TULSA, Okla. — The announcement of Ryan Walters’ impending resignation was worth a look back at his five years in public office.
Before he took office in Oklahoma, Walters was in the private sector, serving as CEO of Every Kid Counts.
WATCH: Before Ryan Walters leaves public office, 2 News looks back on his five years in service
Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Walters as Secretary of Education.
"Ryan Walters is a committed educator who has dedicated his life to moving the needle in educational outcomes for all Oklahoma students and to supporting his fellow teachers. His perspective …. will be invaluable," Stitt said, appointing Walters in 2020.
Walters, at the time, even garnered support from Joy Hofmeister, who would eventually run for governor as a democrat, rebuking many of his policies.
“He is a great choice, and we look forward to strengthening our partnership in his new role as Secretary of Education," Hofmeister said, upon Walters’ appointment in 2020.
Walters made headlines throughout the early years, sometimes butting heads with Hofmeister.
Though he really began to make a splash in 2022, when Oklahomans elected him to become Superintendent of Education.
Just nine months into his career, he all but forced the ouster of Deborah Gist, then the superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools, the state’s largest school district.
LOOKING BACK >>> Gist stepped down in Aug. 2023
“It just became pretty evident that this intense focus, on not just Tulsa, but me specifically, had become such an incredible distraction,” Gist said in an interview after her leaving TPS.
Walters’ tenure was defined by controversy, making headlines seemingly every week.
All of that jockeying cost money. It’s impossible to say exactly how much taxpayers spent, but various reports put it in the millions of dollars, between contracts for PR frims, out-of-state trips, and a bevy of lawsuits.
As things stand on Sept. 25, Walters is named as a defendant in at least eight lawsuits.
More recently, Walters tried to implement President Trump’s immigration policies into public schools.
Gov. Stitt rejected such a plan.
“Unfortunately, we’ve got people that are really trying to attack [young] kids, and I’m not gonna let that happen,” Stitt said during a Feb. 2025 news conference.
In the end, Walters lost Stitt's support.
“When we see the scores, and the outcomes, not being where they need to be compared to other states, I’m gonna make a change as governor,” Stitt said during the same news conference.
Stitt appointed three new board members, meant to keep Walters in check, in his eyes.
In the end, Walters tried to get Bibles into schools, test the political ideology of teachers, and add Turning Point USA chapters to every high school in the state. In the late evening hours of Sept. 24, he announced his impending resignation, with plans to go back where he was five years ago; the private sector.
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