Stitt vs. Walters: A GOP bromance hits the skids. Maybe Oklahoma school children will win in the end
State Superintendent Ryan Walters' name plate and gavel sit on the meeting table of the Oklahoma State Board of Education on May 23 in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
Buckle up: The bromance between Kevin Stitt and Ryan Walters is over.
And, boy, do these guys know how to cause a scene.
This pair has seemingly been bosom buddies since the governor plucked the former McAlester history teacher out of political obscurity in 2020 by naming him to his cabinet as Oklahoma's secretary of education with a promise that Walters had the experience to move the 'needle in educational outcomes.'
From the outside, they appeared to be in lock step for years as Stitt, at least tacitly, supported Walters' stances on policy and propaganda as he spent taxpayer dollars to build his conservative cred.
But last week – seemingly out of nowhere – Stitt apparently decided he's finally had enough of Walters' shenanigans making a mockery of our public school system.
The fallout from Stitt's sudden, shocking and glorious display of leadership was spectacular to behold.
First, Stitt threw Walters under the metaphorical (school) bus and backed over him a couple of times to get his attention. He called out Oklahoma students' continued dismal national testing outcomes and months of unflattering – though unspecified – headlines. That's a clear sign, Stitt said, that 'our education infrastructure has fallen prey to needless political drama.'
In the same breath, Stitt canned three of his own appointees on the State Board of Education, which votes on Walters' proposals in its duty to keep the superintendent from getting out of line.
After years of implied consent to Walters' plans, it looks like what put Stitt over was compassion – plus a healthy fear of violating federal law. Walters' immigration witch hunt against undocumented children and their parents was a step too far.
'Let's go after the bad guys,' Stitt said. 'Let's go after people that are committing crimes, and let's not terrorize and make our kids not show up at school.'
Walters – not one to stay quiet – made it clear from his unenviable spot under the bus that he believes Stitt is a terrible driver.
And in his clapback came the name Republicans love or fear: Donald Trump.
The superintendent accused Stitt of 'joining the swampy political establishment that President Trump is fighting against.' He said the governor 'fired' the three board members for 'political purposes,' and that the move 'undermines Oklahoma kids and parents and an America First agenda.'
He quickly created some ridiculous 'Trump Advisory Committee' composed of two of the now-fired board members — Kendra Wesson and Katie Quebedeaux. Their booby prize is being tapped to lead 'the charge to take back our schools from the Federal Department of Education' and as Quebedeaux explained, ensure every 'Oklahoma child has a bright future and access to the quality education they deserve.'
The two have had their chance to give every child a quality education. And yet here we are. Bottom 10. Pardon me if I don't want any more education 'leadership' from them.
Not to belabor the point, but since Stitt didn't get specific on headlines, let me help you out. There have been so many.
There's the religious crusade to spend $3 million to put Bibles in school classrooms. Then there was an attempt to bamboozle parents and educators into thinking students were doing better academically by quietly lowering the proficiency benchmarks and not telling anyone.
When we're not grading our students on a curve, our outcomes are firmly Top 10 worst in the nation, exactly the opposite of what Stitt wants. His own State Board of Education appointees, meanwhile, continued to rubber stamp bizarre policies proposed by Walters and let him run amok.
And, if we've reached a point in Oklahoma where pressing for policies that ensure more children are literate in math and reading means we're part of 'the swampy political establishment,' I guess I'll take my chances, don my waders and hang out in the snake-filled quagmire with Stitt and Bigfoot.
Maybe Walters will pull his head out of the bog and decide to join us.
Republicans hold supermajorities in our Legislature and openly embrace Trump's 'America First' agenda. I haven't met a single Republican lawmaker that wants a generation of Oklahoma children to be illiterate.
Maybe they should get some clarity on how Trump can help with that.
Stitt, meanwhile, terms out in two years, so I suspect he's looking toward what he'll be remembered for.
Both his and Walters' legacies are linked because while Walters is elected to helm our schools, Stitt appoints the board that's supposed to make sure we're not crashing into the rocky shores.
We've officially shipwrecked, and we desperately need someone to rescue us and serve as a guiding light.
Right now one of Stitt's legacies is years of poor academic outcomes and an inability to land big business deals, likely in large part because of our education system.
And while Walters inherited this mess when he was first elected in 2022, he's had two years to right the ship. His current strategy is not moving the needle in the right direction.
We've yet to see if Stitt's new appointees will continue to rubber stamp Walters' plans or if they'll take a critical eye and shoot down bad ideas.
But the good news is if this new board refuses to do what's necessary to right the ship, it looks like our governor now has the spine to fire them and find someone who will.
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