TULSA, Okla. — There is backlash after Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters called teachers unions 'terrorist organizations' at a House Appropriations and Budget committee hearing on Monday.
The president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers' Association tells 2 News it's offensive Superintendent Walters would even use the word, "terrorist" when teachers union in Tulsa and beyond are made up of teachers who care about students first.
"We shouldn't be working like to divide each other even more," said Shawna Mott-Wright, president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association. "We should be working together."
Minutes after being asked a question about federal grant deadlines by Oklahoma Speaker of the House Charles McCall, Walters responded, "I don't negotiate with the teachers union. They are a terrorist organization."
Walters claims his agency hasn't missed a single deadline for grants or programs and believes teachers unions are to blame for spreading misinformation. Walters says the Oklahoma Dept. of Education is back to being transparent and responsive.
"We have organizations like the teachers union that have gone out there and spread all kinds of lies about the agency," Walters said.
Mott - Wright was there and says she was flabbergasted since she believed she had an effective conversation with him last week.
"It hurts me as a teacher," she said. "It hurts me thinking about all of my teachers."
But what hurts her more than anything is thinking about her mother, who recently retired from teaching special education in Tulsa.
"She is the teacher. She is the giver. She is the one. There are several teachers who give everything everyday, just like she did for 43 years," Mott-Wright said.
2 News has reached out to Superintendent Walters and Governor Stitt's office for comments and haven't heard back.
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