Oklahoma superintendent Ryan Walters has been trying to build a national profile by relentlessly pushing culture-war issues in his state's public schools.
In an editorial published by The Oklahoman, columnist William Wertz argues that Walters's antics are starting to wear thin for many Oklahoma voters as students' statewide test scores lag behind students in other states.
"In his 2022 campaign, Walters had mentioned 'accountability and transparency,' but that was before, as superintendent, he changed the school grading process ― something akin to moving the goal posts to make the game easier ― and threatened to fire any employee of the Education Department who shared information with the media," writes Wertz. "State legislators campaigning in the 2024 election reported a wide range of voters concerned with the fact that higher state spending on education wasn't 'moving the needle.' Oklahoma remained stubbornly stuck near the bottom of state educational performance rankings."
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Wertz also quotes Republican State Rep. John Kane, who said recently that "when I see how few of our students are performing at grade level, that's an alarm... it's a blaring, blaring alarm, and we need to focus on that."
And it's not just local politicians growing fed up, argues Wertz, as many readers of The Oklahoman have also registered their distaste for Walters's leadership.
"And in a later poll, asked to give Walters a grade for his performance in 2024, thousands of Oklahomans ― 95% of those who responded ― gave him an 'F,'" writes Wertz. "Many commented on his failure to focus on real improvement in students' math and reading scores and frustration with his failure to celebrate the accomplishments of teachers and local districts and share widely their lessons for improvement."