I’m just a simple guy, but it doesn’t take a Harvard degree to see what’s going on here.
Ryan Walters is spending our hard-earned education dollars not on kids, not on classrooms, but on building his own political army. And what’s worse? The Oklahoma Legislature is sitting on its hands, watching it happen like they’re just taking the long way around the barn to avoid controversy.
In the past few weeks, Walters has been handing out fat paychecks to a bunch of out-of-state political consultants — folks who wouldn’t know a schoolhouse from a smokehouse.
• One fella, Matt Langston, is pulling in $130,000 a year, and in January, he pocketed a $34,000 bonus — part of a round of hefty payouts Walters gave to his inner circle.
• Another, Jon “Matt” Mohler, managed to rake in over $76,000 in just two months — and it looks like he’s still got another full-time job back in Florida.
• Chad Gallagher, who’s best known for cleaning up messes for the Duggar family, is making close to $100,000 off our state budget, too.
• And Dan Isaacs, Walters’ former media guy, must’ve had a golden parachute — he walked away with around $76,000 when he left. Or was it for something else?
Just sayin’.
Now, I don’t know about you, but where I come from, if you pay a man to fix your fence and he spends all day polishing his boots, you fire him. You don’t hand him a bonus and call it a day.
Like Will Rogers said, “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” Well, the facts are plain: Ryan Walters is spending school money on political buddies, and nobody under the dome seems willing to lift a finger to stop it.
That dog just don’t hunt.
Yet here we are. Ryan Walters is using state education dollars like his own personal campaign piggy bank, and not one peep from the Legislature. No hearings. No investigations. No tough questions.
If the folks under the Capitol dome can’t find their voice when Oklahoma’s kids are getting the short end of the stick, maybe they need a little nudge.
Public service ain’t supposed to be about getting famous. It’s supposed to be about getting things done for the people you serve. Somewhere along the way, a few folks forgot that.
If this doesn’t sit right with you, don’t just shake your head — call your legislators and encourage them to address this.
Mark McBride is a fifth-generation Oklahoman, businessman, and conservative leader who served as state representative for Oklahoma’s District 53 from 2012 to 2024.
This article appears in Summer Guide 2025.