Two days after former Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters officially submitted his resignation, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Lindel Fields to lead the scuffling State Department of Education, announced four other changes in education positions he controls and called for a ballot question to make the state superintendent position appointed instead of elected.
After appointing four new members to the seven-member State Board of Education earlier this year to check Walters’ consistent politicization of education issues, Stitt announced replacements for members Zach Archer and Sarah Lepak. Stitt named Brian Bobek and Wes Nofire to the board, and he named Dan Hamlin as his Cabinet secretary of education, succeeding Nellie Sanders.
Stitt officially announced Fields’ appointment at a press conference held in Tulsa. A former CareerTech administrator and leadership consultant, Fields will finish the final year of Walter’s term, which runs until January 2027. Stitt said OSDE is in need of a “turnaround,” noting in a press release that for his seven years in office, “it has been clear that the operation of this agency and the well-being of Oklahoma’s students have taken a back seat to the political ambitions of the individual who holds [the position of state superintendent.]”
In his remarks Thursday, Stitt called for improvements in a state where education ranks 50th nationally, beginning with the state superintendent.
“Today is a new day for the Department of Education,” Stitt said. “This appointment is important not just because it marks a new leadership in the department, but because it also signifies this mindset shift that I am talking about. In Oklahoma, if we are going to be top 10 in everything that we do, we obviously need to be top 10 at education in our school system and prepare our students for the road ahead.”
Stitt also reiterated a request he has made before of the Oklahoma Legislature: abolish state superintendent elections and replace the position with a gubernatorial appointment. Making the state superintendent appointed instead of elected would require an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution, which could be proposed as a ballot question by the Legislature and voted on statewide.
“Before I became governor — and many of you are probably like this or maybe watch it on TV — when I was growing up in Oklahoma, I had no idea that the state superintendent of education was separately elected and kind of had their own political agenda,” Stitt said. “The reality is there has always been misalignment between the governor and the superintendent. At best, we had parallel agendas with very little coordination, and at worst, you might remember back in 2022, the previous superintendent switched parties and campaigned for governor while they were serving.”
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) issued a press release supporting Fields and an end to electing state superintendents.
“Superintendent Fields will bring a wealth of administrative and education experience to the Department of Education, and I look forward to working with him, Secretary of Education Dan Hamlin and their team as we seek to use data-driven research and measurable results to guide decision-making and strengthen education across our state for all students,” Hilbert said. “Additionally, I continue to support, as I always have, the governor’s push to make the state superintendent of public instruction being an appointed position. Education is one of the most important issues we tackle at the State Capitol, and having a single point of accountability to the public is critical to making real change in any system. Rep. Mike Osburn (R-Edmond) and I intend to file a resolution next legislative session asking the people of Oklahoma to consider this change.”
While Hilbert said he has “always” supported Stitt’s desire to make the state superintendent an appointed position, his office did not respond to requests for comment in December when the governor suggested making several statewide elected positions appointed in the wake of a sexual misconduct scandal involving Corporation Commissioner Todd Hiett.
Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle) also issued a press release praising the appointment, but he stopped short of endorsing Stitt’s electoral reform.
“Lindel Fields has dedicated his life to education, workforce development and ensuring Oklahomans have the skills they need to succeed,” Paxton said. “His proven record of leadership and innovation in CareerTech will bring valuable experience and vision to the role of state superintendent. I am confident he will serve our students, teachers and families with distinction.”
Fields struck a noticeably different tone than his predecessor in his inaugural speech by praising teachers throughout the state.
“Today is about steadying the ship,” Fields said. “That’s why our new mantra is, ‘If you’re not taking care of the students, take care of someone who is.’ So today I want to start by thanking those who are most important: our teachers. To every teacher in Oklahoma, you are the heartbeat of this work. To the principals that lead schools each day, thank you.”
Fields spent nearly 12 years as superintendent of Tri County Tech in Bartlesville and founded Your Culture Coach, a leadership consulting firm that aims to help leaders create stronger workplace cultures. During his time at Tri County Tech, Fields’ leadership resulted in national accolades. In 2018, Tri County Tech was one of five recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which recognizes “exemplary practices among American organizations, and businesses including an unceasing drive for radical innovation, thoughtful leadership and organizational improvement,” according to a press release by the school. In 2021, Tri County Tech finished No. 7 of 100 on Fortune’s best small workplaces ranking, and Fields received the Balridge Foundation Leadership Award as well as the Francis Tuttle Career Excellence Award.
During the 2022 election cycle, Fields donated $1,000 to Walters and $1,500 to Stitt, according to OpenSecrets. But Fields seems to have bipartisan supporters. Following a Tulsa World report that Fields, who is from Tulsa, would be appointed state superintendent, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols congratulated him in a post on Twitter.
“Lindel is an excellent choice to lead SDE. He has the temperament, the experience and the commitment to young people that has been sorely missing,” Nichols wrote.
While Fields will lead OSDE for the next year, who will succeed him is up to voters in 2026. Currently, two Democrats — Craig McVay, a former El Reno Public Schools superintendent, and Jennettie Marshall, a former Tulsa Public Schools board member — have entered the race, setting up a somewhat rare statewide Democratic primary.
On the other side of the aisle, several Republicans have announced their candidacy. Sen. Adam Pugh (R-Edmond), who has chaired the Senate Education Committee in recent years, announced his candidacy Thursday morning. Others who have been campaigning for the Republican nomination include Peggs Public School Superintendent John Cox, Tahlequah resident Ana Davine Landsaw and former Bixby Public Schools Superintendent Rob Miller, who publicly beefed with and sued Walters for slander and defamation.
