House committee passes bill to restore Educators Hall of Fame portraits to state building

M. Scott Carter and Murray Evans, The Oklahoman
·3 min read
2
State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks Jan. 25 during an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting at the Oklahoma Capitol.
State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks Jan. 25 during an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting at the Oklahoma Capitol.

Those pictures may be back, after all.

A year after state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters ordered the portraits of the state's Educators Hall of Fame removed from the walls of the Oliver Hodge Building, the House of Representatives' Common Education Committee moved forward a bill to put them back.

Last year, Walters ordered the first-floor hallway leading to the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting room cleared of its portraits of hall of fame inductees. At that time, Walters told The Oklahoman that he didn't want the Oklahoma State Department of Education to celebrate "union bosses."

“Union leaders and association heads are not what we will highlight,” Walters said in 2023. “We are focused on empowering parents and kids with the best education possible. Those are the stories I will be showing in the halls of (the Education Department) during my term, not union bosses."

More: Ryan Walters wants the private school tax credit cap removed. Lawmakers say that's unlikely

Tuesday, the House Common Education Committee voted 8 to 1 in favor of a bill to put the photos back. The measure, House Bill 3513, was written by state Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada. It authorizes the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to display the portraits of Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame inductees inside the Oliver Hodge Memorial Educators Building.

Rep. Chad Caldwell, a Republican from Enid, voted against the bill. He questioned the relationship between the Hall of Fame and the state.

"Can you give me another instance where we have mandated that an unaffiliated not-for-profit (be given) space in a state building?" Caldwell asked.

"No sir, I cannot," Johns answered.

Lawmaker says Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame portraits don't need to be politicized

Johns, a former junior high school history teacher, acknowledged the bill was pushback against Walters' removal of the portraits. He added, however, that the bill wasn't a personal attack, but was, instead, about recognizing great teaching.

"I just really don't think it needs to be politicized, and I feel like that's what has happened," he said. "I feel like it needs to be displayed so educators can come and look at our mentors and the ones who came before us."

Eugene Earsom, president of the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame, said the group has recognized state education leaders for four decades. Earsom said he was pleased the committee voted to restore the portraits.

More: 'Big shock' over removal of Hall of Fame teacher portraits from Oklahoma Education Department

“For 40 years, we’ve been recognizing exemplary leaders of common education, higher education and CareerTech education who have dedicated their lives and careers for the betterment of Oklahoma’s young people," Earsom said. "We hope that this legislation will allow us to continue to honor and publicly recognize these individuals in a location that is publicly accessible to former students, families and persons who are interested in Oklahoma education, well into the future.”

Dan Isett, a spokesman for OSDE and Walters, issued a statement late Tuesday that echoed Walters' statement from last year.

"The Oklahoma Department of Education exists to serve students and their parents, not as a permanent memorial to the union bosses of the past," Isett said. "The reign of the radical teachers' unions is over, and OSDE reflects Superintendent Walters’ commitment to students, not systems."

Under provisions of the measure, the cost for displaying the portraits would be the responsibility of the Oklahoma Educators Halls of Fame.

The Oklahoma secretary of state’s office chose the Oliver Hodge Building, which houses the state Education Department at 2500 N Lincoln, as the official home of the state Educators Hall of Fame, and it has remained so for decades, said Sharon Lease, the hall of fame’s longtime executive director. Ironically, the man the building was named for, former state Superintendent Oliver Hodge, is among the honorees whose portraits are now gone.

House Bill 3515 is now eligible to he heard by the full House of Representatives.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma House moves to return teacher portraits Ryan Walters removed