Ryan Walters claims Tulsa schools accepting Chinese money in Twitter video; district says no

Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters has turned the video camera on himself once again, this time to denounce the Tulsa school district for taking money from the Chinese government.

In a video posted Wednesday afternoon on X, formerly known as Twitter, Walters said, "I've been looking more and more into what's going on in Tulsa Public Schools, and it's just been unbelievable to find out that they are one of the only schools in the country taking money from the Chinese government."

Shown in the video sitting in an automobile, Walters asserted that China was giving money to Tulsa Public Schools "in order to undermine our United States government, our country. It's unbelievable." He added: "...we cannot allow influence from hostile governments in our schools to undermine our institutions."

He provided no elaboration or substantiation in his 45-second post, but a spokesperson said Walters was referring to a Chinese educational program known as "Confucius Classrooms."

Tulsa Public Schools responds to Ryan Walters video

Responding to the video, Tulsa Public Schools issued a statement saying it "does not receive money from the Chinese government, as Superintendent Walters alleged without evidence."

"At a time when our state faces catastrophic shortages in certified teachers and school funding, Superintendent Walters has chosen to focus on a Chinese language professional development opportunity for a single teacher," the statement said.

The district said one of its teachers participates in a professional development program offered by International Leadership of Texas, a group that also partners with Confucius Classrooms. It said the teacher's salary and adopted educational resources were paid by Tulsa Public Schools.

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"Contrary to Superintendent Walters’ accusations, the district takes no funds from the Chinese government," the district said.

The statement noted, "Students benefiting from our teacher’s supplemental professional development with International Leadership of Texas have achieved high honors in the past year, including placing in the Oklahoma Chinese Speech competition and the National Chinese Speech Contest."

Christian-based newspaper, group identified Tulsa Public Schools in reports

Walters may have been reacting to a story last week in the Christian Post, a nondenominational, conservative, evangelical Christian online newspaper based in Washington, D.C.

The Christian Post reported that a group called "Parents Defending Education (PDE)" had identified seven school districts in the United States that had adopted "Chinese government-backed programs known as Confucius Institutes and its K-12 programming, Confucius Classrooms." One of those districts, it said, was Tulsa.

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PDE identifies itself as "a national grassroots organization working to reclaim our schools from activists promoting harmful agendas." The group says it seeks to discontinue school programs with an "emphasis on students' group identities: race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender."

Confucius Institutes at the university level drew attention in 2018 when the U.S. State Department designated them "a foreign mission of the People’s Republic of China," part of the PRC Chinese Communist Party’s "global influence and propaganda apparatus.”

A Confucius Institute at the University of Oklahoma was closed a short time later.

Since winning election in 2022, Walters has become known for his focus on cultural issues and dramatic allegations about school library books and critical race theory instruction with few specifics. He also has produced controversial videos, including one in which he described local and national teachers unions as "terrorist organizations."

Walters also has singled out the Tulsa district for unspecified "significant and severe issues" and said it had been "plagued by scandal."

At a meeting of the State Board of Education a week ago, he threatened to withhold the district's accreditation and said about the state's largest district, "They've been one of the worst performing schools in the state of Oklahoma."

Tulsa Superintendent Deborah Gist has publicly defended her district against Walters' criticism. She said the accreditation threats were about politics, not students.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ryan Walters targets Tulsa Public Schools in Twitter video