This is later with Lee Matthews the Lee Matthews Podcast War What You Hear weekday Afternoons on the Drive. Been looking forward to this for a long time. Exclusive interview with State Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters on the Drive. Superintendent, I've got a lot to talk to you about, but let's start with the latest headline and the bill for about half a million dollars that you turned into
the Middale School District. Yeah, you know, Middelle Public Schools spent five hundred thousand dollars on athletic lawn care, which is prohibited directly in statue. And so we made the school aware that we're not going to allow taxpayer dollars to be spent illegally. So we are clawed those dollars back and we're going to make sure that Middell is held accountable for misusing taxpayer dollars. We're not going to allow it on our walks. Already, the critics have been saying,
you're denying school children the funds that are necessary for their education. Yeah, let me be clear. Middell Public Schools did that. They took money was supposed to go to COVID recovery that were supposed to go for kids trying to get back to the classroom, was supposed to go help the teachers who were trying to help learning loss. They took that and decided to spend it illegally on a lawn, a lawn career. So they did that, and
that's why it's so important to hold districts accountable. We have a record investment in education in Oklahoma. Money needs to be getting in the classroom. The problem isn't, frankly, more money, it's that money's not getting spent correctly. And so we're going to continue to make sure that we're old districts accountable to make sure money gets to the classroom, gets to the teachers, and gets to the kids. Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters is with us. I
want to offer my congratulations. By the way, the turnaround of the Tulsa Public Schools system and then the other one hundred and fifteen schools that got off the National Naughty List was remarkable. I know you were working hard at turning those around, but I didn't expect, even as a supporter, for them to turn around as quickly as they did. Well, Leah, I really appreciate that. I mean, you know, we're working hard and we've told
the districts guys, we can do better for kids. You know, I think we've had a lot of the status quo complacency that's set in across the state. You know, hey, I said, the superintendent from Tulsa need to go. She had to go. She was a poster child of the status quo left wing liberals who thought kids were victims, who didn't believe the kids could learn. And you know what, we got a good superintendent over there. We lit a fire into that district and what do you know,
they're gonna have some of the biggest academic growth they've had in decades. They got sixteen schools off the F list. They're rocking and roll, and they introduced merit pay. I mean when you ever thought that lead that Tulsa Public Schools wuld introduce merit pay? And what do you know, those great teachers have helped student learning at a record pace. Same thing for the one hundred
and fifteen schools coming off the F list. We came in and I'm looking at these F schools and I'm talking to the team over there, and well, you know, we give them more money, and you know, they stay on there for about three years, and we go, guys, the goal is to get them off. Okay, the goal is to get schools off the F list and fix what the problems are and then go help continue to improve. So I was crystal clear, guys, we're gonna get you
off this list. You are gonna do things. You're gonna focus on student outcomes. You're gonna really take a critical look at yourself and see what we can do better. And so hey, we have been very, very thrilled to see the success of those schools moving off the F list and TPS. I'm telling you they have had record student tutoring programs. They launched the biggest suitoring program of any school in the state. They're doing a huge summer school
program. We're not just through at the end of this year. Their summer school program is going to be tremendous. We've been working with them on that. This fall, they are starting a whole new personal development for team that's gonna be laser focused on standards and ensuring the outcomes there. So this is a turnaround this gi just from beginning in till to we are going to get
them back on trap. Well, you're well on your way to doing that and not also not been spared your your share of critics, especially the latest report. I don't remember if it was last week or week before pointing out that Oklahoma tops the list of underpaying teachers, I immediately Ryan Walters pointed out that the study did not take into account cost of living, So when you adjust for cost of living, Oklahoma is not doing bad. No. Look,
we're a great player neighboring states. Dude. We also give teachers a pathway to make up the six figures and stay in the classroom. We have a Teacher Empowerment Act that we've been touting that. Again, I was bragging on Tulsa for doing it. Hey, look, you can work your way up and make up the six figures and stay in the classroom here if you're one of our top ten person teachers. So not only have you teacher pay, We're saying, listen, we believe in the free market here in Oklahoma.
So when you do a great job, we're going to incentivize you about pay an you better. I mean, I mean crazy thought, right, I'm mean it works in every other three We're going to do it here.
And again we are recruiting some of the best pro brightest teachers around the country with our teacher signing bonus that brought five hundred teachers back to the classroom last year, and we're going to continue to do that work because look, we want high quality individuals in the classroom, and we are absolutely recruiting those folks to Oklahoma. Superintendent of Public Schools Ryan Walter is joining us on the drive.
