In the past whenever I would write something about Ryan Walters, then you could more or less guarantee that it would be about something dark, weird, and sinister that he was doing. To give you a quick flavour of what I mean, here are a few recent examples …
- Sept – Oklahoma’s Crazy Woke Teacher Test is a Scam : His teacher test is revealed to be a total con job
- July – Porn reveal from Oklahoma schools chief in school board meeting : Yes he really had porn on his Office TV during a school board meeting
- Oct 24 – 66,600 Bibles for $66.60 dollars each to shove down students throats : By funnelling state money to Trump for Trump bibles he hoped he would get the Sec of Education slot. Thankfully that did not pan out.
- etc…
He resigned and is gone.
I’m honestly not sure I actually care why, like a lot of others I’m just thankful that it happened. I’m sure the observation that he was recently caught watching porn on his office TV during a school board meeting by two other board members played no role in the rapid departure of this “godly christian” and that event happening the the recent past was just a coincidence.
What has happened since his departure?
The first thing to wonder about is if the guy who has replaced him is more of the same.
He is not, but instead is both normal and is also fully dedicated to getting the job done. The new Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction that has been appointed by the Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt is a rather pleasant surprise. His name is Lindel Fields and so he will be in the role to finish off the term until the next election is due.
Who?
Well yes, when the media mulled over who might replace Walters, he did not even get a mention. He does however have his very own Wikipedia page. That usually means one of two things, the person is infamous and notable for all the awful things he has done, or alternatively he is notable for all the truly good things he has done – so which is it?
(Opens his Wikipedia page as I hold my breath) … and breath … the answer is it’s the latter.
This is somebody who is a dedicated educator. Via an archived Oct2 article from The Oklahoman we gain an insight into both his credentials and also his philosophy …
Fields said Thursday during a news conference at Eisenhower International School that he would adopt a guiding mantra as state superintendent: “If you’re not taking care of the students, take care of someone who is.”
He described the work of his new office as deeply personal, noting his daughter was a fifth-grader at the school where the announcement took place. His daughter, Fields said, came home from day care one day to tell him that “Teachers are way more important than the superintendent. She was — and is — right,” he said.
Fields said teachers “are the heartbeat of this work,” providing a contrast to Walters, who once called teachers’ unions “a terrorist group” and intimated they bore responsibility for a New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans.
…
Fields, 54, spent nearly 12 years as the superintendent of Tri County Technology Center in Bartlesville, after previously serving more than nine years as an assistant or deputy superintendent at the center. After retiring from CareerTech in 2021, Fields founded Your Culture Coach, a leadership consulting firm.
Yep, this is the type of guy you need in the role, he will be a stark contrast to the utterly inept religious fanatic and porn loving Ryan Walters.
As a bonus he also has said that he has no interest in running for election next year, all he wants to do is sort things out for the next guy by cleaning up to horrendous mess left behind by Walters.
The Website is now also a breath of fresh air
The previous version of the Oklahoma Education website was basically a monument dedicated to promoting the greatness of Ryan Walters along with some of his “beliefs” …
If you are going to the Oklahoma Education website then I can more or less guarantee that you are not going there to read about Walters. Nor would you be doing so to bask in all the PragerU disinformation he was promoting, or the blitz of press releases regarding his numerous culture war battles.
Oh and let’s not forget his whacky demand for the Ten Commandments to be posted up in every classroom.
It’s gone, it really is all gone, the BS has been washed away, and so today this is now what you have …
If you surf on over the Oklahoma Education now, what you will discover in that finally there is some common sense recognition that you fall into one of four categories: Educators, Administrators, Family, Community. Just click your category and you are presented with a detailed list of links just for you so that you can rapidly dive into stuff that is real immediate interest to you – excellent stuff.
So that’s it then, Ryan Walters is gone, things are back to normal, and he will be off doing crazy things elsewhere?
Well no, there is also one other interesting twist here.
The Formal Investigation of Ryan Walters
Attorney General Gentner Drummond is also running to be the next Republican Gov of Oklahoma and so he wishes to make his mark. In a move that many perceive as a popular one, again via that Oct 2 article in The Oklahoman, is this snippet of an insight buried in the text roughly about two thirds of the way down …
State audit to investigate Education Department finances
Among the first matters Fields will face is a state audit that Attorney General Gentner Drummond ordered.
Drummond requested the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s Office investigate the Education Department’s finances over the entirety of Walters’ tenure in charge, beginning Jan. 9, 2023, through Tuesday.
Drummond contended Walters had a “well-established history of mishandling tax dollars.”
State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd confirmed through a spokesperson that she received the audit request.
