LOCAL
Anna Colletto, Tulsa Flyer
Ryan Walters resigned two days after a controversial announcement around Turning Point USA. Photo: Lionel Ramos/KOSU.
Ryan Walters announced he’s stepping down as Oklahoma state superintendent on Fox News Wednesday night. Now, he will lead the Teacher Freedom Alliance as CEO.
TFA is a national nonprofit established by the conservative think tank Freedom Foundation with 2,617 members. Its stated mission is assisting educators “in their mission to develop free, moral, and upright American citizens.”
“We’re gonna destroy the teacher’s unions,” Walters said. “We will build an army of teachers to defeat the teachers unions once and for all — so this fight’s going national.”
Walters did not clarify exactly when he will resign, and did not address the announcement during Thursday morning’s Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting in Oklahoma City.
Gov. Kevin Stitt will now have to appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2027.
Walters’ nearly three years in office have been mired by a string of controversies and divisive decisions. On Tuesday, he said he wants a chapter of the conservative political organizing group Turning Point USA in every Oklahoma high school after founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Walters opened Thursday’s meeting with a moment of silence for Kirk, and brought Mason Cottrell, the southern regional manager for TPUSA’s high school program Club America, to speak.
“We will not be intimidated by mobs, we will not be intimidated by assassins,” Cottrell said. “We will reach every conservative student to empower them to lead and create change on their campus.”
TFA highlighted many of Walters’ controversial actions in its release announcing his leadership.
Walters “brought the Bible back into schools, stripped accreditation from lawless DEI-pushing districts, and forced failing schools to improve,” TFA’s release reads. “His reforms are proof that conservative leadership can deliver real victories for teachers and families.”
Walters, a former McAlester high school social studies teacher, has specifically targeted teachers unions throughout his term, even calling them “terrorist organizations” in May 2023.
Walters promoted TFA explicitly in a post on X and in a news release this March, calling it a “non-union alternative for educators.” This led state Rep. Ellen Pogemiller, D-Oklahoma City, to request the Oklahoma attorney general’s opinion on whether Walters’ endorsement from state office was a violation of state law.
She also requested the AG’s office investigate any financial ties or contacts Walters had with TFA at the time. The Oklahoma Ethics Commission voted to dismiss Pogemiller’s ethics complaint in May.
“Maybe I was onto something?!” Pogemiller wrote in a post on X Thursday morning. “While the AG and Ethics Commission didn’t find that Walters broke the law, it’s clear he’s used his position for personal gain. He was never in it for the kids.”
Attorney General Gentner Drummond reacted to Walters’ resignation in a news release Wednesday night, highlighting a “stream of never-ending scandal and political drama.”
Drummond, a Republican, is running for governor in 2026. He linked Stitt to Walters’ leadership.
“From the mishandling of pandemic relief funds that resulted in families buying Xboxes and refrigerators to the latest squabbling with board members over what was or wasn’t showing on TV, the Stitt-Walters era has been an embarrassment to our state,” his release reads.
“Even worse, test scores and reading proficiency are at historic lows. It’s time for a State Superintendent of Public Instruction who will actually focus on quality instruction in our public schools. Gov. Stitt used to say he would make us Top Ten, but after seven years we are ranked 50th in education. Our families, our students and our teachers deserve so much more.”
Former Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller, a 2026 candidate for state superintendent, said before the formal announcement Wednesday he wasn’t surprised by the rumors of Walters’ resignation. Four others, including former Tulsa Public Schools board member Jennettie Marshall, have so far declared their candidacy for the position.
“It doesn’t seem like his heart and mind are in the day-to-day functioning of the state department of education,” he said in an interview with the Tulsa Flyer. “I hope the governor would consider someone who cares about public education, who wants to rebuild the state department of education and is focused on improving outcomes in Oklahoma.”
Anna Colletto is the education reporter for the Tulsa Flyer. You can reach her at anna@tulsaflyer.org.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional comments from Thursday’s education board meeting.
