Superintendent Walters promises 'patriotic education,' defends Bible plan and lawsuit

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters says families should expect major changes this fall in classroom curriculum and priorities. In particular, Walters says that changes to history education and the distribution of materials rooted in Judeo-Christian values should be expected.

In a recent interview, Walters discussed what parents should know about the upcoming changes to school curriculum, his plans to distribute Bibles in schools despite funding setbacks, and his ongoing legal battles with the federal government over alleged immigration-related education costs.

Here's a breakdown of what Walters had to say:

Q: What do you hope parents will take away from this legislative session?

Walters: "Well, huge wins for parents this session. We're so excited. Your kids are going to get a better understanding of American history than ever before. So we've got the best history curriculum coming your school's way. Your kids are going to understand the founding of the country. They're going to understand what makes America exceptional. They're going to understand that without a liberal bias."

"It's going to be just the facts. It's going to be history. They're going to understand the role the Bible played in American history. We're going to tackle all of these subjects. And your kids are going to get a patriotic education. What we should be all promoting is that our kids love America."

"They love our history. They understand it. They understand where we came from. They understand what makes us unique. We could not be more excited about these history standards, and those are going into effect this school year. So a huge win."

Q: Is there a curriculum that parents can preview before school starts?

Walters: "That'll all be launched this summer. So we're working with several groups to help us develop that. So what parents will start to see, and they get emails from me, so I email parents weekly, and they're going to get an email from me that's going to show them the website that they can go to to see all of this curriculum, see all that."

"We're bringing in trainings for the teachers across the state. We're going to offer the best history training for our history teachers that we've ever had. So those folks are going to come in, help train our teachers this summer."

"We're really excited about that. Partnering with all the summer school programs. I mean, it's a very busy summer for our schools, but we're going to have the best year ever next year."

Q: How are you getting money for Bibles if the legislature rejected your funding request?

Walters:

"I mean, look, it's unfortunate the legislature doesn't support our kids understanding the foundations of American history, but to also be clear, I don't need them. We're going to do this. Bibles will be in the classroom."

"We've got, we already have a ton of Bibles donated. We've already found other ways to make sure that we can fund this. So Bibles will be in the classroom. I will not stop fighting for the parents of Oklahoma for common sense, for our kids to understand the Judeo-Christian values of the country was founded on."

"We're going to do it. So it's unfortunate that they wouldn't step up and do it, but we will."

Q: Who are the donors for your Bible initiative?

Walters: "Well, we've partnered with a few groups. The Lee Greenwood folks have been one of the most prominent there. Some other folks will be coming forward shortly to kind of, I'll let those announcements come as they go. But yes, we've got quite a few folks."

Q: Now that the current administration is asking you to drop your lawsuit for alleged immigration-related education costs against Biden's administration, what is your next move?

Walters: "Oh, well, we're working with the Trump administration on this. What we're trying to make sure that we're doing is holding those individuals accountable for what they did."

"So you've got Secretary Mayorkas. He's the litigant here in this case. He's come out and said that they knew that illegal immigrants were overrunning our state, overrunning our schools. They knew that. We've got recordings of that. We are going to hold those individuals accountable."

"So we are working with the Trump administration on how to best bring in those officials, hold them accountable, how to best refund Oklahomans for the amount of their taxpayer dollars that went to illegal immigrants."

Q: Will you dismiss the lawsuit?

Walters: "I'm going to continue to work with the Trump administration to figure out the best case for it, but I am going to continue to defend our taxpayers against paying for illegal immigrants."

"It's unfortunate our legislature didn't step up and do that this session, but again, we're going to continue to move forward. We've got a lot of plans we'll be announcing under the summer, but I can tell taxpayers we will hold illegal immigrants accountable for the cost that they've cost you."

"We will not give up on that. I hear that concern all over the state. We will not allow illegal immigration to continue to run roughshod over our state."

Q: Do you intend to reclaim those funds from the current administration?

Walters: "So there's a few options there. But what you've got is you have some individuals that campaigned, that said a lot of things that they were going to do, then did not do those things."

"So you've got [former Homeland Security Secretary] Mayorkas, you've got Kamala Harris, you've got other folks in that regime. So what you can continue to do is continue to take that out of the federal government, yes, but you can also go after those individuals."

"Because again, we've actually got recordings of them saying they knew it was happening and even have some admissions of we know we should have done something because we know the cost that it brought to the state. So we're looking at every legal option to hold those individuals accountable."

"You know, thank God President Trump's in the White House, but we're still dealing with the repercussions of a failed Biden-Kamala Harris presidency, and so we're going to make sure that we hold those individuals accountable."

Q: If President Trump's administration told you to drop the lawsuit, would you do it?

Walters: "Look, I'm going to work with President Trump. We're going to continue to work with President Trump, and so we've got open lines communication. We speak to them very regularly. So we're going to continue to do what's best. But we're going to stand with President Trump. And we're going to continue to fight for his agenda."

As the new school year approaches, Superintendent Walters stands firm in his vision for Oklahoma classrooms, promising what he claims to be a more patriotic and fact-based education, a greater emphasis on Judeo-Christian values, and continuing the fight with the current administration over immigration costs.

Many of the specifics regarding Walters' changes remain unresolved, such as finalized curriculum materials, full funding sources, and the implications of legal outcomes. Walters says the coming months will offer a clearer picture of how these promises translate into practice.