All posts tagged "oklahoma"

This GOP extremist hypocrite fought unions. Guess what his new job is?

It’s ironic that a man who built his political career railing passionately about teachers “unions” will soon be running one of his own.

But in a way it’s almost fitting that it will be the next move for Oklahoma education Superintendent Ryan Walters, who has made it his mission to babble bizarre, inflammatory rhetoric and launch random witch hunts against educators and their unions.

Maybe it will help him recenter on who is vitally important to the success of our public schools — the teachers. Because if he truly wants to be successful, the role will require him to collaborate with them and show some empathy toward their needs.

Those are two skillsets that he’s been sorely lacking the past two years and 10 months in his elected position.

And maybe it will serve as a rude awakening that he’s betrayed the trust of Oklahomans who believed he could turn our schools around. They’ll now find themselves with a politically appointed leader they didn’t get to choose, for the remaining year or so of what should have been Walters’ term.

In case you weren’t randomly tuned into Fox News at 10:43 p.m. last Wednesday, Walters was allotted just under 40 seconds on a national conservative talk program to announce he has accepted a new role as CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance. The group bills itself as an “alternative to traditional union membership,” but provides “professional support services and resources” for educators.

The group, which so far boasts a measly 2,800 members nationwide, is a new effort of the Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit “dedicated to fighting government overreach, defending workers’ rights and protecting constitutional freedom.”

“For decades, union bosses have poisoned our schools with politics and propaganda while abandoning parents, students, and good teachers. That ends today. We’re going to expose them, fight them, and take back our classrooms,” Walters said in a statement released by the Freedom Foundation.

“At the Teacher Freedom Alliance, we’re giving educators real freedom, freedom from the liberal, woke agenda that has corrupted public education. We will arm teachers with the tools, support, and freedom they need, without forcing them to give up their values.”

The Teacher Freedom Alliance sure sounds like it has the same mission of a teachers union — you know, those groups Walters has loved to hate.

In January, Walters launched a tone deaf tirade attempting to link schools and teachers unions to the deadly truck attack in New Orleans and even used the phrase “terrorist training camps” to describe school classrooms.

This year, he also falsely claimed teachers unions love standardized testing (they don’t).

He pushed the state Board of Education to take away the teaching license of a former Norman High School educator for sharing a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library’s free online catalog. He is trying to revoke two other educators’ licenses over social media posts related to the 2024 assassination attempt of President Donald Trump.

And most recently, he’s threatened to ban teachers for things they’ve posted on social media about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Now he’s going to be something of a union boss himself? That was not a square on my 2025 bingo card.

While the Teacher Freedom Alliance bills itself as a “viable alternative to unions,” it does appear to share many similarities with Oklahoma’s organizing groups. In Oklahoma, a few of the largest districts do have groups that collectively bargain for educators, but most don’t. However, one thing that makes Oklahoma’s associations different from unions in other states is that they cannot strike. But much like the Teacher Freedom Alliance, Oklahoma’s organizations provide their members liability insurance if they ever get sued as well as professional development training and an “engaged community of educators.”

In light of his new job, it sure appears that Walters has been spewing a whole lot of hyperbole about educators that he actually doesn’t believe. That’s pretty sad for our children and the teachers we’ve entrusted to educate them.

It also appears that Walters never intended to actually help fix our school system. Instead, he used the post that we entrusted him with to try to gain the attention of conservative groups so he could grab a cushy job.

Oklahoma voters — and teachers — deserve better. They deserve a public official who is committed to rolling up their sleeves and working together, and not someone who flees in terror when things get hard. And they need someone who is competent and understands how schools work and who isn’t motivated by grabbing headlines.

Hopefully fellow Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt will choose carefully when it comes time to fill the role. He’ll get to pick Walters’ successor once he officially resigns.

Walters has proven he doesn’t have a lot of respect for the voters who elected and believed in him if last night was any indication.

He couldn’t be bothered to let Oklahomans know he was leaving in a publicly accessible forum. Instead, he chose a late-night, cable talk show slot, which many Oklahomans don’t have access to, to announce he’s washing his hands of us.

Walters was likely a frontrunner in the 2026 gubernatorial race. I say that judging from the multitude of emails in support of him that I’ve received from people all over the state the past two years.

If he still harbored any plans to run for governor, I think he’s shot himself in the foot.

Oklahomans don’t like quitters. And they certainly don’t like hypocrites who preach one thing publicly while secretly believing something else.

Janelle Stecklein is editor of Oklahoma Voice. An award-winning journalist, Stecklein has been covering Oklahoma government and politics since moving to the state in 2014.

