Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Wednesday he is resigning to become the CEO of the conservative Teacher Freedom Alliance, declaring his intent to “destroy the teachers unions.”
The move concludes a contentious tenure for the Republican superintendent, who frequently engaged in culture war issues, including a push to incorporate the Bible into public school classrooms.
“We have seen the teachers unions use money and power to corrupt our schools, to undermine our schools,” Walters said on “Fox News @ Night.” He added, “We will build an army of teachers to defeat the teachers union once and for all.”
The Teacher Freedom Alliance confirmed his appointment in a social media post, praising Walters for “fearlessly [fighting] the woke liberal union mob.”
The announcement drew immediate and sharp criticism. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a fellow Republican, called Walters “an embarrassment to our state,” adding that his appointment led to “a stream of never-ending scandal and political drama.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a statement that “today is a good day for Oklahoma’s kids,” accusing Walters of trying to “export his divisive rhetoric nationally.”
As Oklahoma’s top education official since January 2023, Walters consistently courted controversy. He ordered schools to include the Bible in their curriculum, called for displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms, and described the separation of church and state as a “myth.”
Walters also pushed for policies requiring families to prove U.S. citizenship to enroll children in public schools and recently announced a partnership to establish chapters of the conservative group Turning Point USA in state high schools. His time in office was also marked by a sheriff’s investigation into an incident where board members reported seeing explicit images on a TV in his office; a prosecutor declined to file criminal charges.
The effective date of Walters’ resignation has not yet been announced. He did not respond to questions from a local Fox affiliate reporter regarding the timing of his departure.
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