State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced the end of traditional state testing earlier this month — but state legislators and U.S. Department of Education officials have suggested he jumped the gun on celebrating the proposal.
But StateImpact‘s Beth Wallis reported that an unnamed USDE official said the process of overhauling state testing in Oklahoma is “nowhere near” complete, a claim seemingly supported by U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon’s remarks while touring a charter school in the state this week. The planned testing reduction ruckus marks the latest clock tick in a tumultuous time for the state superintendent, who was rebuffed in his recent attempt to hire a criminal defense attorney with state funds and who saw a federal judge dismiss his lawsuit against the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation.
In other education news, Glencoe Public Schools and the families of four students are suing the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association because it denied four boys eligibility to play basketball in the 2025-2026 school year after they transferred districts. Gov. Kevin Stitt has weighed in on the matter, calling OSSAA’s decision “a disappointment.”
Read about all of that and more — including several legal updates from around the state — in this roundup.
Walters says traditional end-of-year state assessments axed, feds say wait and see
Calling it a win in the fight to bring “power back to the states,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced the end of state- and federally-mandated end-of-year testing. The generally popular concept, however, faces bureaucratic hurdles.
“I know there’s been some remarks about this being a done deal,” StateImpact reported an anonymous U.S. Department of Education official as saying Aug. 14. “That is nowhere near where we are right now.”
On Aug. 4, Walters announced the end of “statewide traditional summative testing” by press release. It said OSDE surveyed nearly 23,000 parents, with 81 percent of respondents believing state testing is not necessary for evaluating student learning.
“The teachers-union-approach is failing our kids,” Walters said in the release. “By moving away from outdated state tests and empowering local districts, we’re reducing the burden on students, parents and teachers while ensuring high-quality education that is no longer driven by bureaucrats or outside groups.”
In terms of federal testing, Walters asserted USDE will allow Oklahoma school districts to use approved benchmark assessments in place of current end-of-year tests for grades three through eight in math and English language arts. He said the change would begin during the 2025-2026 academic year, which started across Oklahoma this month.
But whether the federal government will grant OSDE approval of Walters’ request apparently remains to be seen.
“The waiver has not gone through all the different steps that it needs to, but I can tell you that we are very happy to sit down with any state,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a recent visit to Oklahoma. “We want to give them the most flexibility we can, that we can give them to operate within their state.”
StateImpact reported that Oklahoma State Department of Education staff reached out to USDE on Aug. 1 for feedback about Walters’ proposed policy, but before the federal officials could respond, OSDE staff reportedly posted the policy for public comment on Aug. 8.
Although state assessments are mandated federally through the Every Student Succeeds Act, Walters would also need permission from Oklahoma lawmakers to overturn state law requiring state tests. In an Aug. 8 statement, House Common Education Committee Chairman Dell Kerbs (R-Shawnee) reminded Oklahomans that the Legislature controls state statute, and to a great extent, even administrative rules.
“End-of-year state assessments are mandated by both state and federal law. The Legislature has consistently worked to make student testing more efficient and meaningful for students, parents, and teachers,” Kerbs said. “We look forward to continued collaboration with Superintendent Walters and school districts so that any proposed changes to student testing align with state law and provides clear, actionable information on student college and career readiness.”
Edmond Johnson, last fluent Caddo speaker, dies
The Caddo Nation mourned the loss of the last fluent Caddo language speaker last month and closed all government offices for the funeral of Edmond Johnson, a former staff sergeant with the 82nd Airborne Divison of the U.S. Army. The Caddo language is classified as “critically endangered,” meaning the “youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently,” according to UNESCO’s classifications.
A short obituary offered words of advice from Johnson for younger Caddos.
“I hope they would respect their elders. Always be courteous and kind. Offer help even when not being asked,” Johnson said. “Listen to the elders. Don’t talk back. Respect them. Always help when you can.”
Oklahoma is home to several Indigenous languages at risk of language extinction, or having no living speakers, leading several tribes to invest into language revitalization programs. While Johnson’s death marks a critical point in Caddo language revitalization efforts, the nation is still investing in preserving and teaching Caddo.
Caddo citizens interested in learning their ancestral language can contact the nation’s language director, Alaina Tahlate, to “join the Caddo language program’s email list” and gain access to “video recordings and language learning resources from previous classes.” The Caddo Nation’s language preservation efforts also include “free professional digitization services to anyone who has Caddo language songs/language documents and recordings,” and it promises “free unlimited physical copies of your media to share with your family,” according to Yo Hasinai!, the tribe’s newspaper.