'Shameful': MAGA observers melt down over Supreme Court's new ruling

MAGA advocates staged a meltdown on social media after news broke that the U.S. Supreme Court failed to reach a decision in favor of allowing taxpayers to pay for a religious charter school in Oklahoma.

The court tied 4-4 Thursday, with one conservative justice siding with liberals. According to the Associated Press:

"The court, following its custom, did not provide a breakdown of the votes. But during arguments last month, four conservative justices seemed likely to side with the school, while the three liberals seemed just as firmly on the other side.

"That left Chief Justice John Roberts appearing to hold the key vote, and suggests he went with the liberals to make the outcome 4-4."

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Associate justice Amy Coney Barrett, nominated by President Donald Trump during his first term, recused herself from the case. The New York Times speculated she did so due to "her close friendship with Nicole Stelle Garnett, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who was an early adviser for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, the school involved in the dispute."

Trump supporters saw this as a betrayal, with MAGA attorney Mike Davis posting to X, "How the hell did the conservative justices manage to lose this case? They should stick to their day jobs as judges. Instead of moonlighting as generals and senators. Biggest Winners: Anti-Christian bigots. Shameful."

The account of @coachfinstock.bsky.social‬ told his 78,000 followers, "BREAKING: AMY CONEY BARRETT TURNS BACK ON GOD."

"Amy Coney Barrett is a spineless justice, dodging a crucial school choice case today while consistently betraying conservative principles with her weak, partisan rulings. A pathetic letdown, she’s unfit for the Supreme Court," came from the account of @realTrentLeisy, self-described "die-hard supporter of President Trump" to his 41,000 followers.

Political strategist Joey Mannarino was blunt in his assessment, writing, "Amy Coney Barrett is a piece of s---. End of tweet."

President Trump has not yet commented on the Supreme Court's deadlock.

Amy Coney Barrett ensures religious school fight fails in Supreme Court

A recusal by conservative Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has ensured that Oklahoma taxpayers will not have to pay for a religious public charter school.

Coney Barrett would have broken the 4-4 deadlock reached by the Court Thursday. Although she did not give a reason for her recusal, The New York Times speculated that the justice's "close friendship with Nicole Stelle Garnett, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who was an early adviser for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, the school involved in the dispute," may have contributed.

"The decision by the evenly divided court means that a ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court that said the proposal to launch St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School violates both the federal Constitution and state law remains in place," NBC News reported.

Coney Barrett is an extremely conservative and religious justice who analysts expected would have supported the school's case.

The lack of a majority vote means the court did not issue a written decision.

Read the NBC News report here.

'In a bind': Right-wing Supreme Court justices squirm as case puts them in awkward spot

The Supreme Court is set to hear an Oklahoma case that will force the justices to choose between allowing more religious control of public schools or "respecting the wishes of the Founding Fathers," according to a new article in The Atlantic.

History professor Adam Laats laid out how, "In 2023, the Oklahoma government approved an application from the Catholic Church to create a virtual charter school. Like other charter schools, this one would be funded by taxpayers. But unlike other charter schools, this one would be explicitly religious, teaching students Catholic doctrine."

Laats wrote that Oklahoma’s state attorney general objected on the grounds that the approval violated the state constitution, as well as the U.S. Constitution.

He explained that the Founding Fathers foresaw "he death of public schooling if schools came under the authority of any specific religious denomination, or even if a school appeared to favor one denomination over another."

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"Oklahoma’s plan for a public school run by the Catholic Church would...fly in the face of the Founding Fathers’ intentions and go against two centuries of American tradition," Laats wrote. "And it puts the six members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority in a bind. In previous decisions, they have insisted that they will be guided by history, using that rationale to allow for more religion in public schools. In this case, however, if they want to follow their own rules, they must decide in the other direction."

Laats wrote that members of the religious right are "hopeful" about the case that the Supreme Court will hear next week, since SCOTUS has given them "some significant victories in recent years" that were guided by the justices' understanding of history.

"But the case from Oklahoma makes claiming history as a justification harder for the conservative justices," he wrote. "In this case, the history is unambiguous: The Founding Fathers would never have approved of a public school that taught the religious doctrines of one specific kind of Christianity."

Read The Atlantic article here.

'Trying to railroad me!' Superintendent gets testy as CNN host says 'you've had issues'

Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, celebrated the Trump administration's dismantling of the Department of Education on Thursday before claiming he was being railroaded by CNN when asked about his state's performance record.

