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With Ryan Walters Out, It’s a New Day for Education in Oklahoma

By dianeravitch
October 27, 2025 //
2

John Thompson writes here about the remarkable transformation of education in Oklahoma since Commissioner of Education Ryan Walters resigned. Walters was obsessed with getting the Bible and the Ten Commandments into schools. Now that he’s gone, the professionals are back.

Thompson wrote:

Since former State Superintendent Ryan Walters was removed from office, I keep witnessing reasons for hope, as well as worries about whether Oklahoma politicians will be willing to support and fund the wonderful, grassroots programs necessary for building high-quality 21st century schools.

Whether he knew what he was doing or not, Gov. Kevin Stitt replaced Walters with Superintendent Lindel Fields, a former career tech leader, who is being widely praised by Democrats and Republicans. Megan Oftedal, a professional who led the Office of Education Quality and Accountability (OEQA), has joined Fields’ “turnaround team” for improving our schools. And Dr. Daniel Hamlin, a widely respected education scholar at the University of Oklahoma is the new Secretary of Education.

I commented at an OEQA meeting chaired by Dr. Hamlin, where numerous nonprofits presented solid plans for the team effort required in order to turn our system around. I felt like board members listened, whether they agreed with me or not, to my calls to remove stakes from standardized testing.  When conversing with Dr. Hamlin and others, I felt like it was 35 years-ago, when bipartisan experts came together to implement the HB 1017 tax increase, which saved public education in Oklahoma.

On the other hand, soon afterwards, the 2025 test scores were released. I had been trying to warn journalists and legislators that “astroturf” think tanks had been pushing the lie that Proficient scores, that are correlated with the reliable NAEP scores, were “grade level.” In fact, the cut scores, known as “Basic,” are the best indicators of grade level. The corporate reform ExcelinEd had been lobbying Oklahomans, persuading way too many people that the defense of true definition of grade level was an “honesty gap” pushed by educators.

And as I predicted, the press was filled with the lies that the Koch Brothers had funded. In fact, Oklahoma scores, admittedly, were bad, but they aren’t irreparably bad, as ExcelinEd implies. I would argue that the drop in Oklahoma’s student outcomes since 1998, was driven by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the subsequent push to reward and punish teachers based on standardized test scores.    

Then, I attended the interim committee led by House Representative Ellen Pogemiller on Chronic Absenteeism. Once again, I was thrilled by the quality of the presentations.

I was reminded of 15 years ago when the United Way hosted an in-depth study of how to reduce chronic absenteeism, and make up for “learning loss.” We were guided in many ways by research led by Johns Hopkins’ Robert Balfanz. The non-profit leaders who were attending the conferences were convinced by Balfanz’s work and why it would take a team effort to address chronic absenteeism.  To succeed, high-challenge students had to receive the same respect and opportunities as affluent students. These programs must provide the same type of holistic experiences that affluent families shared during vacations.

So, cognitive and social science said that if our chronic absenteeism program became seen as remediation, it would fail.

That is why I was so elated when one of the first speakers at the interim committee said we must move away from a “deficit-driven mindset.”

Instead, she embraced a “Cradle-to-the-Career” approach.

Service providers from Tulsa explained that almost 1/3rd of TPS students were chronically absent, with something schools having ½ of their students who were chronically absent. They explained that some students had no access to school buses because they lived 1-1/2 to 2 miles from their school.

They then explained the role of evictions, that was especially large because eviction windows were so short, and because of predatory landlords. This especially hurt pre-k and kindergarten students in apartment complexes that have especially high rates of absenteeism. That is why schools need family liaisons, student monitors, and resource coordinators.

The wrap-around services needed to overcome chronic absenteeism are expensive, but some have helped get nearly 100% of their kids back in school.

Yes, it was explained, sometimes suspensions, including longterm suspensions, are necessary. But providers in Moore explained how they minimize the punitive with a different type of alternative school, focused on building a better future for kids. And Norman educators described their different type of alternative suspension program. For instance, they offer a deal with students where their suspensions are reduced if they attend programs to get to root causes of interconnected problems. The suspension rate for kids who follow that path has fallen dramatically.

By the way, their presentations reminded me of the evidence-based recommendations of MAPS for Kids, before NCLB forced schools to abandon so many of their best efforts to serve kids.

Some schools have created an Absenteeism Office, and their findings were illuminative. In one district, 80% of chronical absent teens were couch-surfing.  That makes it difficult to locate and connect with them. But, when attendance officers reach out, they see the impact of chronic absenteeism on mental and physical health.

And there seemed to be widespread agreement regarding the value of “high dose tutoring.”

And even though Oklahoma schools do not have enough service providers and enough ability to physically connect and communicate, tele-health programs facilitate timely “Looped systems” of communicating with students, families, school officials, and health and mental health providers.

