Oklahoma lawmakers subpoena Ryan Walters for documents, information

Invoking a little-used provision of the Oklahoma Constitution, the Oklahoma House of Representatives issued a subpoena Tuesday for documents and information from Ryan Walters, the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The subpoena, signed by Representatives Mark McBride, Rhonda Baker and House Speaker Charles McCall, referenced Article 5, Section 42 of the Oklahoma Constitution and gave Walters until 3 p.m. Jan. 5, 2024 to comply.

McBride said the subpoena was necessary because Walters and his staff had not provided information requested by the House Education Committee.

"As the branch of government charged with appropriations and oversight, the Legislature has a responsibility to make sure that taxpayer dollars are being spent properly by the agencies and departments under it purview," McBride said in a media statement. "Myself and many of my legislative colleagues have repeatedly tried to communicate with the superintendent and his staff about these important issues. With the amount of tax dollars being spent by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, legislative oversight of this spending is critical."

The subpoena, which has roughly the same authority as one issued by law enforcement, is rarely used by the Oklahoma legislature. However, over the past several months McBride, R-Moore, has frequently clashed with Walters on issues of transparency.

Mark McBride: 'I really don’t know what’s going on over there. Nobody does.'

In July, the lawmaker asked the Oklahoma State Department of Education for information about a teacher bonus recruitment program that Walters had announced in the spring, but as of Oct. 13, he said he’d yet to receive it.

In late October, McBride said he’d been caught off guard by the resignation of the program manager for grant development and compliance at the state Education Department. Pamela Smith-Gordon, a Walters ally, outlined the reasons for her resignation in a lengthy letter addressed to Walters and the state school board. Her departure was one of a series of resignations since Walters took over the department.

At that time, McBride said, “I really don’t know what’s going on over there. Nobody does. There is some lack of transparency.”Earlier this month, after McBride made another request for information from the OSDE, McBride said he and state Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, received a note from Walters’ top advisor, Matt Langston, that read, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” An Oklahoma House employee took a picture of an unknown person slipping the letter under McBride’s office door at the Capitol.

McBride said his concerns about "a lack of transparency and increasingly professional conduct" by staff members of OSDE had continued to grow.

"As Chairman of the Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee, I am constitutionally bound to ask questions and statutorily entitled to have them answered of the leadership of the legislatively appropriated OSDE," McBride said. "As those questions have not been answered, and no voluntary answer is forthcoming, I have exercised my power as chairman to subpoena the superintendent to produce the records and communications requested by the committee. Where taxpayer money is concerned we must be diligent. The time for playing political games is over, and the time for answers is at hand."

When Walters sent a letter to legislators last week defending his department’s handling of what normally are routine applications for millions of dollars of federal reimbursement funds that flow through the state Education Department but have been delayed this year, McBride wasn’t included, despite his role as an education committee chairman.

Tuesday's subpoena drew a terse response from Walters' Senior Advisor, Matt Langston who accused McBride of lying repeatedly about Walters and the State Department of Education.

"He has made up false narratives and has yet to show a serious effort to improve education in Oklahoma. All Oklahomans should question his political and ideological stances. Representative McBride actively works with Democrats and teachers unions to undermine Superintendent Walters' and Oklahomans' conservative policies," Langston said.

The subpoena comes just days after the House Democratic Caucus called on McCall, the House Speaker, to form a bipartisan committee to investigate Walters.

Ryan Walters subpoena: Document requests accountability information

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Mark McBride, lawmakers subpoena Ryan Walters for taxpayer information