Oklahoma education chief abruptly quits to join group planning to “destroy” teachers’ unions

Ryan Walters, the Republican superintendent of Oklahoma schools, said on Wednesday that he will step down from his post to become the chief executive officer of the Teacher Freedom Alliance at the start of next month

He made the announcement on Fox News, where he said that he planned to “destroy” teachers’ unions.

“We have seen the teachers’ union use money and power to corrupt our schools, to undermine our schools,” he said.

Walters has had a controversial tenure since becoming superintendent in January 2023. He previously served as the state’s secretary of education.

During his tenure, he has been known for pursuing policies relating to the culture war and against what he has called “woke ideology.”

Among other decisions, he issued a memo mandating all public schools teach the Bible from grades 5 to 12 and worked to require parents enrolling their children in Oklahoma schools to provide proof of students’ citizenship or immigration status.

Just this week, Walters announced that schools in his state would have chapters of Turning Point USA, the conservative organization founded by the activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed earlier this month.

“For far too long, we have seen radical leftists with the teachers unions dominate classrooms and push woke indoctrination on our kids. They fight parents’ rights. They push parents out of the classroom, and they lie to our kids about American history,” Waters said Tuesday. “What we’re going to continue to do is make sure our kids understand American greatness, engage in civic dialogue and have that open discussion.”

The Teacher Freedom Alliance, the group Walters will take over, is harshly critical of unions. The group’s vision, according to its website, is to “support the right of every educator in America to pursue excellence in the classroom free of ideological interference.”

In their statement about the incoming CEO, the alliance called Walters a “conservative warrior in the fight for America’s future, restoring freedom, defending families, and proving that unions can be busted.”