Ryan Walters

Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters speaking to the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce in September 2023.

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Ryan Walters (May 25, 1985–) is an American politician and "educator" currently serving as Oklahoma's State School Superintendent since 2023. Before that, he served as Oklahoma's Secretary of Education for three years, from 2020 to 2023.

Walters is arguably one of the worst things to ever happen to Oklahoma, and given the litany of godawful politicians that Oklahoma has produced, that is really saying something. A dyed-in-the-wool conservative Christian, Walters has been described as Oklahoma's "top culture warrior" due to his raging homophobia and transphobia and his opposition to critical race theory, among other things. His anti-LGBT rhetoric and policies led to the death of non-binary high school student Nex Benedict, following severe head injuries from a group of girls at Owasso High School on February 7, 2024.

Early career and Secretary of Education

Walters had the benefit of being buddies with current Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt a few years before he was elected to office (like Stitt, Walters is the son of a pastor.)

Prior to officially joining Stitt's administration, Walters was a U.S. History teacher at McAlester High School, and later became the executive director and CEO of Every Kid Counts Oklahoma (formerly known as Oklahoma Achieves), a non-profit education advocacy group whose donors include national school privatization and charter school advocates, including the Walton Family Foundation, the primary charitable outlet of the heirs to Walmart founder Sam Walton, and an education group founded by Charles Koch. He retained this position while serving as Secretary of Education and stepped down from this position shortly before being inaugurated as state superintendent.

Becoming state superintendent

After getting the stamp of approval from both Stitt and Ted Cruz, Walters beat out four other GOP candidates in the primaries to earn the Republican nomination for State Superintendent, going on to defeat the Democratic Party's nominee, Jena Nelson, in the general election, thus plunging Oklahoma into a what can only be described as a disaster at best and a nightmare at worst.

Critical race theory

As stated above, Walters has pushed back on idea of critical race theory being taught in Oklahoma public schools, though there's no evidence that it ever was. In an op-ed he wrote for The Hill in 2023, he described CRT as "racist" and "anti-American", and that it "poisons young minds."

In a spectacular display of denialism at a town hall in July 2023, he stated that the Tulsa Race Massacre "shouldn't be tied to skin color".

PragerU

In September 2023, Walters announced that the Oklahoma Department of Education would be partnering with PragerU to produce curriculum content for Oklahoma schools, following Florida in that regard.

The idea of PragerU influencing education policy on the state level is actually quite terrifying. Thankfully, quite a few schools have openly stated that they won't be using any PragerU curricula any time soon.

Other positions

• Walters believes that the U.S. Department of Education should be eliminated, as stated at a Moms for Liberty (listed as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center) summit that also included Nikki Haley in Philadelphia in June 2023. He's also against teachers' unions.
• He is anti-abortion.
• He is a self-described "staunch supporter of the Second Amendment" and is a supporter of the NRA propaganda of "good guy with a gun".
• He is against "illegal immigration" and has voiced support for former president Donald Trump's border wall.
• He supports displaying the Ten Commandments in every classroom.
• He hates atheists.

The death of Nex Benedict

Among Walters' anti-LGBT policies is preventing students from changing the designation of their gender or sex in school records.

Easily the worst thing that Walters has done so far has been to appoint Chaya Raichik — better known as the woman behind the Libs of TikTok Twitter account — to a statewide library advisory board. Raichik's posts on Twitter, often consist of transphobic propaganda and edited videos targeting school teachers and librarians, have been directly linked to transphobic and homophobic threats, violence, and attempted terrorist attacks. Incidents include bomb threats against a school in Wisconsin, a near-riot at Idaho Pride, and threats against a Jewish summer camp.

Walters' decision resulted in protests from Democrats and Republicans alike, as well as from a number of parents, educators, and lawmakers who believe Raichik endangered students and teachers.

Nex Benedict was a 16-year-old non-binary student who was a sophomore at Owasso High School and had been enduring bullying from their peers at school due to their gender identity. On February 7, 2024, six students entered a girl's bathroom, and, according to Nex, "jumped" them to the point where Nex lost consciousness.

The following day, Nex collapsed at home while preparing for an appointment. Nex's mother, Sue Benedict, called 911 and said that Nex's eyes had rolled back and they were struggling to breathe. Nex had stopped breathing by the time emergency medical technicians arrived, and was declared dead at the hospital that evening.

Walters and Raichik have rightfully been blamed for the death of Nex Benedict, as the anti-LGBT rhetoric pushed by both of them opened the door for Nex to be targeted. In response, Walters showed everyone just how much of an asshole he is by having the gall to defend Oklahoma's anti-LGBT policies in a February 23 interview with The New York Times, regarding Benedict's death, saying: "There's not multiple genders. There's two. That's how God created us." Walters also said, "I think it's terrible that we've had some radical leftists who decided to run with a political agenda and try to weave a narrative that hasn't been true" and "You've taken a tragedy, and you've had some folks try to exploit it for political gain."