Andrea Eger
Tulsa World Staff Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY — State Superintendent Ryan Walters will be pushing for new administrative rules to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion jobs, curriculum and programs from Oklahoma’s public school system, he announced at Thursday afternoon’s State Board of Education meeting.
Walters gave Fox News a heads-up about his announcement ahead of the public meeting and singled out Tulsa Public Schools in the advance interview, claiming that the district was the first in the state to teach critical race theory.
“That’s not a coincidence,” Walters told Fox.
TPS has repeatedly denied doing anything of the kind and issued a statement Thursday reiterating that it does not incorporate the notion in its coursework.
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“The diversity of our school district is something we celebrate every day in our classrooms and throughout our school communities,” the statement reads in part. “This diversity is a strength of our district and our city, contributing to their cultural richness and economic opportunities.”
The state superintendent wants new special reports from public schools across the state in his push against "harmful ideologies."
Walters told the state board members that he is following the lead of Gov. Kevin Stitt, who announced an executive order last week to try to strike down DEI employees and initiatives at all of the state’s taxpayer-funded higher education institutions.
He vowed to propose administrative rules Friday to accomplish his end goal. Those rules would require state board and legislative approval.
Two other sets of new rules he said he will propose Friday would:
Prohibit drag queen activities through an update of public school teachers’ code of conduct.
Protect prayer and the reading of Bible verses in public schools.
Walters said he believes that DEI should stand for “discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination” instead of diversity, equity and inclusion and that public schools “should be focused on outcomes, not victimhood.”
In response to the announcement, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. issued a statement Thursday afternoon calling on the Oklahoma Legislature to block the proposed rule change from taking effect. Hoskin previously objected to Stitt’s DEI executive order, as well.
“The Cherokee Nation alone has more than 33,000 Cherokee students in classrooms across our reservation who directly benefit from services protecting Native culture and language and ensuring that all students succeed,” Hoskin said.
“All children, regardless of their race, ethnicity or background, benefit from learning in environments in which we celebrate diversity and recognize the dignity of everyone and everyone’s experience.”
Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton contributed to this story.
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