Tag Archives: Kevin Stitt

Another Oklahoma Education Blunder

8 Sep

By Thomas Ultican 9/8/2024

Under the suspect leadership of Oklahoma’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, the education department released testing results he described as “tremendous.” However, they were a fiction. With the new unannounced cut scores, 51% of third graders were proficient in reading or better compared to last year’s 29%. That is just one of many examples.

September 10, 2020, Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Walters Oklahoma’s Secretary of Education. In 2022, Walters ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction receiving the governor’s endorsement and that of Texas Senator, Ted Cruz. Walters won 53% of the vote in a Republican primary runoff against April Grace and then easily defeated Democrat Jena Nelson in the general election.

The 2022 election appeared to be part of the seven mountains movement. Crazy Ted’s father, Rafael Cruz, is a seven mountains advocate, who during a live streamed Patriot Mobil sermon, asserted that the separation of church and state is a myth. He claimed the founders meant it to be a “one-way wall” preventing the government from interfering with the church, not preventing the church from having dominion over the government. Clearly Kevin Stitt spent political capital appointing Walters and then supporting him ever since for a reason. Walter’s behavior in office, mandating Bible lessons, attacking the LGBTQ+ community and teachers, looks like dominionism.

The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) known as the nation’s report card has consistently shown Oklahoma results trailing most states. In 2022, NAEP testing results after COVID were down for the nation. The fourth and eighth grade math and reading results reveal that the average declines in Oklahoma were worse than the national averages. This is the first data that is related to Walters’s leadership of education in Oklahoma.

The testing fiasco is odd. Was it just incompetence or was there something else happening? This is not a unique event. As a member of the Technical Advisory committee wrote in May to the education department’s assessment director, “Historically, I understand that [the department] has handled these types of changes with media events where the department has invited news organizations to help support the communication of changes to the system.” For some reason, these past practices were not followed. Maybe Walters thought he could make the state’s poor testing performance disappear.

Attacking the Media

When the testing issue exploded, Ryan Walters responded:

“It is an incredible position of the media gaslighting the public on what’s happening here. We have not rolled out the test scores yet. So to be attacked on how we rolled out test scores before we roll out test scores, I found [a] really fascinating bit of fan fiction out there.”

Was he purposefully lying or didn’t he know? Neither case looks good. Walters’ department had already posted the statewide testing data to the state website before his attack on the media.

Another odd lie from Walters was his claim that no public announcements were made because his administration was busy explaining the new results to school districts. Several school leaders claimed they received their test scores from the state Department of Education with no notice of material changes to scoring.

Even without an explanation, it was obvious to district leaders something must have changed. Midwest City-Del City Public Schools Superintendent Rick Cobb said, “We’re probably seeing some growth, probably hitting that point past the pandemic where statewide we’re reversing the learning loss, but we didn’t reverse 20% of it in one year.” In Watonga Public Schools, Superintendent Kyle Hilterbran said he expected his students to show improvement, but the leap in statewide averages told him the state must have reset its scores.

The Oklahoma Voice developed a source in the state assessment group allowing them to report:

“Fifth-grade results in English language arts had the greatest boost from the new scoring method. About 59% of fifth graders will be considered proficient this year, an increase of 33%.

“Without the recent scoring changes, their proficiency rate would drop to 26%. In 2023, the proficiency rate for fifth-grade English was 28%.”

Impeachment Possible

Many are blaming Walters for the communications breakdown. They cite his messy political brawls over the summer as distracting him from doing his job. In June, he drew national attention by mandating that all public schools teach the Bible. A federal audit by the U.S. Department of Education called Oklahoma out of compliance with testing and handling Title I funds. Walters of course blamed the previous administration.

On top of all that, seventeen Republican said they would be seeking an impeachment investigation against him. Their signed letter included:

  1. Denied entry into a Department of Education executive board meeting for an Education Committee member.
  2. Employed significant delays in answering Committee inquires (2 committees).
  3. Failed to comply with legislative budgetary directive regarding school security dollars.
  4. Failed to turn over complete information regarding spending on travel.
  5. Failed to fill in a timely manner Open Records Act requests.
  6. Defied legislative appropriation authority by refusing to buy critically needed asthma inhalers.

The letter from the sub-committee on education chair, Mark McBride, was addressed to Speaker of the House, Charles McCall. McCall said he would not act on the letter unless 51 house Republicans signed on which is two thirds of them. McBride responded, “I don’t know that 51 is obtainable, but I think at 26, that’s concerning to me if I was in his shoes.” Twenty-six members would represent half the Republican caucus.

