Walters' Pyrrhic Victory
Say what you will about state Superintendent Ryan Walters, but he’s accomplished something few thought possible: He turned Tulsa’s superintendent, Dr. Deborah Gist, into a public education superhero.
His incessant bullying of Gist – to the point she finally resigned – would never be tolerated in the schoolhouse. But sadly, it is all-too-often celebrated in today’s public square.
Like most superintendents presented daily [hourly?] challenges, Gist didn’t please everyone. Professional educators publicly disagreed with her on a host of principles and approaches.
But Walters’ nastiness – his non-stop lobbing of social media Molotovs against Tulsa Public Schools and its leadership without offering meaningful alternative strategies – united the “education establishment” he scorns.
Gist or Walters? Easy choice for public ed supporters.
As a world-class gaslighter, Walters no doubt was thrilled. He downed one bird he reviled and tweaked a flock of others. And he undoubtedly is enjoying high fives from supporters who regard his every pronouncement as divinely inspired.
Alas, Walters will someday discover – as all demagogues do – that toppling Gist was a Pyrrhic victory.
Though he has delusions of political grandeur, Walters is destined to be a one-term blunder. A gubernatorial bid in 2026? The only way he wins the Republican nomination is if the field is so enormous and fractured that his small but noisy cabal manages to squeak him through to the general election. And then? He again may accomplish the unimaginable: Helping elect a second Democratic governor in 21st century, deep red Oklahoma.
History also won’t be kind to the one-time history teacher. Besides “owning the libs” in the metaverse, what has Walters done to advance Oklahoma public education? Railing against “woke” teachers “indoctrinating” students hardly is a strategy to improve reading proficiency.
Instead, Walters will be remembered for undermining the education of 700,000-plus Oklahoma students. Why would he do such a thing? Because that’s the script his deep-pocketed, out-of-state, anti-public ed benefactors demand he read.
Let’s call them what they are: America’s rightwing oligarchs. Think Amway heirs Betsy and Dick DeVos, Walmart heir Jim Walton, Pilot Flying J heirs Jimmy and Dee Haslam. Notice a common descriptor? Heir. Inherited fortunes. Now unleashed against America’s great equalizer: public schools. When Walters flames out, they will simply bankroll another dandy.
Finally, Walters has bigger problems than political viability. His mismanagement of federal pandemic relief dollars – when he was Gov. Kevin Stitt’s cabinet secretary for education – put him in the crosshairs of federal and state investigators.
Bullying Gist into submission could well be the high point of Walters’ elective career. A Pyrrhic victory, indeed.
As for Gist, it’s clear she concluded Tulsa Public Schools were best served if she stepped aside.
“It is no secret,” she wrote in her resignation letter, “that our state superintendent has had an unrelenting focus on our district and specifically on me and I am confident that my departure will help to keep our democratically-elected leadership and our team in charge of our schools – this week and in the future.
“What we have built together is larger and stronger than any one of us and this team will continue to serve our students and make the improvements we know our students need and deserve.”
Maybe that will get Walters off TPS’ back. Maybe not. Sometimes the only way to stop a bully is to stand up to him. Before her resignation, she did not suffer Walters’ folly, often punching back on social media in defense of her district.
Yes, it made her a target. But walking away from the moral and factual high ground in hopes Walters will divert his venom elsewhere sure feels less than sure bet.