By Constitution Staff

On March 30, Governor Kevin Stitt, First Lady Sarah Stitt, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters hosted the Parent Power Rally at the Oklahoma State Capitol. They were accompanied by community and school leaders as well as hundreds of parents and students from across the state advocating for Education Freedom in Oklahoma.

“Right now, the future of our state’s education is in our hands. Are we going to keep funding systems or are we going to start funding students?” said Gov. Stitt. “We know that not every kid learns the same, and they deserve the option to choose a school that best fits their unique needs, regardless of their economic status or background.”

“Our children are our future and our greatest investment,” said First Lady Sarah Stitt. “Who a child is born to or where they live should not affect the quality of their education.”

“No one knows better for their children than Oklahoma parents,” said Superintendent Ryan Walters. “We will deliver power to parents like never before, and every family will have the right to comprehensive school choice.”

In last year’s elections, both Stitt and Walters were attacked by dark money ads for their support for Education Freedom, also called School Choice, or School Vouchers.

Gov. Stitt had appointed Walters as his Education Cabinet Secretary, and their Democratic opponents brought the Education Freedom issue front and center in the 2022 elections. Perhaps that could explain why they were the only two statewide Republican candidates shown to be behind in many pre-election polls. Both of their Democrat opponents were united in arguing that Education Freedom legislation would harm rural government schools. “We all know that [Stitt’s] voucher scheme is a rural school killer,” Joy Hofmeister said in the October 19, 2022 debate with Gov. Stitt. “If you kill the school, you kill the community.” Jena Nelson, running against Walters, also argued that voucher plans would hurt the rural government schools. “Vouchers are a way to defund public education and they are a rural school killer,” Nelson said. Television campaign commercials asserted that the plans supported by Stitt and Walters would destroy rural Oklahoma. More than any other factor, Education Freedom was the issue that some believed might take down both Stitt and Walters while other statewide Republicans would win in a landslide.

As it turned out, Education Freedom was not the wedge issue that would defeat Gov. Stitt for reelection or prevent the election of Walters. Hofmeister and Nelson each carried only three counties, and lost in 74 counties. Meanwhile, both Republicans carried nearly every rural county, receiving 60 percent or more of the vote in most of those counties. Gov. Stitt was easily reelected with 55.45% of the statewide vote. The teacher unions and other education establishment forces spent millions of dollars to prevent Walters from being elected to Oklahoma’s top education post. They opposed Walters in the Republican Primary, forcing him into the Republican Runoff Primary. But Walters won the GOP nomination and went on to prevail in the General Election with 56.78% of the statewide vote.

Upon taking office in January, Superintendent Walters, aided by appointments by Gov. Stitt to the State School Board, has moved to make good on the issues he promoted during the campaign. However, opposition to Walters and his plans continue.

A leading opponent of Walters is State Representative Mark McBride (R-Moore) who is the chairman of the House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Education. McBride was the beneficiary of significant campaign contributions from the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA), the state’s largest teacher union. McBride has a cumulative average of just 58 percent on the Oklahoma Conservative Index rating state legislators. The annual ratings are published by the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper in our Summer edition. McBride’s low conservative score places him among the RINO’s (Republicans In Name Only) in the Oklahoma Legislature. Referring to Walters, McBride is quoted as saying, “I want to put this gentleman in a box.”

In an attempt to dilute the power of the governor over the State Board of Education, Rep. McBride authored HB 2562. The bill would have increased the size of the board from 7 members to 11, authorizing the speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to appoint two members each. But, the bill died because it failed to get a vote on the House floor before the legislative deadline.

After Walters proposed a new rule that would allow the State Board of Education to lower a district’s accreditation if books deemed to be lewd or sexually graphic are placed on their school library shelves, McBride filed House Bill 2569 which would require legislative approval of new rules involving a school district’s accreditation requirements. Currently, rules governing accreditation can be submitted by the State Superintendent to the State School Board which can approve the rules. That bill also died due to failure to get a vote by the legislative deadline. Walters also proposed a rule required schools to inform parents of changes to the health or mental health of a student, including the use of different pronouns.

In addition to filing House Bill 2569, McBride also asked for an opinion of the Attorney General on the validity of the State School Board approving such rules. The new accreditation rules were adopted by the State School Board on March 23. But, on April 4, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued an opinion that the State Board of Education can only promulgate administrative rules in situations where they are instructed or authorized to do so by the Legislature, and not at the request of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Drummond was elected Attorney General last November as a Republican. But, he had not previously been active in the Republican Party and had contributed to Democrat candidates who ran against Sen. Jim Inhofe, Sen. Tom Coburn, and Congressman Jim Bridenstine. He also contributed to Joe Biden in August of 2020.

Responding to the AG ruling, Governor Stitt issued a statement on April 6 applauding Superintendent Walters for executing his duties at the State Department of Education and proposing amendments to the Oklahoma Administrative Code banning pornographic material from all public schools. “This is common sense,” said Governor Stitt. “Parents don’t want their tax dollars paying for pornographic material to be available to their kids’ in school. I urge my colleagues in the legislature to swiftly approve this rule and keep inappropriate, pornographic material out of our public schools.”

Stitt added: “I fully support Superintendent Walters and appreciate his tenacity to protect our students and stand with parents.”