Public Education as a Political Weapon: The Rise of Ryan Walters

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction, has exploited his authority over schools to inject Christian nationalism into curriculum, indoctrinate students with election conspiracy theories, and launch himself onto the national stage. As Walters has amassed power and aligned himself with the president, Oklahoma schoolchildren are in desperate need of a better education system: the state’s public schools ranked 50th in the country last year. 

Public education is a quintessential element of American culture and experience and an essential democratic institution. Yellow school buses pick up children, bells ring to start class, sneakers squeak across the wood gymnasium floor. Teachers don’t just teach students about photosynthesis and long division; they show them how our democracy works and how to participate in it. We learn about the values that guided our country’s creation and how Americans have pushed leaders to live up to those ideals throughout history. We’re taught how a bill becomes a law (often with a catchy tune), how the three branches of government keep each other in check, and how to vote. These lessons prepare us to value and take part in our democracy. Walters’ approach reveals how education officials can weaponize their positions while evading accountability.

Education is a powerful tool that can be wielded in dangerous ways. Students are developing critical thinking skills, and ill-intentioned leaders can use their control over schools to impose Christian teachings, indoctrinate “America First” ultra-nationalism, line the pockets of their friends, rewrite history to match their political beliefs, and raise their national profile. No better example illustrates the current threat of weaponizing public education than Ryan Walters. His record in Oklahoma shows how his policies align with the priorities of Donald Trump and his allies and how he’s fighting transparency and accountability.

Mandating Christian Teachings in Public Schools

After taking office in January 2023, Walters systematically worked to inject Christian nationalism into public education. By March, he had established the Oklahoma Advisory Committee on Founding Principles to recommend ways to align school curriculum with Christian ideology. Records we obtained, cited in the New York Times Magazine , included a draft document circulated by Walters’ staff in October 2023 titled “Putting God Back in the Classroom.” The document touted Walters’ creation of the advisory committee, new rules that could limit discussions of sexuality and gender, and Oklahoma’s partnership with right-wing media organization PragerU. 

The committee recommended creating the nation’s first religious public charter school, a proposal Oklahoma embraced when its Virtual Charter School Board approved St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School’s application in 2023. The state Supreme Court ruled against public funding of the school in 2024 and the ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court’s split 4-4 decision earlier this year. If just one more justice had sided with the state, it would have upended education across the entire country.

While Walters has clashed with some state leadership over his efforts to teach Christianity in public schools, the superintendent initially received the support of Gov. Kevin Stitt who approved multiple regulations Walters recommended, including allowing time for prayer in schools and including an acknowledgement of a “Creator” in the state Education Department’s official “foundational values.” 

First Amendment advocates and school districts have challenged these measures. In June 2024, Walters sent a memo to all Oklahoma school districts ordering them, effective immediately, to have a Bible in every fifth- through twelfth-grade classroom and to adopt curriculum teaching the Bible. The Americans United for Separation of Church and State, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Oklahoma, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law & Justice filed a lawsuit challenging Walters’ order on behalf of 32 Oklahoma teachers, families, and religious leaders in October 2024. 

“The First Amendment promises all Americans autonomy in what religious beliefs, if any, to hold and practice, without pressure from the government,” ACLU Oklahoma’s legal director Megan Lambert told us.

“Politicians have no business imposing their preferred religious doctrine on students and families in public schools. Oklahoma communities are religiously diverse, and all students should feel safe and welcome, regardless of faith. The Oklahoma Department of Education continues to undermine this critical goal, but the Constitution does not permit misguided politicians to undermine our religious freedom in exchange for political clout.” 

The same month that Rev. Lori Walke v. Ryan Walters was filed, the state superintendent for public instruction issued his request for proposals (RFP) to suppliers for the Bibles mandated in classrooms. The requirements were so specific — including that the book include the Pledge of Allegiance, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution — that only one Bible on the market fit the bill: singer Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA Bible. President Trump receives a portion of the sale of this Bible thanks to his very public endorsement of the $60 book. 

The RFP drew widespread criticism for appearing to be tailored to funnel money from Bible purchases to line Trump’s pockets. Following the backlash, the state Education Department and Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) amended the request to be broader. At the time, OMES stated that these alterations were merely “cost-effective amendments,” while Walters criticized the media for spreading “blatant misreporting” about the RFP.