Even though these Cradle-to-Career efforts are expensive, if we prioritize them, we all will benefit. The interim study, following the conversations at the OEQA, inspired hope.

But, I later learned of a different type of meeting with legislators that occurred that day, calling for a return to the punitive by holding back 3rd graders who do not pass their reading test. Yes, teaching reading is crucial but it also is complicated. It requires background knowledge, as well as phonics, to teach reading for comprehension. And, real world, the evidence regarding both the benefits and the harm of holding back 3rd graders is mixed.

Even if the over-simplified spin that ExcelinEd spreads about the “Science of Reading” were true, far more funding would be required to produce longterm gains for Oklahoma students.

On one hand, it took decades of funding by the “Billionaires Boys Club” to sell their quick fixes and slanders about public schools. Our kids have suffered for nearly a quarter of a century due to their agenda. It will take years and years to reverse the damage they’ve sowed. But these evidence-based, humane events that I’ve witnessed are an awesome starting point.   

Categories Oklahoma

John Thompson on Hanna Rosin’s Podcasts about Oklahoma Education, Part II

By dianeravitch
October 13, 2025 //
8

In part two of Hannah Rosin’s podcast about former Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, Walters consistently responded to criticisms of his actions by calling them lies. My take on podcast part one is here.

And spoiler alert! Rosin closes with recent headline-grabbing stories about Walters, setting the stage for his latest assault on public education.

First, in August it was learned that his ideology test for teachers started with: “What is the fundamental biological distinction between males and females?”

Second, Walters ordered all public schools to observe a moment of silence in honor of the death of Charlie Kirk. Now, the “State Department of Education says it’s investigating claims that some districts did not comply.”

Third, “Walters announced a plan to create chapters of Turning Point USA—the conservative organization co-founded by Kirk—at every Oklahoma high school.”

And, Walters, who has resigned as Superintendent, is now the CEO of the Teachers Freedom Alliance, which is part of the Freedom Foundation, a “far-right, anti-labor union think tank.”

So, it is not surprising that Walters responded to Rosin’s questions by attacking teachers’ unions which he said, “have been one of the most negative forces in recent American history. I’ve never seen anything like it—the ideology they’ve pushed on kids. It’s unfathomable to me that they did that.”

Rosin and Walters started part two with a discussion about his new curriculum, that has been paused by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which has “dozens of references to Christianity,” and “an instruction to high-school history students to identify discrepancies in the 2020 election.

Walters then described the 2020 election as “one of the most controversial, the most controversial election in American history.

Rosin pushed back, citing Walters’ mandate to “Identify discrepancies in election results,” which, of course, challenges the true facts about the election.

Rosin then brought up the controversy where board members saw nude pictures on TV during the board meeting.

Walters’ replied, “they’re outrageous liars.”

He then claimed that the board members brought up that “whole concoction” in order to stop the approval of “a new private school that has American values … [they] tried to hijack the board. They tried to hijack the agenda, the vote, everything else.”

Walters’ also attacked “radical gender ideology.”

Walters’ curriculum also focused on identifying “the source of the COVID-19 pandemic from a Chinese lab and the economic and social effects of state and local lockdowns.”

Rosin then interviewed a teacher who in 2016 told his majority Latino students something he would never say now:  “’I would never vote for something that would bring harm to you.’” Which, he said, put his students at ease.”

The teacher is now debating about whether he can post a picture of John Lewis, with the quote, “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up.”

Rosin again spoke with Summer Boismier who lost her license due to having The Fault in Our Stars, The Hate U Give, and the Twilight saga among the 500 books in her classroom. Boismier has “applied to more than 300 positions—with zero offers.” She now calls herself “educational kryptonite”

In conclusion, Walters says:

I went to war with a group that has an unlimited amount of money, nearly an unlimited amount of political power, that had bought off so many elected officials, that have bought off so many different interest groups. And we took on an education establishment of administrators, school-board associations, teachers’ unions.

Now he leads Teacher Freedom Alliance, which is a part of the Freedom Foundation which claims to be:

More than a think tank. We’re more than an action tank. We’re a battle tank that’s battering the entrenched power of left-wing government union bosses who represent a permanent lobby for bigger government, higher taxes, and radical social agendas.

Walters claims he’ll lead the war for:

Educators’ real freedom, freedom from the liberal, woke agenda that has corrupted public education. We will arm teachers with the tools, support, and freedom they need, without forcing them to give up their values

By the way, there are about 4 million teachers in the U.S. And when I last checked the Teacher Freedom web site, they proclaimed that they represented 2,748 teachers, presumably, in the nation. Now I can’t find their numbers on the site. So, I wonder whether Walters’ army is up to the task of defeating public school educators and their norms.