Drummond is not wrong to suggest the Walters has “mishandling tax dollars“. His culture wars battles, his demands for Ten Commandments posters and all the associated legal costs, his purchase of Trump bibles at $60 a pop, only scratches the surface. Drummond has openly criticised much of this utter lunacy in the past, so the demand for a full audit is oh so very appropriate.
Why?
Because beyond all the surface stuff there exists a long, a very very long, list of accusations of not just incompetence, but outright financial corruption. Going after Ryan Walters with an audit will be a very popular move. In the past audits have tended to go nowhere, but Drummond is highly motivated to pressure the audit office to deliver meaningful results soon for what are rather obvious Gov Campaign reasons.
Also, because Walters resigned and is gone, there is absolutely nothing he can do to hinder the investigation.
It is oh so wonderful that there is real potential here for him to face the consequences of his gross mismanagement of everything.
Time to celebrate, and I’m not alone in that thought.
The Wicked Witch is dead – It’s party Time
There was once a “Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame,”, but Walters had ordered it to be removed.
KOCO 5 News has a wonderful update … it has been restored …
For years, these portraits lined the hallway, showcasing former superintendents, professors, and athletic directors who made their mark on Oklahoma education.
They were ordered to be taken down once Walters took office in 2023.
Just hours after Walters’ resignation this week, the portraits were returned to their original spots.
Meanwhile via KFOR has a deeper insight into it …
One of former State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ first orders of business when he took office in January 2023 was ordering the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame portrait wall be removed from the Oliver Hodge State Department of Education building.
“I said, take it down,” Walters said during a 2023 event.
That was personal for teachers like Drew Cole.
“I felt like, oh, it’s heartbreaking,” Cole said.
His dad, Bill Cole, was among the dozens of Oklahoma educators enshrined for their service on that wall.
“It was one of the most endearing things to him was to be because he respected those people so well,” he said.
It was personal, too, for his wife and fellow teacher, Jami Cole.
“I think that immediately set a tone that the great educators who came before us, who deserved to be hanging in that gallery, that he was going to just erase them and act like they never existed,” Jami Cole said.
Then Walters began opening his mouth.
“I don’t negotiate with the teachers’ union. They’re a terrorist organization,” Walters said during a 2023 legislative hearing.
Walters’ rhetoric gave educators like the Coles no reason to trust Walters would ever be in their corner.
“Just to make us the bad guys, to demoralize us, to, you know, make us feel like the enemy, basically,” Jami Cole said.
“He had to have a reason for doing it. And, you know, slander was going to work,” Drew Cole said.
They say their fellow teachers all over the state noticed too.
“There was just absolute despair. And that’s why there’s a record number of teachers who have quit,” Jami Cole said.
We are also learning that spontaneous parties have been breaking out amongst teachers who are openly celebrating the Walters exit …
“There’s been several parties and several celebrations that just spontaneously popped up out of nowhere,” Jami Cole said. “Teachers are walking around with smiles on their faces and lots of high fives. There is no sadness. I hear from the teachers across Oklahoma who have reached out to me, it’s just nothing but pure joy and pure hope. So to me, that speaks volumes about where his politics were and what he was doing. It was not landing well with educators at all. We just want what’s best for kids.”
Then Wednesday, the first day without Walters in office, an anonymous OSDE employee told News 4 they made it their first order of business to put the Hall of Fame wall back up.
“Is it emotional seeing this?” News 4 asked Drew Cole, standing in front of the restored wall on Thursday.
“Oh, absolutely. It was a deep cut when they took it down,” he said.
Walters was deeply hated, not just because he was utterly incomplete and corrupt, but also because of his truly obnoxious actions …
“I’d like to see some teachers’ licenses put back in place and people that Walters chose to just use as a scapegoat,” Drew Cole said. “And I mean, he literally ruined some people’s lives and their livelihoods to make a point in one of the most petty and heinous ways that he could.”
What needs to happen now is that State Superintendent Fields has a lot of shit to clean up, but he is motivated and inspired to do just that, and so it really is party time for many.
“Normal and boring” is back in charge of Oklahoma Education, and that’s how it should be. Just a department doing its job and providing a service.
One Final Thought
It’s a microcosm, a play that has run through its various acts to reveal that actions in the end have consequences, and so a day comes when the deeply malicious religious extreme-right fanatic goes, and a brighter day filled with hope dawns.
We need to see this story repeated not just in Oklahoma, but also right across the national stage. It will happen on a bigger scale, and the sooner the better.
OK, one last thought – votes have consequences. Ryan Walters was voted into position, he was not appointed. He won with just 56% of the vote back in 2022, and so those who sat it out or voted without really understanding that voting for the “Christian guy” need not imply that you get competence, tolerance, decency, honesty, integrity, or a guy who will not be into porn during office hours in board meetings.
When the moment comes, and it will, make sure you vote with clarity for a brighter future.