Records we uncovered reveal the real story. In fact, OMES officials wrote in an email that the original RFP was “drafted narrowly and in a way that potentially restricts competition.” The documents also show that Walters approved the amended request before the search for a supplier was abruptly cancelled on Nov. 8, 2024, without a given reason.

In February 2025, the state Education Department issued another RFP for curriculum materials that incorporate the Bible. The next month, the state Supreme Court stayed the request but did not issue an opinion in the case challenging Walters’ order. In July, Walters called on the court to lift the stay. As students return to school, the court has not yet ruled on Walters’ request.

After state lawmakers rejected Walters’ request for $3 million to buy the Bibles in May, Walters turned to crowd-sourced fundraising to attempt to raise the money to purchase the so-called “Trump Bibles.” Records we obtained in August 2024  include an email exchange in which an Education Department employee asked an OMES official if the Bibles could be purchased with donated funds or by establishing a “charity” to avoid stirring “up [the] wrath of taxpayers who may not support this initiative.” 

For his part, Walters has tried — unsuccessfully — to use the courts to go after his critics. After the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent letters to state school districts voicing legal concerns about reported instances of school officials proselytizing to children, Walters sued the organization, claiming it was violating students’ religious freedoms and interfering with school districts’ ability to do their work.The ACLU and ACLU Oklahoma represented FFRF in the case. Last month, a federal judge dismissed the case, scolding Walters for filing a case with vague assertions and claiming an injury that was “nothing more than conjecture.”

“The court’s dismissal of the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s attempt to punish FFRF for its advocacy affirms our right to speak out against school policies and advocate for better governance and equity in public schools,” the ACLU of Oklahoma’s Megan Lambert told us. “The right to dissent is now more important than ever, and the Oklahoma State Department of Education remains without the power to silence it.” 

Using Walters’ Office to Enforce Trump’s Agenda

In the days following Trump’s second presidential victory, Walters announced a new committee called the Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism (ORLP) to “align with incoming President Donald Trump’s aim of protecting prayer in schools.” 

Since Trump returned to office, Walters has used his office to adopt policies that bolster the cruelest elements of the president’s agenda. As Trump has prioritized ICE arrests, Walters created a plan to collect children’s immigration statuses when they register for school. 

As Trump continued to falsely claim he won the 2020 presidential election, Walters introduced a new curriculum that will teach high schoolers that lie. The new standards, added at the last minute before the state Board of Education’s February vote, also mandate teaching the unfounded claim that Covid-19 originated in a Chinese lab.

As Trump has attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion policies at higher education institutions and law firms, Walters implemented an “anti-woke” test he claims will keep “away woke indoctrinators.” The superintendent said that teachers relocating from California or New York will not earn a teaching certificate to be able to teach in Oklahoma if they do not pass the 50-question exam. The test asks prospective teachers questions about religion, gender, and government. The teachers union has warned that this could discourage teachers from applying at a time when the state is facing a critical shortage of educators.

And, in a blatant display of fealty that combined Walters’ promotion of Christianity and desire to please Trump, he emailed Oklahoma school districts and informed them they were required to show students and email parents a video of him praying for Trump. In the video, Walters criticized teachers unions and the “radical left” for “attacking” religious freedom before he prayed for Trump and his efforts to “bring about change to the country.” Several school districts pushed back and refused to show the video.

PragerU and Walters’ Connections to Right-Wing Education Groups

The “anti-woke” screening test was developed by PragerU — a right-wing media organization that makes educational materials, including videos that downplay slavery. In 2023, Oklahoma announced that PragerU would create state-specific educational materials. The “Putting God Back in the Classroom” document we obtained touted the state’s partnership with PragerU as one of Walters’ key accomplishments. 

But PragerU isn’t the only right-wing educational organization that Walters is connected to. Records we obtained also show Walters’ ties to Moms for Liberty and Parents Defending Education. For example, in September 2023, Walters testified before a U.S. House committee that Chinese influence was impacting Oklahoma schools. The documents indicate that in the weeks leading up to Walters’ testimony, Parents Defending Education sent the superintendent research and records about Chinese politics and influence, and had met with OSDE about “foreign influence in public schools.” 

