After a public backlash for pushing Bibles endorsed by President Donald Trump on Oklahoma students, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is now mired in scandal for an entirely different reason — images of nude women on his office television.
Two members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education are accusing Walters — who was on Trump’s shortlist of education secretary candidates last year — of screening graphic images on a television connected to his computer Thursday during a closed-door meeting focused on teaching credentials and student attendance.
Now the state’s Republican leaders, including Gov. Kevin Stitt, say they support a probe into the conduct of the conservative superintendent who has called teachers “perverts” and backed bans of books he claims contain pornography. Walters has also faced criticism from LGBTQ+ groups for his policies and rhetoric, which came under scrutiny last year when a nonbinary Oklahoma teenager named Nex Benedict died after a physical altercation with classmates.
In a statement on Sunday, Walters denied the accusations, which he called “politically motivated attacks” as he prioritizes parental rights and rejects “radical” education agendas.
“Any suggestion that a device of mine was used to stream inappropriate content on the television set is categorically false,” he said. “I have no knowledge of what was on the TV screen during the alleged incident, and there is absolutely no truth to any implication of wrongdoing.”
Board members Ryan Deatherage and Becky Carson allege that, in Walters’ office last week, they saw full-frontal nudity on a TV screen connected to his computer.
Carson told The Oklahoman that she confronted Walters about what she’d seen, demanding he turn off the television at once, and he complied.
Deatherage said he witnessed the exchange between Carson and Walters. A third board member, who said he did not see the confrontation, described the superintendent as “shook up” and “obviously a little flustered or embarrassed” during the executive session.
Quinton Hitchcock, a spokesman for Walters, denied that Walters bears responsibility for the explicit content shown, telling The Oklahoman that multiple people have access to the superintendent’s office. He also described the state board — which has challenged Walters repeatedly over issues including free student lunch, teacher assessments and his partnership with an online school — as “hostile” to the superintendent.
“These falsehoods are the desperate tactics of a broken establishment afraid of real change,” Walters said in his statement. “They aren’t just attacking me, they’re attacking the values of the Oklahomans who elected me to challenge the status quo. I will not be distracted. My focus remains on making Oklahoma the best state in the nation, in every category.”
Oklahoma was recently ranked 50th in the nation in a new study on school quality by personal finance company Wallet Hub.
As Walters accuses the board members of ulterior motives, the governor expressed his trust and appreciation for the State Board of Education. “They are volunteers who are sacrificing their time to serve Oklahoma students,” Stitt said. “Should these allegations be true, all I can say is that I am profoundly disappointed.”
The board members’ allegations have initiated a review by Oklahoma’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES).
“The accounts made public by board members paint a strange, unsettling scene that demands clarity and transparency,” said Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, a Republican, in a statement. “Senator [Adam] Pugh and I appreciate the quick action by OMES to help coordinate through this situation to get details on exactly what happened. More transparency is essential before strong conclusions can be drawn.”
Oklahoma House Speaker Kyle Hilbert said in a statement that the allegations against Walters warrant a third-party review.
“I urge the State Superintendent to unlock and turn over all relevant devices and fully cooperate with an investigation,” said Hilbert, a Republican. “If no wrongdoing occurred, a prompt and transparent review should quickly clear his name.”
Deatherage and Carson want to see Walters held accountable in the same way a teacher would be under these circumstances.
“We hold educators to the strictest of standards when it comes to explicit material,” Deatherage said in a statement. “The standard for the superintendent should be no different.”
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