Newsletter: Investigating Attacks on Public Education in Oklahoma

American Oversight this week sent a letter demanding that the Oklahoma State Department of Education release multiple sets of public records requested over the past year that the agency has failed to adequately respond to. 

• Our letter details eight requests filed since last September, including for State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ communications with far-right education groups and external entities.

Walters has gained national notoriety for having transformed Oklahoma’s public school system by adopting anti-LGBTQ and anti-DEI policies, and has faced scrutiny for his efforts to suppress student and teacher self-expression. As state superintendent, Walters has ordered public schools to incorporate the Bible into curriculum, denied state legislators entry to executive sessions of the State Education Board, and avoided accountability. 

• Our letter comes as several Republican state lawmakers have called for an impeachment investigation of Walters, including for his administration’s lack of responsiveness to public records requests.

“The people of Oklahoma have a right to know whether special or partisan interests have helped shape Superintendent Walters’ far-right attacks on public education,” American Oversight’s interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said. 

• “Walters’ administration’s failure to comply with the state’s Open Records Act shows an alarming disdain for all Oklahomans and accountability for those in government. We demand that the Department of Education release the records to which the public is entitled,” she added.

Last month, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said his office was looking into potential “willful” violations of the state’s Open Meeting Act by the Walters-led State Board of Education after several lawmakers were blocked from attending board meetings.

• In a recent letter to Walters, Drummond also detailed the “alarming number of complaints” about the Department of Education’s failures to respond to public records requests. The letter noted that the department’s inaction in responding to the attorney general’s inquiries was “unacceptable.”
• Among the records we have requested are communications, including those of Walters, far-right groups, as well as documents related to curriculum reviews or personnel changes within the department.

Sowing Distrust and Chaos
As the November election draws near, the anti-democracy movement’s alarming efforts to sow confusion and distrust are increasing, deploying tactics designed to convince voters that U.S. elections are not secure and to pave the way for post-election chaos. As the Guardian outlined this week, those include:

• Certification delays: Activists and partisan actors are pushing to allow election officials to refuse or delay certification of results. Since 2020, there have been 20 instances in eight states in which officials have refused to certify election results by the deadline, citing vague and unfounded concerns about voting equipment, small errors that did not impact final results, and laws they object to. Experts have pointed out the danger of this certification delay being used to subvert elections that don’t go the way those officials, or those influencing them, want. 
• Anti-immigrant rhetoric: The specter of votes being cast by non-citizens — something that’s already illegal in federal elections — has become a new conservative talking point, with bills and ballot measures aimed at keeping voters primed to believe widespread fraud will occur. 
• Voter roll challenges: The Republican National Convention and several anti-voting groups have filed lawsuits in multiple states alleging that voter rolls are not properly maintained. These lawsuits create the false impression that mass voter fraud is possible. Some online projects — like VoteRef and EagleAI — are making it easier for individuals to challenge voter registrations and potentially remove people from the rolls.
• American Oversight is using public records requests to investigate these efforts. Learn more about our ongoing work here. 

Other Stories We’re Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy

• Former Colorado official found guilty for role in election equipment tampering (Washington Post)
• In Florida, candidates who question integrity of elections campaign to oversee them (Miami Herald)
• Pro-Trump lawyer removed from Dominion case after leaking documents to cast doubt on 2020 election (Associated Press)
• Candidates who advanced false election claims win Republican primaries in Michigan (Votebeat)
• Here are the secret backers of all those Trump ‘election integrity’ efforts (Slate)

Voting Rights

• Judge upholds ballot language to ban noncitizen voting, already illegal in Missouri (Missouri Independent)
• Tarrant County adopts new election software that allows you to view ballots (KERA News)
• Texas election officials are dealing with a flood of challenges to voter registrations (Texas Tribune/Votebeat)
• DMV software error could block some Arkansas voters from the polls without correction (Fort Smith Southwest Times Record)

In the States

• Pinal County supervisor asks attorney general to investigate primary election results (Votebeat)
• Inquiry finds no politics behind ballot paper shortages in 2022 Houston election (New York Times)
• Parents sue over teen’s social gender transition they say was kept from them (Colorado Public Radio)
• Federal judge in Texas expands ruling that blocks Biden administration protections of LGBTQ students (Texas Tribune)
• Texas’ overcrowded and understaffed jails send people awaiting trial to other counties and states (Texas Tribune)

Abortion and Reproductive Rights

• Nearly 30% of Florida women don’t know what the state’s abortion restrictions are, survey finds (Florida Phoenix)
• Attorney General Todd Rokita drops lawsuit against IU Health tied to 10-year-old’s abortion (Indianapolis Star)
• Montana Supreme Court strikes down abortion law requiring parental consent (Montana Free Press)
• In new complaint, Texas women say delayed care due to abortion laws endangered their fertility (Texas Tribune)
• Missouri voters will decide whether to legalize abortion in November (Missouri Independent)
• Arizona certifies abortion-rights initiative for the November ballot (NBC News)
• Ruling: Fetus can be referred to as ‘unborn human being’ in Arizona abortion measure voter pamphlet (Associated Press)

Threats to Education

• Millions of campaign dollars aimed at tilting school voucher battle are flowing into state races (Associated Press)
• How a regional library is being dismantled while debating ‘sexually explicit’ themes (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Utah bans 13 books at schools, including popular “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series, under new law (Associated Press)

Government Transparency and Public Records Law

• State Supreme Court rules Open Records Act applies to private contractors working for governments (Georgia Recorder)
• State council can’t shield records from disclosure during disputes, court rules (New Jersey Monitor)