‘This matter is now closed’: AG declines charges in Wagoner grand jury petition investigation
Attorney General Gentner Drummond declined to file charges after reviewing the “investigative file” into grand jury petitioners created by the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office, declaring the matter closed in an Aug. 11 letter to District Attorney Jack Thorp.
“Prosecutors within the Criminal Justice Division of the Attorney General’s Office thoroughly reviewed the investigative file. Based upon the review, coupled with the information received from the election board, I have determined that further investigation is not warranted,” Drummond wrote. “This matter is now closed.”
Earlier this year, Wagoner County Citizens Against Corruption, an LLC registered to a Broken Arrow accountant named Brent Watson, filed a grand jury petition against Thorp and Sheriff Chris Elliott seeking to charge the pair for incidents involving the county jail.
Both Thorp and Elliott denied the allegations in the petition, with Thorp also threatening to bring a libel suit against the petition’s authors.
The petition failed to gather enough signatures within the allotted time, and it was denied. About a month later, Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Danny Elliott — who is of no familial relation to Chris Elliott — obtained a search warrant and seized copies of the grand jury petitions, including unredacted signature pages of voters who wanted the sheriff criminally charged.
After KJRH reported on the search warrant, Danny Elliott insisted “the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office is not conducting investigations related to the petition,” a claim that appears incompatible with the existence of the investigative file referred to in Drummond’s letter.
Rep. Gabe Woolley (R-Broken Arrow), a vocal critic of both Chris Elliott and Thorp whose mother was cited in the grand jury petition, thanked Drummond for closing the investigation before quoting Joshua 1:9.
“I want to thank the AG and his office for helping us address this concern on behalf of my constituents and Wagoner County,” Woolley said in a Twitter post. “Thank you to the courageous citizens of Wagoner County for your efforts.”
Billing fraud: Psychiatrist settles civil case, LPC pleads guilty
Although Dr. Richard Zielinski, a psychiatrist with practices in Yukon and Watonga, has signed a settlement agreement with Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and has agreed to pay $173,143 to resolve a civil action alleging a pattern of fraudulent Medicaid claims, it is unclear whether the long-scrutinized physician will face criminal prosecution for the “scheme.”
Executed in late July, the settlement agreement resolves the civil case filed against Zielinski by Drummond in December 2024, but it specifies that the state of Oklahoma “does not release” Zielinski from “any criminal liability.”
“I take very seriously all allegations of false claims and will always work to hold fraudsters accountable to the law,” Drummond said in an Aug. 12 press release about the civil settlement.
Asked whether Drummond considers Zielinski’s alleged Medicaid fraud to be criminal conduct, a spokesman said the AG’s office had no comment.
In its December 2024 petition for the civil case, Drummond’s office outlined the “fraudulent upcoding scheme” alleged against Zielinski and his company, Richard Zielinski M.D., PLLC. The petition said Zielinski saw “approximately 40-50 patients every day” from at least Jan. 1, 2019, through June 30, 2021.
“Dr. Zielinski’s practice was primarily devoted to medication management for behavioral health patients,” the petition stated. “Prior to Jan. 1, 2019, Dr. Zielinski devised a plan to obtain higher reimbursements from the [Oklahoma Health Care Authority] by upcoding office billing (…) This resulted in the submission of claims to the OHCA for reimbursement using CPT codes for office visits that knowingly exceeded the level of services rendered.”
Drummond’s office alleged that “Dr. Zielinski also ceased documenting the services rendered and completing progress notes.”
“In fact, for the period of May 2020 through February 2021, Dr. Zielinski and the company did not create, or cause to be created, a single progress note in the company’s electronic medical record system,” the petition stated. “Dr. Zielinski instructed his agents and employees to submit claims to the OHCA for reimbursement using CPT codes for office visits that Dr. Zielinski knew exceeded the level of services rendered. [He] also instructed his agents and employees to submit claims (…) that he knew were not eligible for reimbursement because there were no authenticated medical records relating to that service.”
As an example, Drummond’s petition highlighted a Medicaid beneficiary with the initials J.M. who received ADHD management services from Zielinski between 2014 and 2020. But Zielinski stopped taking notes about the patient in his office’s electronic medical record in December 2015 even though he continued to bill OHCA for providing services.
“When the OHCA notified the company in June 2021 of its intent to audit the company’s records, there were no medical records, let alone authenticated medical records, in the company’s EMR system documenting the services provided to J.M.,” the petition stated. “On July 5, 2021, 17 progress notes were created for J.M. in less than eight minutes.”
