OK GOP State Senator, Essentially: Ryan Walters’ Mandates Were Performative Bullshit

from the and-scene dept

As we discussed last week, Ryan Walters resigned from his position as the state Superintendent of Oklahoma and the mood across the state was sad and sour as a result.

Okay, while it’s very funny that Oklahoma businesses hosted celebration parties for Walters’ resignation while I can’t even hazard a guess at who my own state’s Superintendent is, the question for some of us is what would happen to all of Walters’ edicts and mandates he was issuing right up until the moment he resigned.

The answer, according to one Republican state senator is, essentially: don’t worry about it, because Walters’ mandates were just performative bullshit anyway. State Senator Adam Pugh, as you probably guess, put this in more polite terms.

State Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, said such mandates had no statutory authority anyway, so they wouldn’t be in effect even if Walters, his fellow Republican, remained as Oklahoma’s top education administrator.

Dozens of districts – including most of the state’s larger ones – have routinely ignored those mandates, saying they will obey state law. While Walters has threatened districts that don’t follow his mandates, saying he’ll downgrade district accreditation or subject them to special audits, he has no unilateral authority to do that. That authority falls to the state Board of Education, of which he is the chair but only one of seven members.

“Nothing happens, because nothing was going to happen, because there wasn’t statutory authority to do it,” Pugh said. “I’ve always maintained that position, because we have to be able to say, ‘What is the administrative authority to do something?’ It’s only what you’re given by law to do.

Which didn’t stop Walters from trying to bully school districts into doing what he wanted anyway, of course. But the point is that he had no real authority to follow through on his threats. While the state legislature can codify some of his mandates into state law, and in fact some GOP senators have said they may do so with some of them, Walters had no real authority to back up his bullying at the time.

So, what was he doing? Auditioning for a new job, almost certainly. This is speculation, but I really do think he wanted to join the Trump administration and the federal government, but that fell through when the administration wanted nothing to do with him. And so he likely pivoted to lobbying for his new role as CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, which is absolutely everything you already are assuming it is.

It is a partner organization created by the Freedom Foundation designed to offer educators an alternative to union membership. According to the Freedom Foundation’s website, the Teacher Freedom Alliance was created to address “the growing frustration teachers have with the direction public education is rapidly heading in no small part due to the radical agenda of the teachers unions.”

“The Teacher Freedom Alliance supports educators in their mission to develop free, moral, and responsible citizens,” A news release from March stated. “As an alternative to traditional unions, TFA offers pro-America educators a place to find support and comradery in an organization dedicated to restoring the broken education system—without any additional cost to those who choose to join.”

He stays on brand, I’ll give him that. So, I imagine this isn’t the last we’ll be hearing from Walters, though now he can shout about liberal tears and conspiracy theories from outside the government, which is a far better place for him.

Filed Under: adam pugh, education, oklahoma, ryan walters

Companies: freedom foundation, teacher freedom alliance