Walters, who recently pushed to have the Bible in every Oklahoma classroom, argued, "Parents know what's best for their kids, not bureaucrats. And what you're going to continue to see are states empowering families with this new freedom given to them by the Trump administration."

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar reminded him that parents have a great deal of power in public schools before discussing how key metrics have shown a drop in math and reading skills for fourth graders in his state.

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"Yeah, look, we have seen the performance of our urban students in fourth grade reading and math go up nearly 20 ranking points in the last two years," Walters said before Keilar interjected, "Overall, you've had issues, sir."

"Listen, you're going to continue to push these lies here on the network," Walters claimed, "but this is what the left wing continues to do."

Keilar shot back, "And Republican lawmakers as well as superintendents of schools who do not seem ideologically opposed to you."

"Now, that's just silly," Walters exclaimed.

He continued, "I know you're trying to railroad me here and gaslight here on CNN, but all of these things show the light, what left-wing administrators were lying about in our state."

Keilar then questioned Walters' administration skills, claiming mismanagement that left teachers wondering whether they would receive the funding they requested.

Walters remained defiant, blaming the left for instituting a smear campaign.

"We will unapologetically enforce an America First agenda into policy. We are going to stand with the president. We're going to continue to fight for these initiatives. We won't allow woke mobs. We won't allow gaslighting left-wing news networks to derail that. Our successes are clear, and this is going to be a turning point in American history.

Watch the clip below via CNN.

'We're talking about children sir': CNN host presses official willing to hand kids to ICE

Oklahoma's superintendent of public schools adamantly proclaimed to CNN on Tuesday that he would do anything he could to further President Donald Trump's agenda — even if it meant informing on his own students.

Ryan Walters appeared with anchor Breanna Keilar to discuss a measure approved by Oklahoma's Board of Education that requires families to prove U.S. citizenship when enrolling students.

"I want to talk about what you have made clear, which is that raids are within the realm of possibility," Keilar said, before playing a recording of Walters pronouncing, "If that's what President Trump sees fit, as there's an illegal immigrant population there that needs to have enforcement to remove them from the schools, absolutely, we will work with him to make sure that he's able to carry that out."

Keilar asked, "Do you think that would be traumatic for students in schools? And I'm talking about all students."

"Well, what my big concern is what illegal immigration has done to our education system. It has caused mass chaos. We aren't able to get the resources — " Walters began before Keilar interrupted him.

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"Can you answer my question, please, superintendent? Do you think it would be traumatic for students to witness a raid in their school, and students forcibly removed from their school? Do you think that would be traumatic?"

Walters answered, "I think what would be traumatic is if you didn't give Trump, President Trump, the information necessary to keep families together. So, what you would prefer is to just deport the parents and have the kids have no idea what happened to their parents."

Keilar shot back, "That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking you — that's not at all what I'm asking. Superintendent, I'm asking you if you had a raid on a school and you were forcibly removing students from schools, if you think that would be traumatic for other students in the school."

Walters reiterated that he will comply with Trump's deportation agenda.

The back-and-forth continued until Keilar interjected, "Children. I'm talking about children, sir."

"The person arrested by Homeland Security as a terrorist in our school last year was a student," Walters said. "And, so, that's where it's so important to have this information, work with law enforcement. We're going to bring law and order back. It's sensible. It's common sense."

"So you'll only remove — are you saying you'll only remove children from schools if they are suspected terrorists?" Keilar asked.

"I'm saying that we're going to work with the Trump administration to enforce their anti-illegal immigration policy. That includes giving them information about students in our schools, families enrolled in our schools, so they can make the decisions on how to deport families together and how to identify criminals in our school system."

Watch the clip below via CNN.

Oklahoma now requires all public schools to teach from the Bible as 'historical' document

The State of Oklahoma appears to be poised to outdo Louisiana in its effort to inject Christianity into public schools, after a new announcement by the state's superintendent of public instruction.

On Thursday, ABC affiliate KOCO 5 News reported that Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters is now requiring all K-12 public school classrooms keep a copy of the Bible on hand, and to give it the same regard as a history textbook. The new policy is to be implemented "effective immediately."

"The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters said in the announcement. “Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction. This is not merely an educational directive but a crucial step in ensuring our students grasp the core values and historical context of our country.”

"Adherence to this mandate is compulsory. Further instructions for monitoring and reporting on this implementation for the 2024/25 school year will be forthcoming," he added. "Immediate and strict compliance is expected."

Walters was sharply criticized in a column published in the Oklahoman for being insensitive to Benedict's death. Author Clytie Bunyan wrote that "Oklahoma Republican politicians are bent on making the state unwelcome for LGBTQ+ kids and their families."

