After another education official resigns, lawmaker criticizes transparency issues under Ryan Walters

The head of the Oklahoma House’s budget committee on education says he's concerned about lack of transparency at the Oklahoma State Department of Education headed by Ryan Walters.

Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, told The Oklahoman Monday he was caught “off guard” by the recent resignation of the program manager for grant development and compliance at the state Education Department.

The now-former program manager, Pamela Smith-Gordon, outlined the reasons for her resignation in a lengthy letter addressed to Walters and the state school board. Her departure is only the latest in a series of resignations since Walters took over the department.

In her letter, appearing on multiple media websites, Smith-Gordon said while she is “genuinely excited about the direction you are advocating to improved education in Oklahoma,” that “unfortunately, I have encountered significant obstacles that have severely hindered my ability to perform my duties effectively.”

'I don't really know what's going on over there. Nobody does.'

On Monday, Smith-Gordon told The Oklahoman she had not intended for her letter to become public and believes education "is not a partisan issue."

McBride said, "When you get this kind of information from somebody that worked there for a short amount of time — three or four months — I really don’t know what’s going on over there. Nobody does. There is some lack of transparency.”

McBride said he thought it was noteworthy that a person who said she “believed in everything that Superintendent Walters is doing” had turned in her resignation. He said Smith-Gordon expressed “what a lot of people are feeling at this point. It’s time to get to work and quit worrying about getting some sort of national notoriety on the news.”

Walters has jumped into the spotlight on many controversial issues, including the hiring of a "drag queen" as a school principal and allegations with little substantiation about inappropriate books in school libraries and the teaching of critical race theory and gender issues in the classroom.

In resignation letter, grant program manager says Ryan Walters refused to meet with her

Among the challenges Smith-Gordon listed in her resignation were lack of access to essential grant submission and compliance platforms, the refusal to provide a dedicated printer for the state Education Department grants office, delays in obtaining necessary approvals and signatures from Walters and the lack of communication between the grant office and Walters. Smith-Gordon said in her letter she had “requested several times” to speak with Walters but was denied each time.

An unsuccessful congressional candidate for Oklahoma’s 2nd District seat in 2022, Smith-Gordon is the second person from the state Education Department’s grants office to resign in recent months. Terri Grissom, who wrote applications for competitive federal grants for the state Education Department for five years, left the agency April 18 and testified the next month at a legislative hearing.

In her letter, Smith-Gordon directly addressed Walters: “While desperately wanting to support you, the lack of leadership and availability within our own OSDE is impossible to ignore. Superintendent Walters, your absence, and the refusal to meet with your staff sends a concerning message that we may not hold value in your eyes. … We need active leadership to ensure that the OSDE effectively meets the needs of districts and students. You were to be the leader who was in the fight with us — unlike your predecessor who was never here.”

Dan Isett, a spokesperson for Walters, issued a one-sentence statement about the issue: "Accountability to taxpayers is at the heart of everything Superintendent Walters does."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Rep. Mark McBride expresses concern about OSDE under Ryan Walters