Hours after announcing he will resign to lead a nonprofit “battle tank” adversarial to teachers unions, Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters avoided the topic while chairing what could be his final meeting of the State Board of Education today, clashing one more time with other members and suggesting they run for the position or sue him during a debate over educators’ due process rights.
Walters quickly exited the room after Thursday’s roughly 80-minute meeting concluded. Oklahoma State Department of Education press secretary Madison Cercy said Walters would return to hold a press conference, but minutes later she said plans had changed.
“(If) you guys could all please collect your things and please exit the board room, that would be fantastic,” Cercy said, declining to answer questions about Walters resignation timeline.
Confusion over what will be Walters’ last day as superintendent and the details surrounding his exit have grown since he appeared for less than two minutes on Fox News late Wednesday night. His first day as CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance is set for Oct. 1, according to a press release from Freedom Foundation, which founded the new organization in March.
Media members were not the only individuals present at the meeting with unanswered questions and a lack of information.
Board member also left Thursday’s meeting with unanswered questions. Chris VanDenhende said he found out about Walters’ resignation when journalists began to reach him for comment Wednesday.
“I have no information other than what was on Fox News last night,” VanDenhende said.
Board member Becky Carson said she had not seen an official resignation letter or any comments from Walters, aside from his brief TV appearance. Rep. Dick Lowe (R-Amber) attended Thursday’s meeting and offered a similar assessment.
“We did not hear anything about resignation. We heard on TV last night and you know, it is not — it was not my resignation. So I do not probably have anything to say about anybody else’s resignation,” Lowe said. “I look forward to who the governor appoints. Look forward to working with them for the year.”
Across the aisle, Rep. Melissa Provenzano (D-Tulsa) made a public plea to teachers in the wake of Walters’ resignation.
“Teachers, stick with us. Stay. If you have left, please come back,” Provenzano said in a statement. “We need you, because Oklahoma kids deserve the best.”
With Walters’ departure looming, the board took no action on approving a formal Fiscal Year 2027 budget request for OSDE, an annual process often politicized owing to the non-binding nature of legislative requests. During the meeting, however, board members highlighted a lack of regular financial reports about the $4 billion budget the board currently oversees.
While a timeline is unclear, Gov. Kevin Stitt is poised to become Oklahoma’s first governor to appoint a state superintendent since 1988 when John Folks resigned and was succeeded by Gerald Hoeltzel. Walters is set to become only the sixth Oklahoma state superintendent to resign while in office.
Initial rumblings about potential candidates for the position included current Secretary of Education Nellie Sanders, former House Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore) and former Tri County Technology Center CEO Lindel Fields. Even if they resign, current legislators are ineligible for appointment to state office through the conclusion of the term for which they were elected.
“We will work with whoever is in that chair, or if the chair is not filled, we will continue,” VanDenhende said.
Board member Michael Tinney said the board’s influence on Stitt’s decision is limited, but he has confidence the governor will appoint somebody with his preferred characteristics.
“It is my desire, if this really happens, that we get a new state superintendent that genuinely cares for the students and the educators and that will work with the board, and that will be ethical and honest and work with the board (so) that we can get together and start moving this thing in the right direction,” Tinney said.
In a statement, Stitt wished the best for his former political ally, basketball partner and Cabinet secretary who ultimately became a thorn in his side in recent months. Even before he accused the governor of conspiring to “crucify my character” by placing images of nude women on his office TV, Walters irked Stitt with increasingly political priorities, prompting the governor to appoint three new members to the board in February: Ryan Deatherage — who was absent from Thursday’s meeting — Tinney and VanDenhende.
“Oklahoma students remain my top priority, and with my first appointment to this role, I will be seeking a leader who is fully focused on the job Oklahomans expect: delivering real outcomes and driving a turnaround in our education system,” Stitt said Thursday.
A final fight? Walters ‘unapologetic’ in due process debate
As the day’s relatively cordial meeting came to a close, Walters picked what could be his final public fight with board members after VanDenhende voiced frustration with a lack of teacher certification and disciplinary actions on recent meeting agendas.
“When I saw the agenda yesterday, I expected to see several items related to teacher certification — disciplinary actions — not on the list. So now we are two months with no actions on folks, and I find that troubling,” VanDenhende said.
Walters jumped on the opportunity to defend his role as a “protector of kids.”
“I am not prepared to move forward putting people who have endangered kids in the classroom back in there,” Walters said. “We’ve got people under investigation. At this time, we have nobody to bring forward under those matters. So we pulled teachers out of the classroom that have been inappropriate with kids. (I am) unapologetic about that.”
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VanDenhende said the board had already approved sending the cases of educators facing complaints to the appropriate entity within OSDE for guidance. Nonetheless, he said the board was not seeing action on those individuals and remained unaware of their status. Walters said OSDE staff members were reviewing files and examining each individual’s actions.
Reacting to a statement by VanDenhende that certifications and disciplinary actions are decisions for the whole board and not Walters alone, Walters suggested the board members should run for the statewide elected office themselves.
“If you guys want to run for state superintendent, go for it. But as long as I am here, it will be my decision of what is presented to the board, and that is the way we are going to do it. Again, you guys can sue me — do not really care. You guys can run for state superintendent, go out and get hundreds of thousands of votes across the state, represent parents and students and teachers. Good luck, go for it,” Walters said. “But as long as I am in this office, I will be unapologetic about protecting the kids of Oklahoma, fighting back on these teachers’ unions that blow up you all’s emails to try to dictate policy. Not going to happen, not going to do it. So I control the agenda, and it is not going on the agenda as long as I am here.”
Tinney lamented the fact that board members would be sued along with Walters if teachers’ due process rights are violated.
“What I am telling you right now is that I protect the kids of Oklahoma,” Walters said. “That is my No. 1 goal.”