And, at least according to the Tulsa World, Walters is being replaced by Lindel Fields, a retired CareerTech administrator, who it is hoped will “calm the waters.”

Categories Accountability, Censorship, Democracy, Education Industry, Education Reform, Ethics, Extremism, Oklahoma

John Thompson Reviews Hanna Rosin’s Report on the Education Mess in Oklahoma: Part 1

By dianeravitch
October 13, 2025 //
1

John Thompson, retired teacher and historian in Oklahoma, listened to a two-part podcast about Oklahoma education by Hanna Rosin of The Atlantic. He reports on what he heard, based on his in-depth knowledge of politics and education in his state.

John Thompson writes:

Introducing her first podcast on Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the Atlantic’s Hannah Rosin notes the long history of public schools being attacked for cultural and political reasons. Then, she recalls:

What’s been happening to American public schools lately is different: more coordinated, more creative, and blanketing the nation. Pressure on what kids learn and read is coming from national parents’ movements, the White House, the Supreme Court.

Rosin further explains that Ryan Walters “has pushed the line further than most.”

Walters recently announced an ideology test for new teachers moving to Oklahoma from “places like California and New York.” And, although the Oklahoma Supreme Court has issued a temporary stay on Walters’ standards, he’s “tried to overhaul the curriculum, adding dozens of references to Christianity and the Bible and making students ‘identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results.’”

The first of two podcasts review how Walters has “already succeeded in helping create a new template for what public schools can be.” Part two will go even deeper into how “Walters and a larger conservative movement seem to be trying to redefine public schools as only for an approved type.” As he said, “If you’re going to come into our state … don’t come in with these blue-state values.”

Rosin starts with Walters’ “Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism,” and his claim, “For too long in this country, we’ve seen the radical left attack individuals’ religious liberty in our schools. We will not tolerate that in Oklahoma.” He said this in a video sent to school administrators who were supposed to play it for every student and every parent.

This mandate, however, is the opposite of his approach when he was an award-winning “woke” middle school teacher. Rosin interviewed two of Walters students, Shane and Starla, about his “parodies,” that were called, “little roasts.”

Shane, a male conservative, compared Walters’ “little roasts,” such as “Teardrops on My Scantron,” to those of Jimmy Kimmel.  

Starla, a lesbian. said of her teacher, “He was woke! (Laughs.) He was a woke teacher.” And she praised his teaching about the civil rights movement.

Rosin reported that today’s Ryan Walters is “unrecognizable” in comparison to the teacher they knew.  And, “Shane compared it to how you’d feel about your dad if he remarried a woman you didn’t like.”

In 2022 , when running for State Superintendent, pornography was Walters’ issue. He strongly supported HB 1775, which was a de facto ban on Critical Race Theory. It forbid teaching things like, “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.”

Walters’ top target was a high school teacher, Summer Boismier,  who, in response, covered her bookshelves with butcher paper. But she also posted a QR code for a Brooklyn library, which had books that Walters said were pornography.  Boismier resigned, but Walters successfully asked the Oklahoma State Board of Education to revoke her teaching certificate. He said, “There is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda in the classroom. Ms. Boismier’s providing access to banned and pornographic material to students is unacceptable and we must ensure she doesn’t go to another district and do the same thing.”

After being labeled a pedophile, Boismier started to get serious threats. Then the Libs of TikTok started a campaign against alleged gay teachers who were supposedly “groomers,” prompting bomb threats.

Then, as Rosin explained, “state Democrats called for an impeachment probe, and Walters leaned in harder.” For instance, Walters ramped up his campaign against teachers unions who he called a “terrorist organization.”

Walters also claimed that a “civil war” was being fought in our schools.

Rosin reported on how Walters gained a lot of attention “when he said teachers could cover the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, where white Tulsans slaughtered hundreds of Black people, but they should not, quote, ‘say that the skin color determined it.””

Then, “Walters accused the media of twisting his words. He said that “kids should never be made to feel bad or told they are inferior based on the color of their skin.”

In 2024, Rosin recalled,  Walters “directed all Oklahoma public schools to teach the Bible. And in an appearance on Fox News, Walters talked about displaying the Ten Commandments.” He claimed, “What we’ve seen in America are the Democrats, the teachers’ unions have driven God out of schools, and Americans, Oklahomans, President Trump want God back in the classroom.”

Trump responded on Truth Social, “Great job by Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters on FoxNews [sic] last night. Strong, decisive, and knows his ‘stuff.’” And, “I LOVE OKLAHOMA!”

There was pushback when it was learned that “one of the few Bibles that met Walters’ criteria is the “God Bless the USA Bible.” It was “endorsed by Lee Greenwood and President Trump. It sells for $59.99.”

As the first part of the podcast came to an end, it reviewed Walters’ recent setbacks.

