Ryan Walters wants you to know it’s not his fault. Despite a Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency report critical of the state Department of Education’s poor communication with the legislature and districts, Walters said the oversight process meant to protect taxpayers was a waste of time.
He went on to blame legislators and district superintendents for the issues the LOFT investigation identified, again taking no responsibility for problems in his agency.
As Paul Monies reported, it was the second time in six months that Walters and Education Department officials appeared before the LOFT committee. A pair of reports in June looked at federal funds, competitive grants and administrative rules. At that time, Walters also blamed others for the scrutiny of the agency.
In recent months, Walters has had public spats with some superintendents, Monies wrote, calling one a clown and a liar after he raised questions about Walters’ management of the Education Department. Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller has since sued Walters for defamation in Tulsa County District Court.
The report did not address other issues that have drawn attention, such as the agency’s recent procurement plan for Bibles in the classroom or misspent federal GEER grant money he oversaw for which a multicounty grand jury recently issued a scathing report following their investigation. Nor did the LOFT report address agency travel expenses, spending on an outside public relations firm for Walters or legal expenses for numerous lawsuits against the agency.
As has been Walters’ pattern, he claimed everyone critical of him was lying.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Ted Streuli is the executive director of the non-profit news outlet, Oklahoma Watch. This is a reprint from Streuli’s First Watch newsletter. “Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.”
