Opinion: Ryan Walters' agenda is actively harming Oklahoma's students
This school year will mark my first not spent in an Oklahoma classroom in some capacity in decades. Oklahoma public schools molded me into the person I am today and provided me a safe place to grow as both a student and a teacher.
This summer, I left Oklahoma because Ryan Walters' agenda to turn the state's schools into a political playground no longer serves the values I hold dear as an educator. I needed to leave so I could speak out against this danger without fear of losing my job daily for teaching a true, unabridged history of this nation and supporting students regardless of their background.
I hope that my words can spur Oklahomans to reject the threatening scheme that the state schools superintendent brings to public education. Walters is dangerous to public education in Oklahoma, and everywhere. He doesn't uphold the Oklahoma Standard of acting with kindness and honor. Additionally, his policies are dividing Oklahomans and distracting from the vision of the Oklahoma State Department of Education to provide "all Oklahoma students … a high-quality education."
Within the oath taken by the superintendent, Walters vowed to "support, obey, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma," but his actions suggest otherwise. He is blatantly disregarding the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment that establishes the notion of separation of church and state, and allows the people to freely exercise whichever religion they so choose.
Walters would like to turn Oklahoma's classrooms into churches where the Bible and Ten Commandments are required curriculum, in spite of the thousands of Oklahomans who are not Christian. He is bringing individuals outside of the state into Oklahoma's curriculum, despite enthusiastically supporting these same academic standards in 2019. Walters is merely imposing his own personal beliefs onto public education to seek higher political office.
In addition to overtly overlooking constitutional principles, Walters' agenda is actively harming Oklahoma's students. Our students will surely fall behind due to his extreme mismanagement of the department's resources, not to mention his positions that put our at-risk student populations in danger. Queer students are collateral damage in Walters' march for national recognition. He riles up his supporters by claiming that schools are embracing gender ideology and campaigned on "protecting women's sports" making transgender students into a type of specter in Oklahoma schools. His rhetoric clearly alienates students who are already four times more likely to take their own lives. Walters said he would keep politics out of the classroom, but it seems as though he has played into the culture wars and twisted the narrative to demonize public schools.
Ryan Walters, you were elected to ensure that all Oklahoma students receive the education they deserve. Take the culture wars out of the classroom and focus on addressing the real issues impacting public education in the state: funding, access to technology and the mental health crisis.
Oklahoma schools are not failing. The Oklahoma State Department of Education is failing Oklahoma's children. Ryan Walters, do your job and protect all of Oklahoma's students, not just the children of those who voted for you.
[Alona Whitebird Medina / The Oklahoman]