The U.S. Supreme Court  stopped Oklahoma’s plan for  the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has paused the Bible plan. And the special test by Prager U. for teachers from California, New York, and other “woke” states, faces legal challenges.

And Walters was lambasted after sexually explicit images of naked women were seen on a screen inside his office.

Part two will give Walters a chance to tell his side of the story. Rosin previews his response by quoting him: “Yeah, they’re outrageous liars.”

Categories Bigotry, Censorship, Curriculum, Education Industry, Education Reform, Extremism, Freedom to Learn, Freedom to Read, Funding, Oklahoma

John Thompson on Ryan Walters, MAGA Zealot

By dianeravitch
September 26, 2025 //
7

After raising a national profile by taking MAGA ideas to absurd extremes, Ryan Walters resigned yesterday, going out in a blaze of ignominious display.

John Thompson explains:

For months, I’ve been hearing predictions that State Superintenent Ryan Walters would not serve out his term. Originally, the rumors had to do with the questionable legality of his actions. Recently they have focussed on the Republicans, who once supporteded him,  but who are now fed up with his antics.

Since I submitted this piece, yesterday, Walters said “he is ‘excited’ to step down and accept his new position. He said his goal is to ‘destroy the teachers unions.’”

Walters announced he will become the CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance (which says it has 2,748 teachers enrolled.) He proclaimed:
“For decades, union bosses have poisoned our schools with politics and propaganda while abandoning parents, students, and good teachers. That ends today. We’re going to expose them, fight them, and take back our classrooms,” said Walters in a press release. “At the Teacher Freedom Alliance, we’re giving educators real freedom, freedom from the liberal, woke agenda that has corrupted public education. We will arm teachers with the tools, support, and freedom they need, without forcing them to give up their values. This is a battle for the future of our kids, and we will not lose.”

Below is background information on how Walters got to this point.

Introducing her first podcast on Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the Atlantic’s Hannah Rosin notes the long history of public schools being attacked for cultural and political reasons. Then, she recalls:

What’s been happening to American public schools lately is different: more coordinated, more creative, and blanketing the nation. Pressure on what kids learn and read is coming from national parents’ movements, the White House, the Supreme Court.

Rosin further explains that Ryan Walters “has pushed the line further than most.” 

Walters recently announced an ideology test for new teachers moving to Oklahoma from “places like California and New York.” And, although the Oklahoma Supreme Court has issued a temporary stay on Walters’ standards, he’s “tried to overhaul the curriculum, adding dozens of references to Christianity and the Bible and making students ‘identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results.’”

The first of two podcasts review how Walters has “already succeeded in helping create a new template for what public schools can be.” Part two will go even deeper into how “Walters and a larger conservative movement seem to be trying to redefine public schools as only for an approved type.” As he said, “If you’re going to come into our state … don’t come in with these blue-state values.”

Rosin starts with Walters’ “Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism,” and his claim, “For too long in this country, we’ve seen the radical left attack individuals’ religious liberty in our schools. We will not tolerate that in Oklahoma.” He said this in a video sent to school administrators who were supposed to play it for every student and every parent.

This mandate, however, is the opposite of his approach when he was an award-winning “woke” middle school teacher. Rosin interviewed two of Walters students, Shane and Starla, about his “parodies,” that were called, “little roasts.”

Shane, a male conservative, compared Walters’ “little roasts,” such as “Teardrops on My Scantron,” to those of Jimmy Kimmel.  

Starla, a lesbian. said of her teacher, “He was woke! (Laughs.) He was a woke teacher.” And she praised his teaching about the civil rights movement.

Rosin reported that today’s Ryan Walters is “unrecognizable” in comparison to the teacher they knew.  And, “Shane compared it to how you’d feel about your dad if he remarried a woman you didn’t like.”

In 2022 , when running for State Superintendent, pornography was Walters’ issue. He strongly supported HB 1775, which was a de facto ban on Critical Race Theory. It forbid teaching things like, “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” 

Walters’ top target was a high school teacher, Summer Boismier,  who, in response, covered her bookshelves with butcher paper. But she also posted a QR code for a Brooklyn library, which had books that Walters said were pornography.  Boismier resigned, but Walters successfully asked the Oklahoma State Board of Education to revoke her teaching certificate. He said, “There is no place for a teacher with a liberal political agenda in the classroom. Ms. Boismier’s providing access to banned and pornographic material to students is unacceptable and we must ensure she doesn’t go to another district and do the same thing.”

After being labeled a pedophile, Boismier started to get serious threats. Then the Libs of TikTok started a campaign against alleged gay teachers who were supposedly “groomers,” prompting bomb threats.