The other thing that I've particularly talked about, and not just with your administration, but with previous administrations that I don't see any attention to, and maybe you can speak about it, the reduction in the vast amount of administration we have statewide. And if that means consolidation for me, so be it. But what are your thoughts? Yes, I mean that we need less administrators, we need less bureaucracy, and we need more money getting to the
classroom. And so a lot of the things we try to lead by example. We we didn't left activists in the agency, and we also wanted to lessen our footprint because guess what, the if you are administrators and bureaucrats that we hire, the more I can put money into tutoring programs, tea professional training. We told districts the same thing. Cut these administrative costs. That's why we're requiring more financial controls on districts. We want to see more transparency.
We want to see more money getting into the classroom. I told districts, I think over this isn't a big ask, but I think over sixty percent of your funds should go in the classroom. They should go to expenses with teacher pay. They should go to the material students see in the classroom. Right now, we're about fifty three percent of every dollar gets to the classroom. That's unacceptable. We should have less administrators, more of the investment
taxpayers are making. Look, Oklahoma, taxpayers, we invested in education for our kids, not a bunch of bureaucrats to have jobs. Okay, So that money needs to get to the classroom, and we're going to continue to push for financial accountability on districts to make sure that is where they're spending their money. Superintendent of Public Schools, I'm sorry, yeah, Superintendent public Schools, Ryan Walters, you got into education because you wanted to educate kids.
A lot of teachers don't get into education for that reason. What do you think the best way to attract teachers that want to be there to educate kids. Yeah, you know, I've been very clear publicly on this. So look, if you're a social justice warrior and you think you're going to get into our classroom and convince kids in America's an evil, racist country and that there's eighty four genders, hey, keep moving on to another state or another
profession. You're not going to teach in our schools. We don't. That's not Oklahoma values, that's not what education looks like. That's in doctrination. So a couple of things we've done is we've been crystal clear we are recruiting people who have traditional Oklahoma values. That's who we want in our classroom. We're going to focus on the basics. We're not going to have indoctrination in the classroom. We're not going to allow it. We're also going to bring
back here's a good one lee discipline to the classroom. I talked to so many cheers that talk about the breakdown of discipline in the classroom. We've got to make sure that we want to get into the profession. So the more that and I'm gonna tell you the other thing, we continue to offer teachers alternative pathways to get in his class room. Look, our higher end institutions have gone woke. You've got a bunch of left wing activists masquerading as college
professors. And you know what, if we've got a guy that's a local banker who says, hey, I'd like to teach financial literacy at our school, well we're gonna help him get a certification to go do it. We're not gonna go, hey, go back to a higher ED institution, get another degree from a bunch of higher ed Marxist and then we'll let you come back. No, those are people with real world experience that can have a tremendous impact on our kids. We want to help them get to the classroom.
So we love people with real world experience want to get to the classroom. So we've opened up alternative pathways. We now allow adjunct teachers in the classroom and K twelve institutions, And boy, every time I go to districts, I hear a great story about You're not gonna believe that we found this individual. They applied, they have a different type of background, and boy,
they love it. The kids love them. They're doing great. So we're going to keep going around higher ED two to make sure that we're getting folks from all different kinds of backgrounds into the classroom. Ran Walters, If I may ask a kind of a personally personal slanted question, You've had to take a lot of arrows since you took office. How you're holding up? Hey, Look, when I take arrows from far left wing activists, it just tells me I'm over the target. It just further encourages me that we're
doing the right thing. I mean, listen, for far too long, we've allowed a bunch of radical union activists to come in and bully Republicans. I mean, it's ridiculous to me. I'm going so, you guys are going to go back home to a bunch of to the teachers Union that are pushing radical gender theory. They're fighting parents rights. Remember our teachers unions, our school board associations, they lobbied the Biden administration to label parents domestic terrorists
and investigate them. And we're going to back down to those groups. Absolutely not. The more that I take arrows from the teachers Union, the more that I know that I'm on the right track. I'm always going to defend parents. I'm always going to do what's best for Oklahoma students, and I
will never back down to a woke mob. You know these I've got these national LGBTQ plus groups coming after me, Joe Biden, the federal government coming after me, the teachers Union. Hey, all those folks right there. Absolutely those folks are trying to fundamentally undermine our country, fundamentally undermine our families, fundamentally attack our faith. So I'm going to stand in a way every chance I get to keep them out of our classrooms and keep them from destroying
our families. Superintendent of Public Education, Ryan Walters, I'm so glad you carved out some time for us today. Have been aching to speak with you about some of these issues, and all I can say is is keep on keeping on, keep the fight going. Lee. Hey, I appreciate you very much, love to come back on. I appreciate what you're doing. Thank you for being such a voice for common sense, and thank you very
much for the epising to be on faith. Thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia Presentation