Nearly a week after Ryan Walters announced his resignation as state superintendent on FOX News, he submitted his resignation letter to Gov. Kevin Stitt today.
He leaves the office with more than a year left in his term to become CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a project of the conservative Freedom Foundation that describes itself as a non-union alternative for educators.
"We're going to destroy the teachers' unions," Walters said while making his announcement.
For their part, education leaders have been celebrating his departure for the last week. Walters was unpopular with many in the educational community.
In his resignation letter, Walters said serving as an elected official is one of the highest honors any citizen can be entrusted with, and he is grateful to Oklahomans for the opportunity.
"From the beginning, my mission was clear: restore parental rights, strengthen accountability, and ensure every Oklahoma child has the opportunity to succeed," Walters wrote.
He will step down from his position today.
The Tulsa World first reported and another source confirmed, Stitt is expected to tap retired CareerTech superintendent Lindel Fields to finish Walters' term, ending January 2027.
Fields was superintendent at Tri-County Tech from 2009 through 2021. While steering CareerTech, the school saw student enrollment numbers grow and achieved a 93% student retention rate over the last five years of his leadership, according to a Tri-County Tech press release.
Before submitting his letter of resignation, Walters thanked parents and touted his work in a letter.
An Oklahoma State Department of Education press release also praises Walters' actions, including expansion of school choice, championing the first religious charter school in the nation, mandating Bibles in classrooms and eliminating "woke indoctrination from schools while affirming religious liberty and American exceptionalism."
"We have set a new standard for what's possible in education, delivering bold, unapologetic reforms the people of Oklahoma demanded when they elected me into office," Walters said in the release. "Oklahoma is now leading the nation in putting students first, rewarding great teachers and defending our AMERICAN values. This fight is not over."
Walters' resignation comes with several unfinished projects underway, such as calling for Turning Point USA chapters at every high school following the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and announcing a policy requiring school districts to pay for school meals. The ultimate future of those ambitious projects is unclear.
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