Then, as Rosin explained, “state Democrats called for an impeachment probe, and Walters leaned in harder.” For instance, Walters ramped up his campaign against teachers unions who he called a “terrorist organization.”

Walters also claimed that a “civil war” was being fought in our schools.

Rosin reported on how Walters gained a lot of attention “when he said teachers could cover the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, where white Tulsans slaughtered hundreds of Black people, but they should not, quote, ‘say that the skin color determined it.”” 

Then, “Walters accused the media of twisting his words. He said that “kids should never be made to feel bad or told they are inferior based on the color of their skin.”

Trump responded on Truth Social, “Great job by Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters on FoxNews [sic] last night. Strong, decisive, and knows his ‘stuff.’” And, “I LOVE OKLAHOMA!”

There was pushback when it was learned that “one of the few Bibles that met Walters’ criteria is the “God Bless the USA Bible.” It was “endorsed by Lee Greenwood and President Trump. It sells for $59.99.”

As the first part of the podcast came to an end, it reviewed Walters’ recent setbacks. 

The U.S. Supreme Court  stopped Oklahoma’s plan for  the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has paused the Bible plan. And the special test by Prager U. for teachers from California, New York, and other “woke” states, faces legal challenges.

And Walters was lambasted after sexually explicit images of naked women were seen on a screen inside his office.

Part two will give Walters a chance to tell his side of the story. Rosin previews his response by quoting him: “Yeah, they’re outrageous liars.”

Categories Accountability, Bigotry, Ethics, Extremism, Oklahoma, Religion, Separation of church and state, Union

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s Firebrand State Superintendent, Resigns

By dianeravitch
September 25, 2025 //
6

Ryan Walters announced that he was resigning his elected post as Superintendent of Schools in Oklahoma announced he is resigning. He plans to dedicate himself to fighting teachers’ unions.

Only two days ago, Walters told the local NPR station that he wanted every high school in the state to open a Turning Points USA chapter in its school.

The State Attorney General lambasted Walters.

Walters spent most of his energy promoting evangelical Christianity in the public schools. He wanted Bible-based lessons, the Ten Commandments in every classroom, and prayer in the schools. He was an outspoken MAGA guy and tried to insert doubts about the 2020 election in the social studies curriculum.

The final straw may have been the time recently when Walters conducted a meeting with members of the State Board of Education in his office and two attendees saw pornography on his television screen. Walters meanwhile had been ranting about pornography in school libraries.

Good riddance!

Categories Accountability, Disruption, Extremism, Oklahoma, Religion, Separation of church and state

John Thompson: Will Oklahoma Test Students on Their Knowledge of Christian Nationalism?

By dianeravitch
September 3, 2025 //
6

John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, follows the bizarre twists and turns of education policy in Oklahoma. Since the election of Ryan Walters, MAGA extremist as State Superintendent, the changes have been dizzying.

Thompson writes:

Following the lead of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced that the state will stop statewide standardized testing. Instead, school districts should benchmark assessments that they purchase from private vendors.

Walters did so without receiving the approval of the U.S. Education Department’s authority to choose testing vendors and assessment schedules. He also ordered the change without consulting with educators and school patrons. In other words, Oklahomans will not get to answer questions, such as:

Would they prefer state tests that hold schools accountable for Walters’ standards regarding American exceptionalism and Christianity?

Or would they prefer benchmark metrics about evidence that President Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, and more than 40 references to Christianity and the Bible?

Seriously, Republicans and Democrats both expressed skepticism in regard to Walters’ impossible order.  Even the Texas legislature is also divided between those who want to compare student outcomes to specific state standards, as opposed to comparing Texas students to those in other states through a norm-referenced test.

But Oklahomans need to discuss a more fundamental question:

Why in the world do we have state tests for accountability purposes? Is there any evidence that those tests have done more good than harm to teaching and learning?

During the first half of my career, educators remembered the damage done by 1980s teach-to-the-test. In the late 1990s, when State Superintendent Sandy Garrett and her science-driven team protected the autonomy of teachers, and in 1998 when percentage of Oklahoma 8th graders who were Basic or above, according to NAEP reading scores, was eight points higher than the nation’s, teachers were given an aligned-and-paced curriculum guide. However, my school’s principal had the autonomy to tell us that she knew we wouldn’t use it but asked us not to throw it away.  It could be valuable for new and/or struggling teachers. So, we were just asked to keep it on file in case a central office administrator, with a different view, dropped by our room.

Of course, the effort to get every teacher “on the same page” to improve standardized test scores was disastrous – resulting in skin-deep, in-one-ear-out-the-other instruction documented, in part, by the collapse of NAEP scores.

