State Supt. Ryan Walters has a pretty busy life. State Sen. Mark Mann wants to help.
Mann, an Oklahoma City Democrat, recently filed Senate Bill 374, which moves oversight of the Accreditation Standards Division away from the state Department of Education. It would also take teacher certificate duties away from the agency.
“Ryan Walters has caused uncertainty and chaos in our schools by using accreditation and certification as weapons to advance his personal political agenda,” Mann said. “We cannot and will not sit idly by and allow him to continue to target schools and educators in order to grab the media spotlight.”
Walters will undoubtedly see this bill as an attack, but he needs to consider the bright side. Not having to worry about teacher certification and school accreditation will free him up for even more trips to conservative political conferences, more appearances on right-wing podcasts and more time to focus on the multiple state investigations and lawsuits targeting his misuse of agency funds.
This article appears in The OG Food Issue 2025.