In his first year as head of Oklahoma's public schools, State Superintendent Ryan Walters has taken on what he describes as “radical leftists" indoctrinating students. He has sought to ban certain books from school libraries and gone after efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the classroom.
Now, the Republican who has fully embraced so-called culture war issues has a new target in his sights: Tulsa Public Schools, which is Oklahoma's largest school district and has a student body of more than 33,000 students, nearly 80% of whom aren't white. It's a notable shift for Walters to move beyond conservative rhetoric by taking substantive action against a district viewed as more liberal, and it mirrors takeover actions by leaders in other Republican-led states such as Texas that Democrats see as driven by politics.