On the eve of No Child Left Behind, John Q. Easton warned the OKCPS that no school improvement was possible without first building a foundation of trusting relationships. Afterwards in the parking lot, our district’s great researchers agreed with Easton. But they correctly predicted that when NCLB forced us to replace Norm Reference tests (NRT), that couldn’t be taught to, with Criterion Referenced Tests (CRT) that could be taught to, that our data would be corrupted.

Accountability-driven, competition-driven Corporate School Reform was doubly destructive because misleading metrics became one of the weapons that helped drive excessive levels of school choice. It created schools like mine with intense concentrations of extreme, generational poverty and students who endured multiple traumas, known as ACEs.

And that gets to the next conversation that we need – is there any conceivable way that school grade cards could give accurate information on the quality of educators who committed themselves to the poorest children of color? Is there any way that the benefits they might provide to students in higher-performing schools could ever match the damage they do to students left behind in the highest-challenge schools?

Especially today, when immigrants are being terrorized and mental health challenges are increasing, and chronic absenteeism is surging during a time of budget cuts, who could deny that grading schools is, at best, a distraction?

For example, we need comprehensive and expensive team efforts to address chronic absenteeism. Was there any way that punishing schools for chronic absenteeism, as well as the effects of the increased stress students are experiencing, could be a solution? 

Getting back to the bipartisan conversation we need, teachers unions, numerous Democrats, Republicans, and education leaders have a long history of opposing high-stakes testing. And Senator Julia Kirt (D) explains:

“Absolutely we should have a conversation about what testing is appropriate and when, and we’ve been bringing up that conversation up for years. … But him doing it this way, I don’t think complies with state law, and it makes us all have to do a bunch of scrambling to figure out what’s happening.”

And as Republican candidate for State Superintendent Rob Miller says, when “testing becomes less about improvement and more about sorting and ranking schools. That’s not accountability, it’s a road to nowhere.”

Or, we could trust Ryan Walters’ road to Christian Nationalism …

Categories Oklahoma, Religion, Standardized Testing

Oklahoma Creating Test for Teachers from CA and NY to Screen Out “Radicals”

By dianeravitch
August 21, 2025 //
12

Ryan Walter, the firebrand MAGA Superintendent of Schools in Oklahoma, has hired PragerU, a rightwing organization, to develop a test specifically for teachers from California and New York. The test, now under development, is intended to identify teachers with views about gender and patriotism that are unacceptable in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma has a shortage of teachers and lower pay than either of the targeted states. I seriously doubt that teachers from California and New York are flooding in to Oklahoma.

The AP reported:

Oklahoma will require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam that the Republican-dominated state’s top education official says is designed to safeguard against “radical leftist ideology,” but which opponents decry as a “MAGA loyalty test.”

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s public schools superintendent, said Monday that any teacher coming from the two blue states will be required to pass an assessment exam administered by PragerU, an Oklahoma-based conservative nonprofit, before getting a state certification.

“As long as I am superintendent, Oklahoma classrooms will be safeguarded from the radical leftist ideology fostered in places like California and New York,” Walters said in a statement.

PragerU, short for Prager University, puts out short videos with a conservative perspective on politics and economics. It promotes itself as “focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media.”

Quinton Hitchcock, a spokesperson for the state’s education department, said the Prager test for teacher applicants has been finalized and will be rolling out “very soon.”

The state did not release the entire 50-question test to The Associated Press but did provide the first five questions, which include asking what the first three words of the U.S. Constitution are and why freedom of religion is “important to America’s identity.”

Prager didn’t immediately respond to a phone message or email seeking comment. But Marissa Streit, CEO of PragerU, told CNN that several questions on the assessment relate to “undoing the damage of gender ideology.”

Jonathan Zimmerman, who teaches history of education at the University of Pennsylvania, said Oklahoma’s contract with PragerU to test out-of-state would-be teachers “is a watershed moment.”

“Instead of Prager simply being a resource that you can draw in an optional way, Prager has become institutionalized as part of the state system,” he said. “There’s no other way to describe it.”

Zimmerman said the American Historical Association did a survey last year of 7th- to 12th-grade teachers and found that only a minority were relying on textbooks for day-to-day instruction. He said the upside to that is that most history books are “deadly boring.” But he said that means history teachers are relying on online resources, such as those from Prager.

“I think what we’re now seeing in Oklahoma is something different, which is actually empowering Prager as a kind of gatekeeper for future teachers,” Zimmerman said.

One of the nation’s largest teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers, has often been at odds with President Donald Trump ‘s administration and the crackdown on teacher autonomy in the classroom.

“This MAGA loyalty test will be yet another turnoff for teachers in a state already struggling with a huge shortage,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.

She was critical of Walters, who pushed for the state’s curriculum standards to be revised to include conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.

“His priority should be educating students, but instead, it’s getting Donald Trump and other MAGA politicians to notice him,” Weingarten said in a statement.

