OKLAHOMA CITY — State Superintendent Ryan Walters marked one year in his position by further emphasizing getting rid of what he called "radical left wing influence" in Oklahoma schools during the State Board of Education Jan. 25 meeting.
Walters began the meeting by formally announcing right wing blogger Chaya Raichik as a new member of the Library Media Advisory Committee despite claims her social media account "Libs of Tik Tok" inspired bomb threats at numerous Oklahoma schools last semester, including Union Public Schools.
"(Raichik) was a national leader in shining a spotlight on this pornography in our schools," Walters said in a news conference after the SBOE meeting. "She has fought back against these baseless attacks on her. And you know, one of things that we've been very clear to all parents across the state (is) you will have transparency in your schools."
Raichik is based in New York. There's no word whether she'll come to Oklahoma to be part of the committee on taxpayer's dime.
2 News asked Walters about reports he and his team traveled out of state last year to partisan conferences and a movie premiere also on the taxpayer's dime.
The superintendent said the trips justified the expenses.
"I love the ability to talk about how we're getting the best and brightest teachers in the classroom," he said. "I love telling the story of how we're getting away from woke ideology and focusing on the basics, and I love to tell the story that Oklahoma is here to be a leader in education."
With reports some teachers will have to pay back thousands of dollars in their 2023 bonuses after the state found out they didn't qualify, Walters said the fault is on the teachers.
"This is exactly why we put in place claw-back measures, because if any individual lied throughout the process, did not agree to follow the stipulations in the contract that they signed- we have been very clear from upfront we will claw back those dollars. So what you saw is our accountability system work."
As for Thursday's meeting agenda, the board unanimously approved a rule banning a child's gender from being changed in prior student records. Walters blamed the Biden Administration for the issue.
"It's the most radical concept we've ever come across in K-12 education, that you can be gender fluid and change your gender constantly," Walters said.
The board also voted to suspend more than a dozen teachers' teaching certificates, including two former Glenpool Public Schools teachers for "breach of contract."
The board also heard from Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson in her monthly mandated presentation.
When questioned by Walters on finances once its COVID stimulus money runs out, Dr. Johnson said the district is in good shape.
Just as he did in the December meeting, the state superintendent expressed appreciation for Johnson's efforts to improve the district both financially and academically.
In a point of emphasis, TPS's newest superintendent remarked the district is working on soon surveying faculty, asking how leaders can improve working conditions and teacher retention.
This comes after a hiring fair last week in Tulsa attracted hosted by Las Vegas-based Clark County School District attracted dozens of local teachers and faculty, potentially drawing them out of Oklahoma.
Johnson didn't hide her frustration about the recent event toward the end of her presentation.
"You don't keep teachers, number one, because of pay," she said. "We have to be in close communication with our teacher union. We have to be in very close communication with our principals and our teachers - whether they're part of the union or not - who are telling us how they are feeling about our district."
Another issue TPS members stressed Thursday was chronic absenteeism, meaning students who miss 10% or more of school time.
The district's director of info & analytics said the current chronic absentee rate is 40%, more than half of those being high school students.
Johnson said the district is planning to send out parent surveys on this soon.
As for its ongoing objectives, Johnson said more concrete student math and reading performance updates will be included in her February presentation but did mention students made noticeable improvements in third party vendor programs used in classes.
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