Zielinski’s name has been in the news before. He was placed on probation by the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision in 1993 and again in 1999. That probation concluded in 2009, but both licensure actions were noted as substance abuse-related in a 2010 article from Randy Ellis of The Oklahoman that highlighted Zielinski as the state’s top Medicaid prescriber of the anti-psychotic medication Abilify.
Meanwhile, licensed professional counselor Natasha Allmon was charged Aug. 1 in federal court with health care fraud for submitting “approximately $ 1.4 million in claims for services purportedly provided to her family members,” for which Blue Cross Blue Shield paid about $1.1 million.
“Allmon routinely claimed to have provided 60-minute psychiatric treatment (billed under CPT code 90837) to family members nearly every day of a calendar year,” Assistant U.S. Attorney D.H. Dilbeck wrote in the filing. “Allmon also routinely claimed to have treated beneficiaries (billed under CPT Code 90837) for more than 24 hours in a single day. For example, for July 21,2023, Allmon submitted claims to BCBS in which she purported to have treated nine beneficiaries-all family members-for a total of 36 hours in a single day.”
Allmon pleaded guilty Aug. 15 and faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Federal judge dismisses Walters’ lawsuit against Freedom From Religion Foundation
On Aug. 13, U.S. District Judge John Heil III dismissed a lawsuit from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education against the Wisconsin-based nonprofit Freedom From Religion Foundation. Walters had alleged that the nonprofit made a “blatant attack on the religious freedoms (…) of Oklahoma students,” particularly Christian students, by sending two separate cease-and-desist letters to two Oklahoma public school superintendents over a seven-year period..
“We are pleased that this frivolous lawsuit by Walters was promptly dismissed,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor in an Aug. 14 press release. “FFRF will continue to work to protect the constitutional rights of students and families in Oklahoma.”
The most recent letter was sent to Achille Public Schools Superintendent Rick Beene in December after reports from concerned parents about religious instruction at the small southeast Oklahoma district. FFRF demanded the district’s schools immediately stop teaching Bible lessons and allegedly coercing students to observe or participate in school-sponsored prayer.
In a March 31 press release, Walters said he “won’t stand idly by while atheists try to erase faith” as the reason for the lawsuit.
Following Walters’ complaint that FFRF’s advocacy letters were impeding OSDE from completing their respective duties through the organization’s “continued interference of day-to-day operations,” FFRF filed a May 15 motion to dismiss, arguing:
- A lack of standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution;
- Failure to demonstrate subject matter jurisdiction;
- Filing a frivolous lawsuit targeting First Amendment protected expression pursuant to the Oklahoma Citizens Participation Act; and
- Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted as required by federal law.
Heil sided with FFRF, asserting the plaintiffs’ lawsuit lacked injury, standing and proper jurisdiction.
“How do defendant’s letters interfere with plaintiffs’ authority or ability to administer Oklahoma’s public schools?” Heil asked. “In what way are plaintiffs precluded from administering Oklahoma’s public schools because of defendant’s letters? What have plaintiffs intended to do, but have been unable to, because of defendant’s letters? The complaint does not answer these questions. Plaintiffs have not alleged that they have suffered some actual or threatened injury. Plaintiffs’ generalized statement of injury is nothing more than conjecture.”
Heil also pointed out that in Walters’ complaint, he conceded that if a public school district is accused of violating constitutional rights, it is within OSDE’s jurisdiction and responsibilities to take the proper procedures and address those accusations. However, Walters’ claims that using valuable time and resources to address those letters is a subsequent cause for injury, despite the process being a part of OSDE’s usual duties.
“Plaintiffs cannot be both performing their duties by addressing the letters and impeded from performing their duties by addressing the letters,” Heil wrote.
OSSAA sued over eligibility ruling, legislators promise action
The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association is facing a lawsuit filed in Payne County District Court by Glencoe Public Schools, a coach and four families after the quasi-government organization denied granting four students basketball eligibility when they transferred to the district.
At its Aug. 13 meeting, the OSSAA Board of Directors voted 12-0 to reject an appeal to a ruling that denied four boys eligibility to play in the 2025-2026 season. OSSAA cited Rule 24, or the “Linked Rule,” which aims to prevent students from transferring to a school to follow a coach. Glencoe basketball coach Garrett Schubert coached the three of the students at a team camp before they enrolled at the school, according to the lawsuit petition.
Schubert, a first year coach at Glencoe, said in a press release that the ruling sends the wrong message and that the OSSAA has not proven the reasons why the students were denied eligibility. Glencoe Superintendent Jay Reeves agreed.
