In the release, Walters said the proposal is in response to what he calls “rogue” administrators. Across the state, superintendents have defied several mandates the attorney general’s office says Walters has no legal authority to make, such as requiring Bibles in classrooms and showing a video of Walters praying for President-Elect Donald Trump.
The release alleged superintendent pushback is “due to the ongoing, entrenched influence of radical teacher union agendas.”
Walters cited pushback to his administration’s efforts to ban certain books in school libraries and a school fundraising event that went viral for students licking peanut butter from each other’s feet. He alleges, without specificity, the “cover-up” of sexual misconduct of teachers.
He also listed seeing “administrators… be arrested by public intoxication on school grounds,” presumably referencing a Bixby High School principal arrested in September at a school dance. Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller suspended the principal the next day.
“I will never back down to the unions and the woke mob that exerts undue influence over our schools, and I know Oklahoma parents won’t either,” Walters said in the release.
The release says the legislation will include dates for primary and general elections, eligibility requirements, filing rules and a process for determining salary compensation.
Bill filing for the spring legislative session began last month, and no superintendent election bill exists yet. Walters’ office did not immediately answer whether he’d secured a bill author to run the proposal.
Only three states allow districts the option of superintendent elections, and none require it statewide.
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