John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, keeps close watch on state politics. He looks for rays of hope in a gerrymandered state.
He writes:
In Oklahoma, where rightwing MAGAs, led by Governor Kevin Stitt, State Superintendent Ryan Walters, and our most extreme state legislators, continue to double down on irrational and, above all, cruel agendas, it remains unclear whether Democrats and adult Republicans will be successful in pushing back. But there are still reasons for hope.
Although Walters remains the best known voice for absurdity, I still believe that Gov. Stitt’s agenda would be the most destructive – if he could get it done. For instance, the Oklahoma Supreme Court was as thoroughly corrupt as any in the nation – before we created an apolitical Judicial Nominating Commission. Stitt’s attempt to dissolve the commission failed. But dark money PACs tied to Stitt fueled a campaign to remove the three justices who were appointed by Democrats.
In the last month, Stitt said that “Oklahomans see that you need one neck to choke, and it’s usually the governor,” [so] “let the governor (…) put these people in place and then hold them accountable.” Clearly, he was implying that he, the outgoing governor, should appoint “most state-wide officials,” including the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. That would be the path back to our state’s corrupt oligarchy of my youth.
And, as the legislative session is about to open, the Oklahoma Voice recalls Gov. Stitt’s signing of “Oklahoma’s legislative darling.” The law has been “dubbed the ‘Women’s Bill of Rights.’” It “claims to champion fairness and safety for women” by setting “legal definitions for ‘male’ and ‘female,’ tying them firmly to biological sex assigned at birth.” The Voice further explains, “Oklahoma’s law isn’t just tone-deaf to this reality — it pours gasoline on the fire.” Then it reminds Stitt that the law will clearly undermine efforts to attract businesses to Oklahoma.
The 2025 legislative session also creates opportunities for extremists to show how brutal they can be, but it also provides opportunities to push back against the worst of the worst. In 2023, Republican Rep. Jim Olsen successfully opposed a bill that would “ban schools from physically punishing disabled children.” Olsen said, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son.” So the Bible “tells us that if you will not use the rod on a disobedient child, you do not love that child.”
Now, after an interim study, on the “effectiveness of properly administered corporal punishment,” there is reason to hope that Olsen will allow that simple, humane provision to become law.
But, Republican Sen. Lisa Standridge seems to have drawn from the political tactic of shipping immigrants to northern cities in order to deny the basic human rights of homeless persons in small town Oklahoma, as well as our two biggest cities. Sen. Standridge, “would prevent municipalities in all cities with a population under 300,000 from using city resources to operate homeless shelters or perform homeless outreach.” It would both outlaw smaller communities’ efforts to serve the unhoused, but provide an incentive for them to move to Oklahoma City and Tulsa, which are both facing homelessness crises. Oklahomans have condemned the proposed law as “cruel,” “heartless,” “horrible.” “disgusting,” “shameless,” and a continued attack on democracy.
And that brings us back to Ryan Walters, who has a long history of calling teachers unions “terrorist organizations.” He has received national headlines by calling classrooms “terrorist training camps.” He then linked teachers unions to the New Year’s terrorist attack in New Orleans. The Oklahoma Voice’s Janelle Stecklein pushed back, asking, “Does our state superintendent have a screw loose?”
Stecklein noted Walters’ use of taxpayer resources to bolster his national reputation. She then contrasted his behavior with the “Oklahoma Standard,” which was illuminated by our response to Timothy McVeigh’s 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. She also noted Walters’ campaign to stir up fear and hatred, comes at a time when there were 39 school shootings in 2024, in which 18 people were killed.
And most recently, Walters has filed a $474 million lawsuit claiming “The United States Departments of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Education, along with United States Border Patrol and Safety must be held accountable for their failure to properly secure the nation’s border.”
Perhaps the most noteworthy, recent evidence that Oklahomans are starting to reject rightwing MAGA-ism can be found in a recent poll in The Oklahoman, which graded Ryan Walters’ performances. After all, as The Oklahoman notes, “Legislative leaders acknowledge that they have few levers at their command to force Walters to change course,” leaving that to the voters.
More than 4,000 readers took part in the online poll conducted Jan. 6-10, which asked the question: What grade would you give School Supt. Ryan Walters for his job performance this year?
An overwhelming 95% of those who responded gave him an “F.”
Comments by the poll-takers were especially illustrative. Here are just a few examples:
“My out-of-state friends LOVE to poke fun at Oklahoma whenever they read news stories about Walter’s’ idiotic antics. Don’t think for a minute that this doesn’t hurt our state’s ability to attract and retain economic development prospects. If my out-of-state friends are aware of what is happening to our public school system, so are professional site locators.”
“Walters is what happens when people vote a straight party ticket … people’s children and grandchildren are paying the price of Ryan Walters and his lofty political ambition. He will literally do anything to get his name in the paper, online, and live media.
“Religious zealots should not be in charge of the public schools.”
“Walters is an unqualified incompetent under whose ‘leadership’ our children’s education has nosedived for the bottom. He’s also misused public funds for his own promotion and travel, for which he should be prosecuted. Not even addressing his unconstitutional mandates, he simply can’t or won’t do his job and needs to be removed from office.”
“Worst Oklahoma state superintendent of education ever. His rhetoric is damaging to public education.”
“I have never heard one kind word about public teachers come from this Ryan Walters’ mouth. He has never once given us any kind of encouragement. On the contrary, he insults us and makes false accusations. He accuses us of teaching hate. He has no idea that we not only teach our state standards, but we also teach a host of other things like kindness, citizenship, love of country, and just being good human beings.”
“Wasting our money on Bibles! I am religious, and spiritual, and Bibles can be found online. Also, he is a homophobe who is not interested in the rights of all, just the rights of some.”
And my favorite:
“Your grading scale didn’t go far enough. I would give Walters a ‘Z minus’ with the minus being an infinity’s worth. He is doing nothing but destroying Oklahoma schools.”
Due to gerrymandering, Republican extremists – and their funders – have obtained unchallengeable political power. But we may be approaching a point where voters will back away from straight party voting, and perhaps empowering Democrats and reasonable Republicans. After all, their new Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, says in regard to Ryan Walters that Republican leaders will “continue to continue to try to inspire him to do the things that need to be done to educate our kids.” But falling short of the courage we need, Paxton adds, “at the end of the day, it’s his decision on what he does.”
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