The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently ruled that former state education head Ryan Walters’ attempt to force Christian Nationalist propaganda in public school social studies violated existing law.
What led to this ruling? Here’s the highlights.
Walters had resigned as state education head to be the CEO of Teacher Freedom Alliance, the right-wing group set on ‘destroying’ teacher unions. After his resignation letter his replacement, Lindel Fields found two big things Walters left that needed to go with prejudice.
One was the links he left on the state education website. There were links to Walters’ personal bio, like everyone who visited were there for him and him alone. There was also a link to the “Story of America” filled with misinformation and the Christian Nationalist BS version of American history. There was also links to the right-wing group PragerU and press releases that promoted Walters’ right-wing classroom beliefs and his attempts at punishing teachers for not bending to his demands.
The second was that when the attorney general ordered the state auditor to look at the department’s books during Walters’ tenure. It was found Walters withheld $150 million in public school funds to make security enhancements against school shootings, in direct defiance with legislation directing funds to the poorer rural schools. It was also found that he hid travel budget information and refused to spend money he was legally obligated to spend for things such as asthma inhalers.
All this to say, he was a very great guy.
This led to the Supreme Court invalidating the guidance Walters issued. This guidance said that K-12 lessons were to focus on the Bible’s influence in history, music, and other art and culture. It mandated all classrooms should have the physical copies of: the Bible, the Ten Commandments, the U.S. Constitution, and the Declaration of independence. He required future social studies texts needed to include the Bible and Christianity’s influence on the country’s founding, even though this is inaccurate and historical Christianity is mostly tied to violent colonizers, not indigenous people. He also insisted on spouting conspiracy about the legitimacy of the 2020 elections and an old theory that the COVID-19 pandemic began in a Chinese laboratory.
The required changes would have cost taxpayers $33 million.
Lawsuits were filed asking the Supreme Court to rule on whether Walters had violated any state rule making laws back in 2024. These laws require the Oklahoma State Board of Education provide public notice before voting on new curriculum standards. It was found Walters didn’t provide that notice to anyone, and it was also found that the publicly released standards were not what was implemented. The Supreme Court ruled he violated and thankfully all of his anti-LGBTQ+ classroom bans will never happen no matter what he tries with his whining to the media.
Photo courtesy of social media