Tina Ellsworth, president of the nonprofit National Council for the Social Studies, also raised concerns that the test would prevent teachers from applying for jobs.

“State boards of education should stay true to the values and principles of the U.S. Constitution,” Ellsworth said. “Imposing an ideology test to become a teacher in our great democracy is antithetical to those principles.”

Categories Oklahoma, Stupid, Teacher Shortage, Trump

John Thompson: Immigrant Children in Oklahoma Live in Fear

By dianeravitch
August 8, 2025 //
4

John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, writes about the cloud of fear that has settled over the schools, as children of immigrant families fear harm to themselves and their families.

Teachers in other districts have reported that the children of immigrant families are not showing up for school. They are afraid that the masked gunmen of ICE might suddenly appear and take them away. School is no longer a safe space.

About John Thompson:

After growing up in Oklahoma City, John Thompson earned a doctorate in American history at Rutgers University and became an award-winning author. He worked as a researcher for the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and as a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood. Thompson is a former award-winning teacher at the former John Marshall High School and Centennial Mid-High School. Now retired, Thompson lives in Oklahoma City.

Thompson writes:

Oklahoma schools find themselves in a challenging position, suddenly caught in the middle of the Trump administration’s push to deport illegal immigrants.

Schools have found themselves at the forefront of immigration debates before, but this feels different.

They face so many more challenges ranging from the threat of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids to decreasing attendance rates as families choose to keep their children home to avoid the trauma associated with them. The Trump administration has withheld funding for school programs, including migrant education and services for English language learners. And State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ policies, such as trying to require schools to collect data on the immigration status of students, are further destabilizing our education system.

This isn’t the first time I’ve attended OK Justice Circle’s Breaking Bread panel and group discussions. This panel has met 14 times since 2020 in order to “increase community awareness of the lived experiences of racial and ethnic minorities in Oklahoma City area.”

The latest Breaking Bread topic, which focused on the harm state and federal policies are causing to our state’s Hispanic community, was the most emotional one I’ve ever attended during the last five years.

For instance, as a panelist was leaving for the conference, a student told her that she is studying the Holocaust and could see parallels forming between that horrific event that ultimately resulted in the deaths of 6 million Jewish people and the ramping up of our country’s immigration enforcement efforts.

An elected school board member, who represents a majority Hispanic district, reported receiving death threats.

Another urban district reported seeing an alarming surge in absenteeism.

I heard stories about how students now come to school every day with their birth certificates in their backpacks just in case ICE raids their schools. I can’t remember the last time a child had to prove they were an American citizen while in school.

These raise tough questions about what schools can do to protect the students they’re entrusted to serve.

Schools cannot politicize the issues they deal with, but they can help provide “wrap-around services” like increased access to food and or solutions to housing insecurity. They can also address the physical and mental health issues their students are experiencing. And, they can refer students to nonprofit and public agencies that have support structures.

But those solutions require trust in the law and the procedures that ICE agents are required to follow. It is really difficult to trust the immigration enforcement process right now.

The Trump administration held funding for English language services. I worry that federal leaders could one day try to take it even a step further by denying access to public school to undocumented children.

That would inflict incredible hardships on families and untold amounts damage on our state’s social and economic future.

Fortunately, Rep. Arturo Alonzo-Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City, gave me some reason for hope. Over 20 anti-immigration bills were introduced to the Legislature this year, but only one became law.

Only time will tell if the majority of Oklahomans can find the courage to push back on the policies that are causing immeasurable harm to our Hispanic neighbors.

I often find myself wondering, what would it say about Oklahomans and our integrity if we did not stand up and reject today’s cruelty?

Categories Bigotry, Cruelty, Democracy, Evil, Freedom to Learn, Oklahoma, Trump

John Thompson: Oklahoma’s Ryan Walters Protects Students from “Radical Leftist Ideology”

By dianeravitch
July 29, 2025 //
14

John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, writes about the latest effort to impose MAGA ideology on the students of Oklahoma by State Superintendent Ryan Walters. Walters is worried that Oklahoma might be flooded with teachers from “woke” states like California and New York, who would bring their “leftist ideology” with them. To guard against that possibility, he has hired PragerU to create a test for teachers to determine whether they have the correct patriotic ideology.

Mr. Walters has set himself up as the moral exemplar for the state. Meanwhile, as we learned in the last few days, Mr. Walters apparently watches porn on his office TV.

Thompson writes:

I’ve been wondering how recent events, like the attacks on Iranian nuclear plants, will be taught in History classes. Will state standards require teaching that President Trump was “right about everything,” and thus deserved the Nobel Peace Prize because he completely “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capacity?

