning from his position to take a private sector job. The controversial leader of the Oklahoma State Department of Education said he plans to join the Teacher Freedom Alliance.
“I’m excited to announce I’ll be stepping down as Oklahoma State Superintendent and taking on the role as the CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance,” Walters said in an interview with Fox News.
Now, I would never sit here and call Walters a liar in these here pages, because I prefer to say instead that I’m certain Walters is completely full of shit. His “excitement” about not being Superintendent any longer comes directly on the heels of his implementing all kinds of batshit crazy educational policy in his state. All this policy, all these plans, all this combat he’s done with the “woke left” or whoever he thinks he’s fighting in Oklahoma… poof, gone! And replaced by excitement to leave his post?
Come now, Ry-guy. Nobody is buying that.
As to what the real impetus for this resignation is, it’s anyone’s guess. Maybe it was the christo-fascism, looking to place bibles in every public classroom. Maybe it was the lawsuits filed against the state for his attempts to teach public school children election conspiracy theories. Maybe it was the woke-tests he forced selectively upon transplant teachers from liberal states before they would be licensed to teach in Oklahoma.
Or maybe he just sucked out loud at his job and he knew the state government was coming for him anyway. Here is the state Attorney General commenting on Walters’ resignation.
“Ever since Gov. Stitt appointed Ryan Walters to serve as Secretary of Education, we have witnessed a stream of never-ending scandal and political drama. From the mishandling of pandemic relief funds that resulted in families buying Xboxes and refrigerators to the latest squabbling with board members over what was or wasn’t showing on TV, the Stitt-Walters era has been an embarrassment to our state.
“Even worse, test scores and reading proficiency are at historic lows.
“It’s time for a State Superintendent of Public Instruction who will actually focus on quality instruction in our public schools. Gov. Stitt used to say he would make us Top Ten, but after seven years we are ranked 50th in education. Our families, our students and our teachers deserve so much more.
Step 1 in making things better would be unwinding all the performative bullshit Ryan Walters has done, particularly over the last nine months.
So, so long, Ryan Walters. It was unfortunate to have known of you.
