Oklahoma education leader urges Legislature not to increase school funding, cut more taxes instead
OKLAHOMA CITY — In what appeared to be a campaign stump speech in all but name only, state Superintendent Ryan Walters called to eliminate Oklahoma's income tax and property tax and said the state should stop increasing funding for public schools.
Walters, who leads the statewide public education system, said Oklahoma should slash administrative spending across state government. Finding these efficiencies, he claimed, would make up for the many millions of dollars public schools would lose if the state stops collecting income and property taxes.
'People love to throw around how much money you spend in education,' Walters said in a surprise news conference at the state Capitol on Friday. 'I don't want to be a leader in how much money we spend on education. I'll make that clear. I do not want to be that leader.'
Walters, a Republican long thought to be a potential gubernatorial candidate, spent much of the news conference criticizing the state budget Gov. Kevin Stitt and legislative leaders announced Wednesday. He took questions from reporters for 40 minutes while a small group of his supporters cheered him on.
When asked directly whether he intends to run for governor, Walters said that's a 'question I'll look at over the summer.'
If Walters launches a campaign, he would join a 2026 Republican primary race of Attorney General Gentner Drummond, former House Speaker Charles McCall, former state Sen. Mike Mazzei and Leisa Mitchell Haynes, of Choctaw. House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, is the only non-Republican in the race to succeed Stitt, who will be term-limited.
'My focus is the school year and this legislative session,' Walters said. 'We still have time this legislative session to get it right.'
The offices of House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, and Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, declined to comment on Walters' remarks. The Governor's Office did not return a request for comment.
Their $12.6 billion budget deal cuts the state's top income tax bracket by .25% and eliminates three lower tax brackets — a measure Walters said doesn't go far enough to support working Oklahomans. Stitt had urged lawmakers to cut the income tax by a half a percentage and to chart a path to eliminating the income tax altogether.
The budget includes a 3.15% increase to the Oklahoma State Department of Education's budget and gives $25 million more to public schools.
Despite saying on Friday that he wants 'less money going to our agency,' Walters had asked at the beginning of the legislative session for a 2.43% funding increase to the education budget.
He had specifically requested $3 million to buy Bibles for public school classrooms, $1 million for a new teacher induction program, $1 million to recruit military veterans and former law enforcement officers to become teachers, and $500,000 to give educators concealed-carry firearms training. None of these proposals made it into the state budget that lawmakers and the governor crafted.
However, state leaders agreed to boost a teacher maternity leave fund by $4 million and to dedicate $5 million to high-dosage tutoring for reading and math, an initiative inspired by a program Walters established.
Every Oklahoma classroom will be stocked with a Bible, Walters said, even without any state funding to buy them. He said his administration has been collecting donated copies and already purchased more than 500 Bibles with agency funds.
His new state standards for social studies education requires schools to teach biblical stories and the teachings of Jesus that inspired historical figures in American history.
'The Bible is going to be in every classroom this fall,' he said. 'The legislature can put the money there or not.'
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