Rules for how the Israel-Iran war should be taught were immediately issued by Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters. In a memo about teaching about the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, (which, confusingly, initially had the subject line of “Student Transfer Page Now Open”), Walters wrote, “There will be zero tolerance for a Liberal, pro-terrorist agenda indoctrinating Oklahoma students.”

The Oklahoman reported on Superintendent Walters’ demands:

“Oklahoma kids will be taught facts, not indoctrination,” reads the memo, issued via email on Tuesday, June 24. “That means presenting the history of Israel and their fight to rightly exist in the world, including the atrocities of the Holocaust and the current struggle with Iran, in a way that is historically grounded, intellectually honest, and free from antisemitic bias.”

Walters had been explicit in protecting public school students from the “indoctrination” higher education students supposedly received in terms of equivalency between Israel and Hamas. He thus made it clear that the K-12 curriculum would teach that Hamas is a terrorist organization.

Of course, Iranian and Hamas leaders are terrorists who I would never defend. But Walters has previously made it clear that a teachers’ union is a “terrorist group.”

It must be remembered when studying the historic differences between democracies and terrorists that Walters doesn’t believe that our system is perfect. After all, he snuck this into the state’s history standards:

Identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities and in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends. 

But, how will Walters make sure that “woke” teachers don’t defy his mandates?

The Oklahoman reported that a month before the school year will start, and despite the teacher shortage, most teachers have been hired, Walters says that a PragerU-backed assessment, will be completed and given to teachers from California and states with “progressive education policies.” And as KOSU reported, “Walters did not disclose which other states would apply to the mandate.”

But, “the assessment will test educators’ knowledge on the U.S. Constitution, American exceptionalism and the ‘fundamental biological differences between boys and girls.’”

Walters further explained, “’As long as I am superintendent, Oklahoma classrooms will be safe guarded [sic] from radical leftist ideology that California and New York have fostered.’” And, “’teacher’s [sic] who move from these states will not be receiving a teaching certificate unless they pass our new assessment.’”

Granted, Walters’ education mandates are completely unhinged, but at least his two recent orders show that he is thinking ahead, preparing for rapid historical and economic changes. After all, what would happen in Oklahoma schools, where teachers’ starting salaries are 45th in the nation, if they are flooded with California teachers whose average pay was $101,084, or $40,000 more that the Oklahoma average? If that were to happen, how could Oklahoma raise “a generation of patriots, not activists?”

Categories Curriculum, Oklahoma

Oklahoma: Board Members Shocked by Images of Nude Women on Ryan Walters’ Screen In Executive Session

By dianeravitch
July 28, 2025 //
15

Oklahoma’s Superintendent of Schools Ryan Walters continues to make news, usually for trying to inject the Bible and the Ten Commandments into every classroom.

But recently he made a different kind of news. As the state board was meeting with Walters in executive session, two members saw that the video screen behind Superintendent Walters was showing naked women. Not women in bathing suits: Naked women!

The video has been viewed more than 90,000 times. He was called out for his hypocrisy. Mr. Family Values!

Tres Savage and Sasha Ndisabiye wrote in NonDoc:

Two members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education were “shocked and mad” when they saw a video featuring “naked women” on the television screen in Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ office during the executive session portion of Thursday’s meeting.

While neither Becky Carson nor Ryan Deatherage could tell what video was displaying nude women on Walters’ office TV, each told NonDoc they were the only people seated in a position to see the screen. Deatherage said he noticed the video first while a parent was speaking about her appeal of a district transfer denial. As Deatherage weighed his options about how to bring the video to the room’s attention, Carson noticed the nudity.

“I was like, ‘What am I seeing?’ I kind of was in shock, honestly. I started to question whether I was actually seeing what I was seeing,” Carson said. “I was like, ‘Is that woman naked?’ And then I was like, ‘No, she’s got a body suit on.’ And it happened very quickly, I was like, ‘That is not a body suit.’ And I hate to even use these terms, but I said, ‘Those are her nipples.’ And then I was looking closer, and I got a full-body view, and I was like, ‘That is pubic hair.’ Even right now, I couldn’t even tell you what I was watching….”

The State Board of Education regularly reviews complaints made against teachers and school staff members that involve allegations of misconduct. With that in mind, Deatherage and Carson each said Thursday’s bizarre scenario demands some sort of action toward Walters.

“Besides the shock value and the disturbance of it all and how it affected me as a woman, I think it’s the double standard,” Carson said. “The accountability we are putting on teachers — and we should, I’m not saying we shouldn’t hold teachers accountable — but we’re looking at teachers sometimes with lesser offenses.”

Deatherage said he believes that any other educator who accidentally displayed a nude video at their workplace would face a complaint, investigation and possibly ramifications.

Nothing quite as stunning as a Bible-thumper caught in the act as a hypocrite.

Categories Disruption, Hypocrisy, Oklahoma
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