The records additionally show that Walters was in frequent contact with Heritage Foundation officials, including Lindsey Burke, the lead author of Project 2025’s chapter on education. The Heritage Foundation also invited Walters last year to serve on its Advisory Council on Education Reform. Additional records show that taxpayers have footed the bill for multiple trips to Heritage events by Walters and his public affairs director.

Courting the National Spotlight

Walters has not been subtle about his desire to appear on national television and make headlines. After he hired a public relations firm — to the tune of $200 an hour — to boost his profile, Gov. Stitt signed an executive order barring state agencies from engaging in single-source contracts with public relations and marketing agencies. 

Records we obtained also suggest that at the start of Walters’ term in January 2023 he was already focused on media appearances. A new employee was hired and given a series of tasks, including turning the “storage space” into a “studio,” designing a podium placard with Walters’ name and title, and obtaining cloth American flags that would “absorb light and not be shiny,” likely to look good on camera. 

We also received records in response to our request for documentation of out-of-state travel for Walters, his staff, or family. Between April 2023 and November 2024, Oklahoma taxpayers spent roughly $20,000 on such trips, many of them for media appearances. During that same period, travel by Walters’ press director, Matt Langston, cost taxpayers an additional $11,000. 

Walters’ desire to make headlines has sometimes meant that his initiatives are more talk than action. As mentioned above, Walters created a committee on prayer in schools in the days immediately following the November 2024 election. In response to our public records requests, we received two job descriptions and an organizational chart with just two people. One of them, Matt Oberdick, was already serving as the Education Department’s director of external affairs, suggesting the new “office” amounted to a single full-time employee. Behind Walters’ bold announcement was little more than a one-person office. 

At times, Walters has made headlines for reasons the superintendent would likely prefer to avoid. In 2023, he emailed state legislators pornography — claiming he sent it just to show examples of what was available in schools, though he never produced any evidence that the images were linked to Oklahoma educational materials. He is currently under investigation after images of naked women were reportedly visible on his TV at an Oklahoma Board of Education meeting. 

Walters’ War on Transparency

As teachers, parents, school districts, and advocacy groups take action to hold Walters accountable for his blatant constitutional violations, Walters has routinely violated the laws that enable accountability through transparency. In fact, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond warned Walters in July 2024 of the “alarming number of complaints” about the Department of Education’s failures to respond to public records requests. 

That August, Drummond announced 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. That same month, several state Republican lawmakers called for an impeachment investigation of Walters, citing his administration’s lack of responsiveness to public records requests, among other issues.

We have taken action to fight Walters’ refusal to comply with Oklahoma’s Open Records Act. In March, we sent a letter to OSDE demanding the release of multiple public records the agency had withheld for more than a year, including documents from its controversial Library Media Advisory Committee and Executive Review Committee that it wrongly claimed were exempt under the Open Records Act.

This was the second time in less than seven months that we were forced to formally demand that OSDE release records that belong to the public — including records that could shed light on Superintendent Walters’ efforts to erode the separation between church and state. In August 2024, we sent a letter demanding the release of documents tied to eight separate requests the department had either ignored or answered insufficiently. Only after that letter did the department provide responses,  some of which are cited in this article. This pattern of secrecy enables Walters to advance controversial policies while making it difficult for the public to hold him accountable.

Walters’ weaponization of public education reveals how quickly democratic institutions can be corrupted when leaders prioritize their political advancement and agendas over the public good. By aligning himself with Trump’s agenda, Walters is not just undermining classrooms in Oklahoma, he is eroding one of the most essential democratic institutions in America. Public education equips young people with the knowledge and tools to participate in civic life. When leaders distort curricula with partisan or religious dogma, they deny students the education they need to sustain our democracy.

Unfortunately, Walters is just one leader who wants to warp education in this way.  Our report on the far-right’s coordinated attack on public education reveals how widespread efforts to weave political biases — often based on so-called religious principles — into curriculum are spreading across the country. The records we’ve received demonstrate how this upheaval harms students by denying them a full and accurate education, weakening public trust, and entrenching authoritarian politics. As another school year begins, we will continue to investigate Walters’ actions in Oklahoma and hold accountable those, including Trump and his allies, who seek to turn public education into a political weapon.