The Education Committee member barred from the Department of Education’s executive board meeting was former teacher and Democratic Representative, Jacob Roscrants. The former teacher observed:

“If you look at the state statute and how it spells out how you impeach a statewide-elected official, in my eyes, Superintendent Walters has far exceeded that. There’s so much incompetence coming from Superintendent Walters, his board and the State Department of Education under him.”

Walters reacted defiantly to the call for his impeachment. In reporting on this, the Oklahoma Voice header read, “Ryan Walters urges Oklahoma House to start his impeachment proceedings ‘immediately.’” He claimed lawmakers have publicized baseless lies about him.

Walters accused House Speaker, McCall, and Education Committee Chairman, McBride, of trying to impeach him for political gain. He asserted the speaker plans to run for governor in 2026. “The speaker wants to impeach me for political advantage in the 2026 governor’s race,” Walters declared.

On another front, the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT), an investigative service for the Oklahoma legislature, was activated. It is investigating the allegation that Walters was withholding funds for school security, asthma inhalers and teacher maternity leave. Speaker McCall reported, “This investigation by LOFT allows us to address these concerns efficiently without the need for a costly special session.”

In another related occurrence, Phil Bacharach, a spokesperson for Attorney General Gentner Drummond, said, “We are very concerned by what appeared to be a willful violation of the Open Meeting Act.” He noted that his office is investigating and will “take appropriate action.”

Walters had an eventful August.

Observations

Former school teacher, Ryan Walters, with no administrative experience was put in charge of Oklahoma education by Governor Kevin Stitt. The only obvious reason for his selection is he is a Christian culture warrior. Makes me wonder if Oklahoma has been captured by a dangerous Christian cult?

A member of the Republican Party, Walters, has been a vocal critic of critical race theory, LGBT students’ rights, and teachers’ unions. He has been described as “the state’s top culture warrior.” Walters appointed anti-gay “The Libs of TikTok” creator, Chaya Raichik, to the Oklahoma Library Advisory Board.

He campaigned for and won the removal of Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist and supported the conservative political organization Moms for Liberty.

When non-binary, Nex Benedict, died after an horrific bathroom beating, Walters showed off his profound ignorance saying he does not believe non-binary or transgender people exit. He stated:

“There’s not multiple genders. There’s two. That’s how God created us.”

This is what it looks like when a dangerous cult gains power.

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A Call for Segregation, Exclusion and Caste

8 May

By Thomas Ultican 5/8/2024

Republicans, following the lead of Manhattan Institute’s Christopher Rufo, are out to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, wrote on X, “DEI is just another word for racism.” Rufo’s and Musk’s central complaint is DEI unfairly harms white people. Billionaire hedge-fund manager, Bill Ackman, wrote, “DEI is racist because reverse racism is racism, even if it is against white people.”  It is easy to conclude, these men are calling for policies leading back to 1876 and segregation, exclusion and caste (SEC).

Bill Ackman is not a GOP shill. He is a neoliberal who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Al Gore, Barack Obama and Pete Buttigieg. When Musk responded to a post on X, blaming Jews for flooding countries in the West with “hordes of minorities,” calling it “actual truth,” Ackman leaped to his defense with “Elon Musk is not an antisemite.” This is as hard to believe as Republicans are warriors against anti-Semitism. After all, the Republican Party is the main vector for the anti-Semitic “replacement theory.” A theory claiming Jews are involved in a plot to inundate the U.S. with undocumented immigrants who will “replace” the ebbing white majority and keep the GOP out of power.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal about his role in bringing down Harvard’s first ever black female President, Claudine Gay, Rufo ignored claims of plagiarism and anti-Semitism brought against her and focused on efforts ending DEI in higher education. Gay’s chief critic was Bill Ackman. In a long statement, he claimed DEI was the “root cause” of anti-Semitism at Harvard.

Ending DEI at College

Medical Schools Do Not Want Students Who Look and Think Alike

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports at least 82 bills opposing DEI in higher education have been filed in 20 states since 2023. Twelve of them became law in Idaho, Indiana, Florida, Texas and other states lead by GOP politicians. Kevin Stitt, the Governor of Oklahoma, signed an executive order in December, ending spending on DEI, claiming:

“Encouraging our workforce, economy, and education systems to flourish means shifting focus away from exclusivity and discrimination, and toward opportunity and merit. We’re taking politics out of education and focusing on preparing students for the workforce.”

The OU student newspaper reported, “Offices that are focused on African American, Hispanic, or LGBTQ+ students likely violate the Executive Order.”

