Ryan Walters has complied with subpoena and turned over documents, Oklahoma rep. says

The representative at the center of an ongoing battle for information from the state's schools chief said Tuesday that his subpoena for information had been filled.

State Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, subpoenaed state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters about a week ago for information that McBride and fellow Republican Rep. Rhonda Baker had been asking for since November.

Tuesday, McBride, released a statement acknowledging Walters' "compliance with a recently issued subpoena."

"I appreciate Supt. Walters' quick compliance with the subpoena, and I have begun reviewing the delivered documents to ensure that they contain all of the information that was requested. As Chairman of the Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee, I exercised my power to subpoena the superintendent to produce these records, but I wish it would not have had to come to that," McBride said.

The document, issued by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, was a rare use of the legislative subpoena. The subpoena, signed by McBride, Baker and House Speaker Charles McCall, referenced Article 5, Section 42 of the Oklahoma Constitution and gave Walters until 3 p.m. Jan. 5 to comply.

At the time, McBride said the subpoena was necessary because Walters and his staff had not provided information requested by the House Education Committee. Had Walters not complied with the subpoena, he could have been held in contempt by the Oklahoma Legislature.

"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."

What was sought in subpoena of state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters?

McBride and Baker said they wanted information about an interview Walters did with an Oklahoma City television station in which Walters spoke about hundreds of new teachers seeking to come to Oklahoma.

McBride said he wanted additional information about Walters' statement that 950 out-of-state teachers applied for Oklahoma teaching jobs, what the Education Department's teacher recruitment process was and how many of the teachers referenced by Walters have applied for Oklahoma jobs since his television interview.

The subpoena also demanded copies of the applications from the 950 teachers and directed Walters to identify which states the teachers were coming from, how many of the teachers were certified or not certified in their original state, the average number of years those teachers have taught, what subjects the teachers taught and what Oklahoma school districts hired the teachers.

More: Subpoena is just the latest in tensions between Ryan Walters, Oklahoma lawmakers

In addition, McBride and Baker subpoenaed Walters for "details of the school districts that fall into the 95% not performing at grade level" and what, specifically, Walters and the Education Department were doing to bring the low-performing school district into a "performing at grade level" status and an update on the $2 million purchase of Metrics Software and how "it is or is not being utilized by SDE and/or schools."

McBride and Baker also told Walters to produce copies of all correspondence between his office and those of McBride and Baker and demanded "any and all emails, texts or other communications" between Walters and senior aide Matt Langston "regarding the responses to document request from Chairs McBride and Baker."

Shortly after the subpoena was issued, Langston issued a statement accusing McBride of lying repeatedly about Walters and the state Education Department. Langston's statement, however, never addressed the subpoena or the information it demanded.

"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.

Langston's statement drew an uncommonly harsh rebuke from House Majority Leader Jon Echols. Echols, R-Oklahoma City, told an Oklahoma City television station that Langston's move was the worst action he'd ever seen from someone who works for an elected official.

"Policy differences are fine, but what you saw was is Chairman McBride, who is chairman of the education committee, asking for information from the state Department of Education," Echols said. "And while it's well known that Chairman McBride and Ryan Walters don't get along, what's not well known, and what is not well taken, is the childish antics of a Texan, by the way who is the chief of staff of the state superintendent, flaunting the Open Records Act and speaking nonsense to an elected official."

Tuesday, Dan Isett, Walters' spokesman, said he "hadn’t seen or paid attention to what McBride has said on this issue."

"Supt. Walters is always willing to work with Speaker McCall and members of the Legislature to solve real problems in education like ending porn in schools, keeping boys out of girls' sports, and ending teaching shortages," Isett said in a statement to The Oklahoman. "Walters’ ability to attract a historic number of new teachers is a big topic that the legislature should focus on, and he is hopeful the Legislature will cement that reform in place for the future."

While McBride praised Walters' quick action this week in providing information to lawmakers, he doubled down on the need for the subpoena.

"My focus has always been, and will continue to be, doing what is best for Oklahoma students. It is my hope that moving forward, the extreme, but sometimes necessary, process of using a subpoena will not be needed, and the superintendent will more openly and willingly communicate with members of the Legislature," McBride said.

State lawmakers, McBride said, are constitutionally charged with oversight of the budgets of certain departments, including the state Education Department.

"Our responsibility as elected officials is to work together for the betterment of our state, not continuously fight to earn political clout or obfuscate the process of government. I will continue to review the subpoenaed documents with the hope that they fully answer the committee's questions and give us a more complete understanding of the processes and procedures of the OSDE under Supt. Walters' leadership," McBride said. "I thank him again for his swift compliance, and hope for a less adversarial working relationship in the future."

Contributing: Staff writer Murray Evans

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters complies with House subpoena