Teachers across Oklahoma have taken a deep sigh of relief after the state’s education head, Ryan Walters, bowed out and took his Christian nationalism elsewhere. This finally allows them to focus on educating young minds instead of being forced to spread conservative ideas.
Bright Days for Oklahoma’s Education
Ryan Walters recently resigned from his position as Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction in order to become the CEO of Teacher Freedom Alliance (TFA). This controversial organization has a goal “to end the teachers’ unions.” He definitely won’t be missed, as the news brought much-needed joy to educators. According to Oklahoma teacher Jami Cole, “there’s been several parties and several celebrations that just spontaneously popped up out of nowhere” following the announcement.
Walters’ replacement, education veteran Lindel Fields, immediately went to work in attempts to undo years of clouds over the education system in Oklahoma. Fields reinstated the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame portrait wall, which Ryan Walters removed, and purged the official website from content promoting Christian nationalism, conservative ideas, and misinformation. Fields also pledged to review all of Walters’ initiatives and assess them.
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Long List of Walters’ Cardinal Sins
For someone who presents himself as a religious person, Walter has a long list of cardinal sins against education. One of his first moves as head of education was to pursue teachers who didn’t share his ideas. He instructed the state’s department of education to terminate the licenses of two teachers because of their opposition to HB 1775. This law prohibits teaching certain gender and race concepts.
Ryan Walters has been accused of spending public money on promoting his personal image and misusing funds to pay for political travel. He also tried to force schools to teach the Bible, have Ten Commandments posted in classrooms, ban LGBTQ+ literature, and establish a chapter of Charlie Kirk’s conservative organization Turning Point USA in each high school. On top of that, he wanted teachers from blue states coming to Oklahoma to take the “anti-woke” test and require students to provide proof of citizenship before enrolling.
Walters Likely Isn’t Done
While Oklahoma’s teachers managed to get free from Walters, the threat of his far-right rhetoric is still there. He will now try to take on the entire U.S. educational system through TFA. Hopefully, he will have far less success.
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