He is leaving the post to lead the Teacher Freedom Alliance (TFA), which says its mission is to help teachers develop “free, moral, and upright American citizens”.
Story by Rachel Leingang – The Guardian
Ryan Walters speaks during a special state board of education meeting in Oklahoma City on 12 April 2023. Photograph: Sue Ogrocki/AP© Photograph: Sue Ogrocki/AP
Oklahoma’s superintendent, who has attracted national attention as he sought to install religion and rightwing viewpoints in Oklahoma schools, will resign to run a conservative education non-profit.
Ryan Walters, who has led public schools in Oklahoma since 2022, has put Donald Trump-endorsed Bibles into classrooms and required teaching 2020 election conspiracies.
He is leaving the post to lead the Teacher Freedom Alliance (TFA), which says its mission is to help teachers develop “free, moral, and upright American citizens”. On its website, the group is touting Walters as its new leader.
“Walters fearlessly fights the woke liberal union mob. TFA will take the fight straight to the unions and we will not stop,” the website says. “Together, we will build a national movement that is centered on freedom and common sense, not on bullying and intimidation. Educators will now be able to break free.”
Walters announced his move on Fox on Wednesday night, teasing his appearance by writing on X: “Liberal’s [sic] worst nightmare is about to become true.”
On Fox, Walters said he wanted to “destroy the teachers unions” and “build an army of teachers to defeat the teachers unions once and for all”. He said his plan was to take the fight he started in Oklahoma to a national scale.