State Superintendent Ryan Walters complies with lawmaker’s subpoena

Kari King / KFOR
·3 min read
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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — State Superintendent Ryan Walters has complied with a subpoena from lawmakers.

The House Republicans issued the court order after numerous attempts to get access to hundreds of documents and emails on a variety of topics.

Chairman of the subcommittee, Rep. Mark McBride R-Moore, says he sent three requests for the documents went unanswered.

The video below is from December 19.

McBride announced on Tuesday the delivery of the requested records and communications have been received.

“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. 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. The Legislative Branch is constitutionally charged with oversight of the budgets of certain departments, including the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE). Additionally, 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. I thank him again for his swift compliance, and hope for a less adversarial working relationship in the future.”

Rep. Mark McBride R-Moore

In McBride’s previous requests, he asked for transparency concerning a new teacher recruitment plan discussed during a media interview:

  • What was the [teacher] recruitment process?

  • Provide a copy of all teacher applications received under the new recruitment plan.

  • How many teachers have been hired from out of state? Additional information to be added include what state the individual is coming from, if the teacher was certified or not in the original state, if the individual is a new or veteran teacher, what Oklahoma school district was the individual hired in, and what subject that individual is teaching.

  • Provide detail of the school districts that fall in the 95% not performing at grade level.

  • What specifically is Supt. Walters doing to help districts perform at grade level status?

The subpoena also asked for these items:

  • Provide an update on the Metrics Software, $2,000,000 expenditure from SB 36X, Section 16, and how it is or isn’t being utilized.

  • Did the Department authorize communications between Matt Langston and Chairman McBride on state letterhead?

  • Is there a policy in plat to allow or prohibit this type of communication between employees and elected officials?

  • Provide correspondence between OSDE and Chairs Baker or McBride during document requests.

  • All emails, texts or other communications between yourself and Matt Langston regarding the responses to document requests.

  • Provide all emails beginning in September 2020 sent to rwalters@everykidcountsok.org that discuss, condone, or relate in any way to the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability.

Walters-Served-Subpoena-12.19.23-1Download

KFOR has requested a response from the Oklahoma State Department of Education but has not heard back from officials.

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