“Families are told they have the freedom to choose the best school for their kids — academically and athletically — but this decision sends the message that your choice can be taken away by an unelected body that changes the rules at will,” Reeves said in the release. “That’s not school choice. That’s a barrier to opportunity. We played by their rules, followed their instructions and still our kids are being punished. This isn’t just about basketball — it’s about trust in the system. And right now, OSSAA has shattered that trust.”
Republican legislators are showing support for the students. In the press release, Sen. Avery Frix (R-Muskogee) said the ruling highlights the need for legislative oversight. An attorney who has represented families against OSSAA before, Rep. Chris Kannady (R-OKC) echoed similar concerns. The denial is an example of “OSSAA weaponizing vague rules to hurt kids instead of serving them,” Kannady said.
In a statement, Gov. Kevin Stitt urged the OSSAA to reconsider its position.
“When I fought for open transfer, it was to ensure that every student in Oklahoma had equal opportunity to succeed. For many students, athletics are an essential part of a well-rounded education. It is disappointing that OSSAA would continue to perpetuate a system that bars students the opportunity to compete — especially when many students rely on the opportunity athletics provides to pursue higher education,” Stitt said.
Rep. Ty Burns (R-Pawnee) filed legislation in 2022 that would have allowed most students transferring districts during the summer to maintain eligibility in activities at their new school, but the proposal did not pass. In his own press release, Burns suggested the long-controversial OSSAA should be replaced.
“We should be empowering kids rather than sacrificing them. The only way forward is to abolish this broken system and replace it with one that puts students and families first.”
OSSAA executive director David Jackson said he could not comment due to the litigation.
Hearing set for Muscogee Nation lawsuit against Tulsa County DA
Federal District Judge Gregory Frizzell set Thursday, Oct. 9, as the date for a hearing on the Muscogee Nation’s motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler from prosecuting tribal citizens in Tulsa County District Court. Since the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals decision in O’Brien v. City of Tulsa, Kunzweiler has argued his office has jurisdiction to prosecute Indians who are not a member of the tribal nation whose reservation they are within — also known as non-member Indians.
In February, the Muscogee Nation filed suit against Tulsa County, its Board of Commissioners, Sheriff Vic Regalado and Kunzweiler, arguing the parties’ prosecution of tribal citizens violated the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, which functionally affirmed eastern Oklahoma as a series of Indian Country reservations. (Every party except Kunzweiler has since been dismissed from the suit.)
The lawsuit is extremely similar to other litigation filed by the Muscogee Nation against the cities of Henryetta and Tulsa, and it makes similar claims as a pair of lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against District Attorneys Matt Ballard and Carol Iski.
While the City of Tulsa is awaiting court approval of its settlement agreement with the Muscogee Nation, Ballard and Iski are negotiating with the DOJ to settle their suits. The cases against Kunzweiler and Henryetta are ongoing and active.
Court of Civil Appeals rules on mahr, Islamic marriage custom
The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals released a published opinion that appears to be the first time an Oklahoma court has been asked to interpret the legal effect of a mahr — a religious custom in Islam often written into marriage contracts that requires a husband to provide his bride with a gift, usually money or property.
In the opinion, Alchami v. Alchami, the three-judge appellate panel found that a written mahr could be enforced in Oklahoma’s courts and function as a prenuptial agreement, but only if the language — which may require translation — is unambiguous. The language in the Alchamis’ mahr was not specific enough for the court to support the husband’s interpretation.
“This court holds parties to a mahr may contract away their traditional marriage rights; however they must do so in a way that comports with Oklahoma law,” Judge Robert Bell wrote. “Thus, this court holds the purported prenuptial agreement’s plain language must unambiguously express a spousal waiver of an equitable distribution of martial property and support alimony. In the instant case, the mahr agreement’s plain language does not unambiguously express wife’s desire to waive an equitable distribution of marital property or support alimony.”
The case involved a couple who married in Syria in 1990 and filed for a divorce in 2021. When the couple married, the husband agreed in the “Syrian marriage contract” to give his wife a mahr of 440,000 Syrian Liras, which court records indicate he did. When his wife filed for divorce, the husband argued the mahr was a prenuptial agreement which barred his wife from receiving alimony or her share of their property.
Tulsa County Special Judge April Seibert disagreed and found the mahr “failed to comply with the requirements of a valid and enforceable prenuptial agreement.” The husband appealed, asking the court to find the mahr in the marriage contract “qualified as a valid and enforceable prenuptial agreement.”
The appellate court’s holding appears to treat mahr as part of the marriage contract and encourages Oklahoma courts to interpret such an agreement’s language under Oklahoma law.
(Correction: This article was updated at 2:55 p.m. Monday, Aug. 25, to correct reference to the procedural nature of the Court of Civil Appeals opinion discussed above.)
