5 takeaways from the state superintendent debate between Ryan Walters and Jena Nelson

A combative discussion covered a range of school topics as the final two candidates vying to become Oklahoma's top education official appeared in their only scheduled debate ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.

Republican Ryan Walters and Democrat Jena Nelson met Tuesday evening at the FOX 25 studio in Oklahoma City to debate on live TV.

The general election victor will succeed state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who is term limited after eight years in office. Hofmeister, who switched to the Democratic party last year, is the top challenger to Gov. Kevin Stitt in the gubernatorial race.

The state superintendent acts as the head of the Oklahoma State Department of Education and chairs the Oklahoma State Board of Education.

Walters, 37, is a former history teacher who sits on Stitt's Cabinet as the governor's secretary of education. While campaigning, Nelson, 44, is on a leave of absence from Oklahoma City's Classen Middle School of Advanced Studies, where she teaches English Language Arts. She was the 2020 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year.

Walters: Oklahoma schools are 'civil war' battleground

Walters employed wartime rhetoric multiple times Tuesday evening. He accused Nelson, Hofmeister and President Joe Biden of waging a left-wing "civil war" in Oklahoma schools by permitting pornographic books, opposing the teaching of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and pushing radical gender and racial ideals.

He specifically cited books "Gender Queer" and "Flamer" which depict graphic sexual scenes. Tulsa Public Schools recently pulled both books from its libraries.

"We have to continue to stay vigilant as the far left has decided that they’re going to launch a war for our kids’ minds and convince our young people that they are racist," Walters said. "They’re going to inject this division into the classroom. They’re going to inject this hatred of the Constitution and the values this country was founded on."

Walters has been a vocal opponent of Critical Race Theory, a college-level concept on structural racism not typically taught in K-12 schools. He advocated for a bill regulating use of school bathrooms by birth sex, not gender identity.

Nelson said it's time to put aside divisive language.

"Tonight I've been accused of a lot of different things — pushing pornography, which I never have," she said. "I've also been accused of being some kind of left-wing indoctrinator along with many teachers across the state, and that's not true either. I go into my classroom and I am in the presence of perpetual hope every single day, and it makes me want to go and fight harder for all of them so that they can have the same opportunity that I had."

Patriotic teacher training comes under scrutiny

Walters recently suggested on the campaign trail he would put history teachers through patriotic training. The education secretary has repeatedly advocated for schools to teach that America is "the greatest country in the history of the world."

He said too few students are well versed in U.S. history, and he suggested a teacher training course from the conservative Michigan-based Hillsdale College could improve education on America's founding.

Hillsdale College has opened charter schools across the country, including one planned for Tulsa next year. Some have accused Hillsdale's 1776 Curriculum of having pro-Republican bias.

Nelson called Hillsdale a "radical religious school."

"I believe in the Constitution, and I believe in American history. I believe in teaching all history," she said. "We don’t need indoctrination of our teachers.

"The product that is coming out of Hillsdale is not anything to do with patriotism, but indoctrination."

Candidates review track record on COVID closures

Walters criticized Nelson and Hofmeister over their records on school closures during the pandemic.

Hofmeister and the state Board of Education required all public schools in the state to close for the last six weeks of the 2019-20 school year following the outbreak of COVID-19. The state superintendent then advocated for regulations requiring mask wearing and closures when COVID levels were high — measures the state board refused to make mandatory.

Nelson also appealed for a cautious approach against COVID spread while at a 2020 school board meeting in Deer Creek Public Schools, where she was a middle school teacher at the time. Parents who advocated for a full return to five-day school weeks booed the Teacher of the Year at the meeting after she implored the board not to hastily abandon Deer Creek's hybrid class schedule.

"We were really focused on the doing the best we could," Nelson said. "I wasn’t at Mustang High School promoting COVID classrooms like (Walters) and the governor were. We were trying to keep people safe."

Walters and Stitt pushed for schools to remain open throughout COVID-19 to better meet students' academic and social needs. They piloted an in-school quarantine plan at Mustang High School.

Oklahoma's poor showing in state test scores, which indicated only a fraction of students performed on grade level in reading and math, are a product of school shutdowns, Walters said.

"We knew that kids could go to school and be safe," he said. "(Nelson) is doubling and tripling down on a position that has proven to be wrong."

Walters 'absolutely' on board with vouchers. Nelson, not.

School vouchers continue to be a primary campaign talking point in the superintendent race.

Walters said he would "absolutely" support a plan to put public dollars toward sending students to private schools should such a measure come up again in the state Legislature. A similar bill failed in a state Senate floor vote in April.

Walters has been the staunchest proponent in the race of expanding school choice options.

Echoing Hofmeister, Nelson called vouchers a "rural school killer" and a way to defund public education.

Walters, a father of four children of elementary age or younger, claimed his daughter was ridiculed at school by a student accusing her father of planning to steal $130 million from public schools.

He said such accusations are the result of Democrats' lies and repeatedly urged Nelson to correct the record.

"I'm sorry buddy," Nelson said. "It's not really in my nature to lie."

School spending a dividing line for Walters, Nelson

In Walters' eyes, Oklahoma public schools have enough money to provide a quality education. The issue, he said, is how they're spending it.

Although a state report found 58% of Oklahoma's education funding goes toward teacher salaries and classroom resources, Walters claimed more than half of public-school dollars end up in administration.

He also has been wary of accepting federal funds. Before his Republican runoff election, Walters said he would reject federal funding in Oklahoma schools. Lately, he clarified he would accept federal money only if it benefits academics, is transparent and has no "left-wing indoctrination" attached.

Nelson said schools would be "in a world of hurt" without federal funds, which support cafeteria meals for impoverished students, special education and numerous other programs.

Nelson backed Hofmeister's call for a $5,000 teacher pay raise.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 5 takeaways from the Oklahoma state superintendent debate