OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — State Superintendent Ryan Walters opened Thursday afternoon’s Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting with three conservative rule changes he plans to propose.
The meeting came two days after being issued a State House subpoena, and just hours after a lawsuit was filed against him and the state board itself.
The first proposed policy would ban Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in all public schools but did not specify the logistics of what positions and personnel would be affected.
The second rule would protect prayer and bible use in class. Supt. Walters also proposed the prevention of what he called lewd sexual ideology in teachers’ codes of conduct.
Walters told 2 News he's not worried about these policies jeopardizing federal funding.
“When we're talking about federal dollars we've been very clear with the feds we want to help get more resources for math, reading, science, but we're not gonna do (uphold DEI)," he said. "We've always sent that message loud and clear to the feds (that) we're not we're not gonna allow you to come in and manipulate what's going on in the classroom. So we can absolutely do that and push back on the federal government's overreach."
Retired Tulsa Public Schools teacher and principal Mike Howe spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting. He told 2 News he takes issue with Walters's ideas and calls them a distraction.
“The foundation of any effective classroom is the teacher who understands the diversity of his children, who understands that they have to be equitable, provide equity for every child, and most importantly, that every child knows that they are loved and cared for," Howe said.
Walters is also on the defense this week after being issued a subpoena by State Speaker of the House Charles McCall and House Education Committee to provide various data requested by lawmakers. Walters said he's not too concerned by it.
“The speaker and I have a great relationship. We're gonna deal with issues have been created there, but that's gonna be between speaker and myself," he said. "Again, I have a great working relationship with him."
The superintendent didn't elaborate if he'll attend the mandatory hearing in front of House members as part of the subpoena.
2 News also asked Walters about a new lawsuit against him and the state board filed in Cleveland County by the Tulsa-based Oklahoma Equality Law Center, alleging gender discrimination against an anonymous student.
“I'm not surprised at these radical left wing groups continue to attack us," Walters said. "I'll never back down to a bunch of woke liberals trying to sue me for me for protecting our kids and protect our parents. So I'm going to continue to stand firm no matter what lawsuit or what they throw at me there."
In her monthly presentation to the state board, Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson said the district is "aggressively" pursuing the new academic goals pushed by the board on Nov. 30.
Johnson and several senior district leaders laid out new data focusing on reading scores and teacher training.
The district said it has three main goals: to move 700 more kids in grades 3 through 5 to get basic or above ratings on state English-language arts (ELA) assessments, to get all teachers and administrators trained in state-approved science of reading modules by the end of the school year, and to get 12 of the district's current 18 failing schools off of a failing score.
“We’re strengthening our accreditation," Dr. Johnson said during the presentation. "We have leadership in place that specifically analyzes and then works closely around our accreditation processes so that we can be even more specific, and then correct in how we do our accreditation.”
Johnson added the district will also launch a new course for teachers in failing schools to take which focuses on helping kids with poor reading skills.
“That was a lengthy presentation but I think it provided a lot of clarity for a lot of the questions we had," Walters said to the TPS superintendent after the presentation. "So I do appreciate your patience with us.”
Johnson then thanked Walters and the board before leaving the podium and exiting the meeting room with TPS officials also in attendance.
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