"The loss of our student in Owasso is tragic for the family, the community, and our state," Walters stated at the time. "The LGBTQ groups pushing a false narrative are one of the biggest threats to our democracy and I remain, more than ever, committed to never backing down from a woke mob."

"If Walters can't say something with compassion after the tragic loss of a child, then he should say nothing at all," Bunyan wrote. "This is a time Walters should pause to realize he has an opportunity to lead with compassion and work with the family and the school to foster a more inclusive environment."

Click here to read KOCO's full report.

Republican smacked down over throwing fit that state can't fund religious schools

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters was promptly smacked down with a brutal fact check from a constitutional law professor after he took to X on Tuesday to condemn the state Supreme Court's decision to void a religiously affiliated charter school contract.

St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, had it gone forward, would have been the first-ever religious charter school in the United States. It triggered immediate outcry; even the state's Republican Attorney General, Gentner Drummond, led the charge to sue against it, saying that it would open the door to other kinds of state-funded religious schools like Satanic or "Sharia Law" institutions. The state Supreme Court agreed, striking down the contract as an unlawful establishment of religion in an 8-2 decision.

But Walters, a far-right MAGA figure who has used taxpayer funding to help him score Fox News interviews and has called the separation of church and state a "radical myth," appeared irate over the decision.

"It’s my firm belief that once again, the Oklahoma Supreme Court got it wrong," wrote Walters. "The words ‘separation of church and state’ do not appear in our Constitution, and it is outrageous that the Oklahoma Supreme Court misunderstood key cases involving the First Amendment and sanctioned discrimination against Christians based solely on their faith. Oklahomans have demanded school choice not religious targeting."

He went on to add that the ruling "cannot stand" and "I will never stop fighting for Oklahomans’ constitutional, God-given right to express their religious belief."

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Pennsylvania-based constitutional law professor Quinn Yeargain, however, quickly pointed out for Walters that while "separation of church and state" may not appear in the Oklahoma Constitution, "these words do" highlighting Article 2, Section 5.

"No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such," the section reads.

In addition to his Christian nationalist stances, Walters has previously come under fire for financial ethics disclosure violations, which led to calls by Oklahoma Democrats for his impeachment last year.

Oklahoma Supreme Court rejects Education Department’s attempt to ban books

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in favor of Edmond Public Schools in a battle over books in its school libraries.

The state’s high court in a unanimous decision said Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and the state Department of Education overstepped their authority in trying to force Edmond schools to ban two novels.

Local school boards retain the discretion to decide which books are in a school’s library based on their community’s standards, the justices wrote.

Jeff Bardach, a spokesman for Edmond Public Schools, said the district’s staff is grateful for the decision, which “protects our locally elected school board’s role in creating policies that determine how library materials are selected and reviewed.”

The two targeted books are The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, both award-winning novels. The Kite Runner, a story about a boy in war-torn Afghanistan, has been challenged for scenes including rape and child sexual abuse. The Glass Castle, a memoir about poverty, contains profanity and depictions of alcoholism and sexuality. Edmond said the books are only available to high school students.

In January, the department notified Edmond schools its Library Media Advisory Committee determined the books violated administrative rules banning pornographic or sexualized content from school libraries.

Pornography is generally defined as materials intended to cause sexual excitement. But Walters, and his agency, has applied the term much more broadly to include books that contain mentions of sex or LGBTQ issues.

The only publicly known member of the Library Media Advisory Committee is Chaya Raichik, a media influencer and creator of Libs of Tik Tok who grew up in New York and lives in Los Angeles. The agency has yet to provide materials relating to Oklahoma Watch’s request, submitted in February, for information about the committee’s other members and its meetings.

The department ordered the district to remove the books from its libraries, and threatened to downgrade its accreditation status if it didn’t comply. On Feb. 20, the district asked the state Supreme Court to intervene.

The Board of Education established the new rules in 2023. Despite an attorney general’s opinion dated April 4, 2023, that said the board lacked legislative authority to create the rules, Gov. Kevin Stitt approved them in June.

Tuesday’s decision did not address several other issues raised by Edmond Public Schools, including whether the attorney general was correct or whether the Board of Education was authorized to create the rules.

Walters, in a written statement, called on the Legislature to address the issue.

“Although we are disappointed the Court issued this decision, it was made on very narrow grounds,” Walters said in the statement. “The Court did not sign on to any of the claims made by the districts that would have affected the State Board of Education’s broad authority over school districts or the Governor’s ability to approve our administrative rules.”