Former Tulsa Public Schools board member Jerry Griffin has also announced his candidacy as an independent.
Fields said he would not seek election in 2026.
Stitt appoints several new state officials
As Stitt announced Fields’ appointment, he also touted the creation of a “turnaround team.” Hamlin, the new Cabinet secretary for education, was named to the team along with his predecessor, Sanders. A press release characterized the “team” as “a group of high-caliber Oklahomans with special experience in education and organizational leadership to assist in the implementation of a new future for the Department of Education.”
Others members included:
- Connie Reilly, the director of the Oklahoma Education Quality and Accountability office;
- Megan Oftedal;
- Kristin Stephens;
- Tara Thompson; and
- Tom Newell, Stitt’s former chief of staff.
“I am so grateful for the team of people that said, ‘Yes,'” Stitt said. “They are going to make this turnaround a reality, and they are going to help Lindel.”
According to Hamlin’s curriculum vitae, he is a presidential professor at the University of Oklahoma, founding director of the Oklahoma Center for Education Policy and a research affiliate with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Program on Education Policy and Governance. According to his OU bio, Hamlin’s research interests include school climate, parental involvement, student safety and school choice.
With Bobek and Nofire joining the Oklahoma State Board of Education, the body will have a completely new lineup compared to January of this year. Stitt put Ryan Deatherage, Michael Tinney and Chris VanDenhende on the board in February and added Becky Carson in April. All four previous appointees found themselves publicly at odds with Walters at least once throughout their overlapping tenures.
Bobek, a mainstay of Stitt’s administration, will rejoin OSBE after serving as director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He previously served on the State Board of Education for Stitt from 2019 to 2023. Bobek was one of the three members of the Statewide Charter School Board who voted to approve St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. In May, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision to block the school’s creation. During the 2022 election cycle, Bobek donated $4,000 total to Ryan Walters’ campaign and $500 to Stitt, according to OpenSecrets.
Nofire currently serves as the state’s Native American liaison, an appointment that sparked controversy when Stitt announced the move in 2023. Several months before his appointment, Nofire accused Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. of child trafficking in a Facebook post. Hoskin described Nofire as a promoter of “bizarre, unhinged conspiracy theories,” according to KTUL. Now, the retired boxer who fought under the name “The Cherokee Warrior” and unsuccessfully ran for Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District in 2022 will join the State Board of Education.
Another longtime Stitt administration member, Ellen Buettner, whom he appointed to lead the Oklahoma Health Care Authority in 2023, is also taking on an education-based leadership position. She will now be CEO of the Regional University System of Oklahoma, succeeding Brandon Tatum.
Outside of the education realm, Stitt appointed Benjamin Lepak, his general counsel, as Oklahoma’s interim secretary of state Wednesday. Stitt had previously attempted to appoint longtime aide Donelle Harder to be secretary of state, but she fell shy of a 10-year state voter registration requirement in the Oklahoma Constitution. Instead, Harder posted on Facebook that she will become Stitt’s latest chief of staff.
Drummond requests ‘investigative audit’ of Walters’ tenure
After announcing his resignation in a brief Fox News appearance Sept. 24, Walters submitted his resignation letter Tuesday, clearing the way for his new role as CEO of Teacher Freedom Alliance, a membership-based Texas-based nonprofit founded by the Freedom Foundation. The new organization aims to battle teacher unions, a cause Walters championed as superintendent.
Questions swirled about the timing of Walters’ resignation until Tuesday afternoon, when he submitted his resignation letter to Stitt, Paxton and Hilbert. In his letter, Walters said he raised expectations in the classroom while defending Oklahoma values against agendas that distracted from learning. During his tenure, Walters made over 400 national media appearances, according to FOX 25, and was a named defendant in dozens of lawsuits, but he failed to help fulfill Stitt’s promise to raise Oklahoma’s education system to the top ten in the nation.
“While I am leaving this office today, I am not leaving the fight,” Walters said. “The challenges before us remain significant, but the opportunities are even greater. My commitment to serve this state and its people is as strong as ever, and I will continue to seek ways to advance the principles of freedom, accountability and excellence in the days ahead.”
Walters took a harsher tone — and a more familiar refrain — Wednesday on stage at an OCPAC Foundation event in Oklahoma City.
“Let’s talk about the fake news media. We’ve got some in the room here with us today. Guys, they hate you. They hate you,” Walters said. “They lie to you. They gaslight you. There’s a reason why Oklahoma has now become a national model for education reform. There’s a reason why over two dozen states are introducing initiatives to bring the Bible back to the classroom, to bring history standards back to American exceptionalism.”
Walters was followed on the OCPAC stage by former Secretary of Public Safety Chip Keating, who announced his 2026 gubernatorial bid and said “Oklahoma’s education system has fallen behind every other state” while Walters sat a few tables away. Hours later, leading gubernatorial candidate and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced his request for an “investigative audit” of the State Department of Education in the wake of Walters’ leadership.
In the press release announcing the audit, Drummond referenced Walters’ previous “history of mismanaging tax dollars” when it was revealed some families had used education grants dispersed during the COVID-19 pandemic to purchase non-educational items like gaming consoles, televisions and Christmas trees.
State Auditor & Inspector Cindy Byrd responded to Drummond’s press release by saying she had not received a formal request from his office, only to reexamine her email later and find it. Byrd’s office has been working on an overall audit of OSDE — the first in the agency’s history — since Stitt requested it in September 2021. Drummond and Byrd, who is running for lieutenant governor in 2026, have previously beefed over the timeline for completing Drummond’s requested audit of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.
(Update: This article was updated at 9:50 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3, to include additional information about the secretary of state position.)
