Oklahoma advocates & educators celebrate state superintendent Ryan Walters' resignation as 'pivotal moment'

""We're going to destroy the teachers' unions," Walters said on air. "We have seen the teachers' unions use money and power to corrupt our schools, to undermine our schools. We will build an army of teachers to defeat the teachers' unions once and for all.""

""Oklahomans for Equality recognizes the resignation of State Superintendent Ryan Walters as a pivotal moment for our state,""

""Under his tenure, many of Oklahoma's most marginalized students, including 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, and the educators who support them faced harmful rhetoric and policies that threatened safe and affirming learning environments.""

Ryan Walters resigned as Oklahoma state superintendent and announced on Fox News that he will become CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a conservative nonprofit focused on fighting teachers' unions nationwide. Walters declared an intent to dismantle teachers' unions, saying they use money and power to corrupt and undermine schools and promising to build an army of teachers to defeat them. Oklahoma's education system declined in national rankings during his tenure, faced lawsuits over unconstitutional directives, and experienced repeated scandals. Advocacy groups called the resignation pivotal, noting harmful rhetoric and policies that threatened safe, affirming learning environments for 2SLGBTQIA+ and other marginalized students.

Read at Advocate.com