Oklahoma prison staff face criminal charges, litigation for plotting prisoner’s assault

This article originally appeared in Oklahoma Watch, a nonprofit news organization that produces in-depth and investigative journalism as a public service.

David Coker stepped off an inmate transport bus at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center expecting to be interviewed, photographed and fingerprinted.

The then 42-year-old, sentenced to 15 years for first-degree rape in Oklahoma County, started the state’s booking process for county jail transfers without issue. Prisoners chatted and joked in a holding cell to pass the time as they awaited a medical assessment around noon on Feb. 10, 2023.

“I had the assumption that this was pretty much it,” Coker said during a May 23 phone interview.

But the mundane affair turned violent when a correctional officer alleged Coker had sexually assaulted his niece several times.

The officer told prisoners in holding cell No. 3 that he wished he could assault Coker and directed the inmates to “handle it,” according to an internal Department of Corrections investigation. When the officer turned his back, several prisoners began striking Coker with their hands, fists and feet.

As Coker sat injured on a bench outside the cell, the officer returned to thank the inmates who attacked him, according to a prisoner who spoke with Inspector General Agent Michael Williams. Staff did not evaluate Coker’s condition or take him to the prison’s medical unit.

Still without a cell assignment several hours later, Coker was assaulted by another group of prisoners. The officer assigned to the unit was slow to respond to the assault and notify medical staff, the internal investigation said.

The doctor on duty noted severe bruising on Coker’s head and upper body and recommended staff take him to the Purcell Municipal Hospital for further evaluation. A CT scan came back negative for bleeding in the brain and prison staff drove Coker back to the facility just after midnight on Feb. 11, 2023.

Williams’ investigation concluded that four correctional officers violated state law by encouraging prisoners to assault Coker. The Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office charged Matthew Sinnett, Eric Cramer, Cody Cross and Sean Skarecky with misdemeanor conspiracy to commit assault in June 2023 but opted not to file negligence of duty charges.

The investigation recommended misdemeanor assault charges for two prisoners, but prosecutors opted not to file them. The involved inmates also did not receive internal disciplinary action.

Sinnett pleaded no contest in April and received a 45-day suspended sentence, a $100 fine and 10 hours of community service. Cramer pleaded no contest and on June 3 received one year of probation with adjudication deferred to June 2, 2025.

Cross and Skarecky’s cases are pending.

Sinnett and Cramer’s employment was terminated in June 2023, while Cross received a 10-day suspension, corrections department spokesperson Kay Thompson said. Corrections officials did not discipline Skarecky.

Coker said he wishes the officers would have been charged with felonies based on the severity of his injuries. He said he has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, nightmares and depression since the assault.

“The part that I replay in my mind is when you arrive at LARC, there’s a sign that says protect the public and protect the inmates,” Coker said. “I can’t help but think if that’s your job, why are you doing this?”

The involved officers also face a pair of lawsuits alleging they failed to perform the minimum duties required of a state officer.

On Feb. 9, Oklahoma City attorney Shelby Shelton filed a negligence lawsuit against the four officers and the Department of Corrections in Cleveland County District Court. The petition claims the assault significantly lowered Coker’s quality of life and seeks damages of more than $75,000. A hearing on the matter is pending.

“The defendants owed a duty of care to the plaintiff to protect him from the infliction of a physical assault and battery, and that Officers Sinnett, Cramer, Skarecky and Sinnett would be adequately trained, supervised and controlled when dealing with the public,” the lawsuit reads. “Defendants have breached their duty to the plaintiff.”

Coker filed a similar lawsuit in federal court in February claiming his civil rights were violated. U.S. Magistrate Judge Suzanne Mitchell ruled on May 14 that Lexington prison staff have 90 days to produce a series of records responsive to the claims.

Caleb Coker, David Coker’s 19-year-old son, said he said he was surprised to learn of the attack and assumed staff would distance themselves if they had a personal connection to an inmate.

“There definitely hasn’t been enough accountability,” Caleb Coker said. “If anyone out here assaulted someone like that, you would end up at the same place they’re all at.”

Emily Barnes, founder of the Oklahoma prisoner advocacy organization Hooked on Justice, said there’s a widespread stigma among prisoners and staff regarding sex offenders. But regardless of personal feelings, Barnes said staff are obligated to maintain a high level of professionalism.

“A good correctional officer would have gone to their superior and said they can’t be on this unit, they have to be recused,” Barnes said. “Since he worked at the reception center he knew that he was coming there. That’s a given. He planned that.”

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Wednesday, June 5, to clarify the status of criminal charges against the four officers.