GOP lawmakers in Oklahoma are calling for an investigation of the state’s Republican schools superintendent, Ryan Walters, over concerns about his stewardship of the department’s budget, spending priorities, and transparency.
The letter, circulated on Tuesday, Aug. 13, by Republican state Rep. Mark McBride, who chairs the chamber’s education committee, alleges that Walters has refused or delayed answering inquiries from lawmakers, denied legislators entry to executive sessions of the state Board of Education, and is failing to perform the duties of his office, including complying with the General Assembly’s budgetary direction.
The request will not advance unless 51 Republican lawmakers sign on to the letter, according to the speaker’s office. It now has 25, McBride said in a phone interview. Should it clear the threshold, the request could ultimately tee up possible impeachment proceedings, though McBride cautioned it likely wouldn’t come to that.
Walters, a firebrand who has gained national attention for his handling of LGBTQ+ student rights, position on teaching racism, and recent mandate for Oklahoma schools to teach about the Bible, has been active in former President Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection effort and has said he supports dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.
The recent Republican inquiries come after a longstanding call for Walters’ impeachment from Democrats who disagree with his policy priorities and use of taxpayer dollars.
McBride and other lawmakers are requesting that the legislature convene a special committee to investigate the education department’s “internal and external failures” following the law, and make recommendations to the legislature regarding reform. The committee would also be charged with investigating “any possible willful neglect of duty or incompetence,” which are impeachable offenses under the state’s constitution.
The speaker of the House, Republican Charles McCall, declined to move forward unless more Republicans signed onto the letter.
“I take elections very seriously, and anyone who was duly elected by the people of this state should not be removed from that office, given to them by the people, unless absolutely required by the constitution,” McCall wrote in a letter to members.
Walters has pushed to end ‘indoctrination’ in education and required schools to teach about the Bible
Walters was elected to serve as the superintendent of public instruction in 2022 and previously served as the state secretary of education—an appointed position in Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Cabinet. He has helped set the national agenda for Republican priorities in education, and has been critical of LGBTQ+ students’ rights in schools and teaching about racism. He recently directed districts in the state to teach the Bible in school and championed the first religious charter school in Oklahoma.
A spokesman for the state department of education, which Walters oversees, called the request for an investigation the “dying gasps of teachers’ union control over Oklahoma schools.”
“They’re desperate and will do and say anything to hang on to power,” the statement continued. “Just as they have against President Trump, liberal Republicans have joined the far-left Democrats to try to thwart the will of Oklahoma voters who want to empower parents and get our schools back to basics and back on track. Superintendent Walters will never back down and will always fight for Oklahoma parents and our students.”
McBride, who described himself as an outspoken critic of Walters, said he doesn’t necessarily dislike Walters and doesn’t totally disagree with some policies, but finds it troubling how the department is being run—including where money is being spent.
The letter alleges that Walters failed to turn over complete information about travel expenses using state dollars. McBride said he has heard from constituents and school leaders with concerns about funding, which includes delays in issuing or projecting the sum of federal dollars, and state budget funds earmarked for school security and asthma inhalers.
District leaders have reached out to McBride over when Title I funding, which supports schools with high numbers of students from low-income families, will be dispersed and how much is projected to go to districts, McBride said.
Those funds are also implicated in a defamation lawsuit filed against Walters Aug. 15. Walters called Bixby Public Schools Superintendent Robert Miller “a clown and a liar” at a July 31 press conference for saying that projections for Title I funds had not be provided, which the lawsuit says has impeded hiring.
Other concerns include delays in responding to inquiries by the House and Senate’s education committees, resulting in two subpoenas, according to the letter, and a failure to respond to open-records requests in a timely manner.
“As a legislature, our job is to provide a free public education for every kid in the state of Oklahoma, and it’s got to be run right. I mean, it’s the largest appropriated agency in the state: $4 billion,” McBride said. “You can’t run a business that makes $100,000 a year like this, let alone one that’s $4 billion.”
The letter called Walters “unprofessional, beneath the dignity of a statewide elected official.”
McBride also criticized how students were faring educationally.
“It’s just my job as the educational appropriations chair to watch what’s going on, and we’re more interested in putting Bibles in a classroom than we are teaching 3rd and 4th graders how to read,” McBride said. “You’re going to put a Bible in a 3rd, 4th grade classroom, and they can’t read it. What’s the use of putting it in the classroom?”
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