Dem
47
GOP
53
There are some very poor educators out there (like, say, whoever is serving on the "faculty" of PragerU). But it is hard to imagine a worse "educator" than now-departed Oklahoma Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters (R). The "Education" part of that was just for funsies, because he had no interest at all in doing the job he was hired for. No, he used his post, and the privileged access it afforded him, to engage in vulgar political activism.
Walters made many a headline with his "reforms." He required the state's schools to add the Bible to the curriculum, unconcerned about that whole "separation of church and state" foolishness. He tried to require students to prove they are U.S. citizens before they would be allowed to enroll in school. He announced plans to scrutinize every teacher in the state, and to fire any who are too "woke." After Charlie Kirk was killed, Walter instructed every school in the state to establish a chapter of Turning Point USA.
Regardless of the underlying politics, any educator, any public official, and, frankly, every parent should be horrified by this sort of self-serving opportunism. And, indeed, even Walters' colleagues in the Oklahoma state government were disdainful of him. State Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R), for example, blasted Walters (and Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-OK):
Ever since Gov. Stitt appointed Ryan Walters to serve as Secretary of Education, we have witnessed a stream of never-ending scandal and political drama. From the mishandling of pandemic relief funds that resulted in families buying Xboxes and refrigerators to the latest squabbling with board members over what was or wasn't showing on TV, the Stitt-Walters era has been an embarrassment to our state.
Even worse, test scores and reading proficiency are at historic lows.
Drummond is plenty conservative, but he's not a loony bird.
Although nobody is saying it openly, what brought about Walters' demise is surely the incident that Drummond obliquely refers to in his tweet. The State Board of Education was meeting in the same building where Walters' office is (well, was) located. There was a TV in the office. And when the members arrived for the meeting, there was (allegedly) porn on the TV. Walters denies it, but who would make that up? In any event, he only survived for a few weeks more before "voluntarily resigning."
Walters will now run a right-wing activist group whose focus is getting rid of all teachers' unions. Undoubtedly, since it's oh-so-easy to get rid of an established, entrenched union, he will have enormous success at that. If he can find enough time, that is; after all, the porn doesn't download itself. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has rid itself of a real pip of a public official, and the odds are nobody will ever hear from him again. Wins all around. (Z)