Republican candidate Ryan Walters will face Democrat Jena Nelson in Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction race on Nov. 8.
Current State Superintendent and former Republican Joy Hofmeister announced in October 2021 that she would be running as a Democrat against incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt in the 2022 gubernatorial election, leaving the position open. Walters and Nelson are vying to replace her.
Ryan Walters (R)
After scheduling an interview with OU Daily, Walters canceled and did not respond for comment.
Walters’ campaign focuses on his support for the restriction of race and gender conversations in classrooms, keeping schools open and supporting school vouchers, according to his campaign site.
Walters is a former high school history teacher at McAlester High School, where he taught advanced placement U.S. history and U.S. government classes. He was a finalist in 2016 for Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. Walters also serves as the executive director of Every Kid Counts Oklahoma.
Stitt appointed Walters as Oklahoma secretary of education in 2020. In 2022, however, Oklahoma House Democrats called on Walters to resign after Oklahoma Watch and The Frontier’s investigation into how he allegedly misspent federal pandemic relief funds meant to support Oklahoma public school students.
According to his campaign site, Walters supports House Bill 1775, which prohibits public schools from knowingly or unknowingly teaching that a person, because of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.
“(Critical race theory) is a dangerous and racist philosophy, and all it does is divide and characterize entire groups of people solely based on the color of their skin,” Walters’ campaign site reads. “As superintendent, I promise to advocate for CRT’s removal from any curriculum that comes from the State Board of Education.”
In August, Walters called to have former Norman High School teacher Summer Boismier’s license revoked. Boismier resigned from NHS after receiving complaints when she posted a QR code to the Brooklyn Library Books Unbanned in her classroom. Walters also advocated for the accreditation downgrade for both Tulsa Public Schools and Mustang Public Schools after complaints claimed they had violated HB 1775.
Walters supports school vouchers, also known as Education Savings Accounts. These vouchers use public tax dollars to help pay for private or charter school tuition for Oklahoma students. Walters told The Oklahoman that the state’s open transfer law doesn’t do enough to support school choice.
Walters has also previously said on the campaign trail, if elected as superintendent, he would reject federal funding for Oklahoma public schools, saying this would limit federal oversight and control over the state’s education.
Walters and Stitt have expressed their hope to create a pathway to pay Oklahoma’s “best teachers” six-figure salaries. Walters also said that he does not support teacher unions, and he hopes to help with teacher retention in the state, if elected.
Jena Nelson (D)
Nelson currently teaches English at Classen School of Advanced Studies Middle School in Oklahoma City and won the 2020 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year award while she taught at Deer Creek Middle School. Nelson also received the national California Casualty and the National Education Association Award for Teaching Excellence this year.
In an interview with OU Daily, Nelson said she decided to run for state superintendent while writing a recommendation letter for a fellow educator who had decided to leave the profession due to lack of competitive pay and support from the Oklahoma government.
As superintendent, Nelson hopes to increase funding for Oklahoma public schools, increase teacher pay and keep teachers in the profession, improve student mental health and support rural schools.
Nelson said both teacher and education support staff salaries deserve to be raised. On average, education support staff make $28,246 per year in Oklahoma, the lowest in the country according to National Education Association. Oklahoma teachers make, on average, $54,762 per year, ranking 34th in the nation.
“A school does not run without everyone, whether they're teachers or they’re parents or any of our support staff,” Nelson said. “Everyone, right now, needs to make sure that educators are paid a living wage because they're doing the most important job, which is educating our children and preparing them for their future occupations.”
Nelson also said she disagrees with Walters’ plans to cut federal funding. She said this funding supports special education and agricultural programs, and free or reduced lunches would be affected if federal funds were cut.
Nelson said free or reduced lunches is a personal topic to her, as she grew up in that program. Nelson said that taking away this funding directly affects Oklahoma’s most vulnerable populations.
Nelson said HB 1775 has been “weaponized against educators and school districts” and doesn’t address real issues in education.
Nelson said one topic important to her is improving student mental health. She said she hopes to ensure every Oklahoma public school has at least one qualified counselor in it.
“We need to make sure that we have counseling and counselors for all of our school districts to help our kids because they're suffering,” Nelson said. “As an educator, I know that I can't teach them if they are in fight or flight and dealing with trauma.”
Nelson said Oklahoma leads the nation in childhood adversity and trauma, and she said because of this, counselors in schools will help give students skills to be healthy mentally, physically and emotionally. She hopes to expand health services of all kinds in schools, especially those aimed at helping students handle emotional distress and trauma in order to create a better learning environment.
Nelson also said she does not support school vouchers, as she believes they directly take funding away from rural schools in the state. She said this funding belongs to Oklahoma public schools and is essential to keeping them open.
Nelson emphasized why voting is important, especially in the upcoming election, as education affects everybody.
“Public education is not a Democrat or Republican issue. It's an issue that affects all of us,” Nelson said. “We want to make sure that the people who are elected to this position are people that believe in the power of public education. For me, I believe that public education saves lives.”
The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 8. To check your voter registration, visit the OK Voter Portal.
