Tulsa's mayor, City Council lie low amid Tulsa Public Schools, Ryan Walters spat

The mayor — and most of the city’s other elected officials — have had little or nothing to say publicly about the controversies swirling around the school district. And Bynum said Monday that his approach won’t be changing.

“Throughout my time as mayor, I have respected the independence of the three major school districts serving Tulsa. Their boards are independently elected, and their superintendents are professional educators,” Bynum said. “Each of the superintendents know I am eager to be of help when they identify opportunities for me to do so, and we have worked together well.

“They are the experts, and I am not going to publicly get out in front of them and tell them how to run a school district.”

However, Bynum has reached out to Walters about the conflict privately, he said.

Walters has been an outspoken critic of Tulsa Public Schools, both in his role as Oklahoma secretary of education, an appointed position, and as the elected state superintendent of education.

Among other things, Walters has claimed that “inappropriate sexual material” is being targeted to students at TPS as part of a liberal indoctrination. He’s also accused the school district and Superintendent Deborah Gist of having a “leftist” and “woke” agenda.

In the latest twist, Walters indicated last week that he would look to downgrade TPS’s accreditation further after a Tulsa school board member was reprimanded for leading a prayer while in her official capacity during a graduation ceremony.

The State Board of Education meets Thursday to consider school accreditations statewide.

Bynum is aware of the meeting and said Monday that he has reached out to Walters to learn more about it.

“My communication with state officials will be directly with them — not through the media,” Bynum said. “I have reached out to State Superintendent Walters to better understand his position and the possible consequences of any action by the State Board of Education.”

Municipal governments in Oklahoma, Tulsa included, have little power to affect how their school systems operate. But mayors often will throw their support behind school bond packages that fund infrastructure needs or will provide other assistance where appropriate and possible.

In early 2016, while Bynum was a city councilor, Tulsans approved $10 million for teacher retention, recruitment and training as part of the Vision Tulsa sales tax package. The services were made available to all three school districts within the city: Jenks, Union and Tulsa.

In his first few years as mayor, Bynum made local education a big part of his platform but has seldom highlighted the issue since.

“On my first day as mayor, we convened the Mayor’s Education Cabinet, which consists of the three K-12 superintendents, presidents of our higher education and career tech institutions, and pre-K leaders,” Bynum said during his first State of the City address in 2017. “The purpose of this group is to advise me on ways the city can be more helpful to local educators.”

A year later, he announced an initiative to bring together local educators, area elected officials and community members to come up with a plan for how Tulsans can improve their education system, from kindergarten through college.

“We must find a way to put ourselves in a position to act and to establish the best educational system that we can,” Bynum said at the time.

The Tulsa City Council has not spoken as a group about the Walters-TPS rift, but four councilors did express their concerns last year after three Tulsa school board members walked out of a board meeting.

In an email to board members, the councilors urged them to work in good faith to address the needs of the students, families, teachers and staff.

“Decisions and actions made by School Board Members impact our entire City — they certainly have a direct effect on the school community but your work also has major ramifications for our business and residential communities,” the councilors wrote.

“All of us care deeply about what is happening within our local public schools regardless of whether or not we personally have loved ones — either students or employees — learning or working in them because we understand that schools are community anchors and the heart of our neighborhoods.

“Often, what happens within our public schools creates consequences that reach far beyond campuses and classrooms.”

The email was signed by Councilors Lori Decter Wright, Crista Patrick, Vanessa Hall-Harper and Kara Joy McKee. McKee no longer serves on the council.

Neither Patrick, the City Council chairwoman, nor Tulsa Public Schools responded to requests for comment.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.