Oklahoma’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, needs to call his dentist urgently. The memorandum he issued the day after Kamala Harris conceded the election reveals how much he’s chomping at the bit to join the Trump Administration. His molars must be ground to nubs.
Walters often use memos, ostensibly addressed to school districts, as a platform for his extremism. His Nov. 7 missive addresses the state’s district superintendents [directing them to distribute it to all their students’ parents]. In it, Walters cheers the election outcome in typical blowhard form. He specifically celebrates the prospect of eliminating the US Department of Education. Like one of the Proud Boys, Walters is “standing by” to push forward this abysmal aspect of the MAGA agenda.
“The federal government has hijacked our education system,” the memorandum begins with the nuance of TNT. It goes on to pontificate on how “eliminating the U.S. Department of Education [USDE] … would restore authority to states, allowing communities – not Washington bureaucrats – to decide what is best for their children.”
We’ve seen him in action, and it ain’t pretty.
One of the reasons for establishing the USDE was to offer a layer of protection against self-serving, authoritarian extremists like Ryan Walters. USDE’s mission is to see that public schools nationwide are funded to provide all students educational services according to their legal rights, including those most vulnerable to being compromised at the state level.
In practical terms, USDE exists to protect Oklahoma students from the whims of Ryan Walters. This raises the salient question: Has Walters earned our trust to do this with or without USDE accountability?
What a sad and laughable notion.
He likely sees himself as the next U.S. Secretary of Education. Observers widely assume that this is his dream job, fueled by visions of rubbing elbows with Trump and gleefully dismantling a crucial government department. It goes without saying that if he manages to land this dream job, his swearing in will not include the phrase “do no harm.”
A Secretary Walters would do great harm to the nation’s schools, including Oklahoma’s.
It hasn’t been pretty to watch him chomping at the bit, either in recent days or during the past two years. Recalling his job performance, it clearly has not been harmless to public education in our state. For his sake and ours, he needs to let up on all this chomping. Maybe start chewing gum instead.