Florida has a long dark history of racism, ranging from fighting in the civil war for rights to own black people to the 1923 Ocoee massacre that powerful Floridians are trying to hide. Totally in keeping with this racist past, Tallahassee Democrat reported the DeSantis administration pushed to gut diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education. In May 2023, the Governor signed a bill banning state public colleges and universities from spending money on DEI. He asserted:

“This bill says the whole experiment with DEI is coming to an end in the state of Florida. We are eliminating the DEI programs.”

In June 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill, dismantling DEI programs in higher education. It was introduced into the state senate by State Senator Brandon Creighton. Afterwards, Creighton claimed, “With this bold, forward-thinking legislation to eliminate DEI programs, Texas is leading the nation, and ensuring our campuses return to focusing on the strength of diversity and promoting a merit-based approach where individuals are judged on their qualifications, skills, and contributions.”

Dallas Morning News reported:

“The bill was challenged by Democrats every step of the way, from the Senate higher education subcommittee to the House floor. But starting in January 2024, Texas campuses must eliminate DEI offices, mandatory DEI statements and training.”

Abbott also signed a related law, reducing tenure protection for college professors. As a result, higher education institutions in Texas are finding it more difficult to attract top professors.

Stephanie Saul of the New York Times notes that some schools are finding workarounds to mitigate damage. Whereas both University of Florida and University of Texas ended their DEI programs and terminated administrators and staff, Florida State University and University of Tennessee took steps to save employees and continue some valuable services that would otherwise be lost.

Florida State University did it mostly by changing title names and reclassifying positions of employees, already working in DEI to give them new roles; an approach that did not require laying anyone off. This left in place some of the previous DEI department’s work. The school reshuffled jobs and turned the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office into the Office of Equal Opportunity Compliance and Engagement.

At University of Tennessee, the DEI program is now called Division of Access and Engagement. The newly named department is still working to diversify the campus and beat back injustice. Unfortunately Tennessee lawmakers have become wise to the workaround. A bill introduced in January specifically stated that no such offices should be operating “regardless of name or designation.” White GOP lawmakers are steadfastly opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion. They see it as a “WOKE” plot foisted on them by liberals.

Corporations and DEI

Corporations Value Diversity

Surprisingly America’s corporations are quite bullish on DEI. Taylor Tedford of the Washington Post shared, “In his annual letter to shareholders this year, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon emphasized that DEI ‘initiatives make us a more inclusive company and lead to more innovation, smarter decisions and better financial results for us and for the economy overall.’” Many large companies tout DEI as leading to business success. A 2023 study of 1200 firms by McKinsey & Company found organizations with the highest racial, ethnic and gender representation are 39% more likely to outperform. A Moody’s study found companies with greater diversity on their boards and in executive leadership have higher ratings.

However conservative opponents of DEI are attacking corporations in court. Last September, a federal judge in Washington State threw out the lawsuit alleging Starbucks violated its duty to shareholders by endeavoring to diversify its workforce. The suit was based on the company’s goals of hiring more people of color, attracting diverse suppliers and tying executive pay to achieving diversity goals.

Growing legal, social and political attacks cause some organizations to delete DEI from public view. They are not necessarily abandoning it but rewriting policies that once emphasized race and gender to prioritize inclusion for all.

Opinion

Manhattan Institute’s, Christopher Rufo, worked at Discovery Institute, dedicated to replacing Darwinian biology with “intelligent design”. There, he developed a talent for tapping into white insecurities with racially dishonest tropes, like abuse of critical race theory (CRT). As the CRT furor began to wane, Rufo turned to another racially-sensitive topic, reframing DEI as being against white people.

Sadly the GOP, which used to have ideals and ethics, joined this campaign. The fact is non-white males and women are not competing on a level playing field when it comes to hiring, admittance to training programs or gaining promotions. DEI programs work to rectify this. Now, Republicans are turning this on its head, claiming it is the “WOKE” agenda of liberals working against white people. This racially-tinged attack on women and minorities demonstrates how bankrupt the GOP ideology has become.

Doubtlessly there are some legitimate grievances with DEI but that does not mean it should be destroyed. Some aspects of the movement may need reformation but America needs this tool. Instead of lamenting people who are different, we need to awaken to the fact that these differences should be celebrated as the key to our greatness.

Conservative lawmakers have set themselves up by opposing diversity, fighting against equal opportunity and ignoring inclusion.

Their fight against DEI is not a good look … it appears racist, caring only about whites.

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