Oklahoma’s top education official is under fire from fellow Republicans for allegedly withholding critical funds from the state’s schools. Ryan Walters, who is known for his activities, is being investigated by the state legislature right-wing culture warattacks on Oklahoma teachers.
Last week, Republican state Rep. Mark McBride led a letter to House Speaker Charles McCall calling for a possible impeachment inquiry. The letter outlined several reasons for investigating Walters, including that he had failed to comply with Open Records Act requests and had withheld funding the state legislature had intended to improve physical school security and asthma inhalers.
“I have repeatedly met personally with the superintendent and asked her to focus on the responsibilities and duties of her office and work with the legislature to improve and advance public education in Oklahoma,” McBride wrote in a letter signed by 16 other Republican lawmakers. “These pleas have fallen on deaf ears and the superintendent has aggressively taken the opposite course of name-calling, obstruction, defiance and cover-up.”
In response, Walters challenged lawmakers proceed and start impeachment proceedings.
Walters, who is the director of the Oklahoma State Department of Education, has often made headlines for outlandish or ultra-conservative proposals for Oklahoma schools. In January he compared the school system “Epstein Island”, a reference to the home where the late billionaire and child predator Jeffrey Epstein abused children.
The next day he hired by Chaya Raichik – a flamboyant right-wing activist who, under the handle LibsOfTikTok, uses social media to spread misinformation and smear teachers – as an adviser to the state’s education department, though it’s unclear if he lives in Oklahoma or has any experience with the matter.
In July, Walters ordered that every school district must teach the Bible and the Ten Commandments, a clear violation of the US Constitution. The Oklahoma parent has filed a lawsuitand many school officials have said they ignore instructions.
Walters’ antics have drawn plenty of criticism and opposition from community members and local Oklahoma school officials. House Democrats have called for Walters’ impeachment several times in the past year. Legislators’ concerns about his ability to actually do the job he was elected to do intensified, finally ending last week.
Following a letter from House Republicans, the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency said it would start an investigation to Walters.
“I will conduct a thorough, transparent investigation to provide answers to my legislators and the citizens of Oklahoma,” the committee’s chairman, Republican state Rep. Kevin Wallace, said in a statement.
Then on Sunday, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued a strong statement demanding Walters immediately release the funds for school security. “These wasted months have resulted in school districts missing out on millions of dollars in funds that they could have used to strengthen security and protect students.” Drummond wrote. “I pray that failure to use these funds will not lead to deadly consequences.”
And it’s not just Walters’ handling of Oklahoma school finances that has come under fire. Walters also faces a defamation lawsuit against Rob Miller, the superintendent of Bixby Public Schools.
Last month, Miller asked Walters when her school district would receive Title I funding, a federal grant available to schools with at least 40 percent low-income students. According to the lawsuit, the state Department of Education announced that schools would receive this funding in May. When a reporter asked Walters about Miller’s investigation, Walters called Miller a “clown”, “a real disgrace” and a “liar” and he claimed there were financial problems in the Bixby area – which Miller categorically denied.
Walters was elected in 2022 largely based on right-wing culture war complaints, including false claims that Oklahoma library books contain sexual material and accusing teachers of child molestation. He has clashed several times with the teachers’ union and members of his own party.
Walters did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Despite the investigation and pending lawsuit, Walters is still not backing down from his rhetoric. He claims that all the controversy surrounding him is the fault of liberals. “The left and union lackeys are demanding an investigation and impeachment,” he sent by X, formerly Twitter. “I will never stop standing up for parents!”
