Walters Falters

Ryan Walters is again in the news, but there hasn’t been a day when he was far from Page 1. Our departing Superintendent was very thirsty, sipping notoriety even when it was shameful. Nothing could slake his appetite for coverage. He craved it as a baby craves the breast.

At this point in the story, the cycle is over. For mysterious reasons that will take time to surface, Mr. Walters will soon be out of office, over a year before his term expires. True to form, he hasn’t quite crossed the t’s. The Governor needs an official letter, and Walters is dragging his feet on the particulars. The regular business of his professional role has never been a primary interest.

But the citizens of Oklahoma have dismissed him for months. State media outlets, even the most conservative, were exhausted by his stupidity, grandstanding, and carelessness. There is a point where idiots simply cross the line. That was the story with Senator Joe McCarthy in the fifties. It will also be the story with Donald Trump. I hope that Ryan Walters paves the way.

The worst thing about Walters is that he was entirely awful, without a redeeming quality to his name. It pains me to say so, not because it’s wrong, but because it confounds a value of Rabbinic Judaism. The quality is called “hakarat ha-tov.” I’m supposed to look for the good in everyone. But our Superintendent got under everyone’s skin. A political litmus test for incoming teachers is not good for the character of Oklahoma. Neither is collapsing Jefferson’s Wall of Separation or introducing partisan politics into the culture of our schools.

But the very worst thing is that Walters was asleep as an educator. Instead of pioneering strategies for strengthening our schools, he ran an extortionate witch hunt against a local superintendent. Instead of improving performance in math and reading, he dreamed of creating a theocratic fiefdom marked by rigid orthodoxies, fealty to autocrats, and an elaborate theater of submission to power.

At the end, we conclude our experience with Ryan Walters behind every other state in academic performance. The Superintendent’s final proposal in his misbegotten tenure was to suspend the regimen of national exams. I’m no big fan of standardized testing, but cancelling them to conceal the failure of our students is no was to run a system of schools.

For shame, Ryan Walters. You left us worse than you found us. My hope is that no other agency is unlucky enough ever to experience your educational “leadership.” It will take years to undo the damage you’ve done.