Lawmakers concerned with OSDE after News 4 report on skewed U.S. News rankings

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Oklahoma’s most powerful senator says he is concerned after a News 4 report revealed the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) did not submit some key data to U.S. News and World Report, causing Oklahoma schools to plummet in the publication’s yearly rankings.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s House Speaker said he would be hesitant to use his power to intervene with State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ leadership over OSDE.

On Tuesday, News 4 reported OSDE did not allow U.S. News and World report to look at AP testing data for Oklahoma high schools the past two years. It caused many Oklahoma schools to drastically fall in U.S. News’s annual rankings.

News 4 found the issue only began once State Superintendent Ryan Walters took office in January 2023. The data had been successfully submitted to U.S. News under previous OSDE administrations.

When News 4 asked OSDE why the data was not made available to U.S. News once Walters took over, a spokesperson claimed the data must have been lost in the mail.

“I did read the [News 4 article about] schools experiencing that issue and a downgrade in what their status is,” said Oklahoma Sente President Pro Tempore Greg Treat at his weekly press conference on Thursday. “I do have concerns.”

The report about the U.S. News rankings was just the latest in a number of recent reports that have led some lawmakers to question State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ ability to effectively lead OSDE.   

The recent reports of concern include News 4’s exclusive interview with former OSDE grant program manager Pamela Smith-Gordon. Walters personally hired Smith-Gordon to oversee OSDE’s grants department, but she resigned after four months.

Smith-Gordon told News 4 that Walters and other OSDE leaders were inaccessible, and neglected to give her access to basic computer programs she needed in order to fulfill grant requests. She told News 4 she now worries Oklahoma schools will not survive the rest of Walters’ term in office.

Another report that some lawmakers found concerning was OSDE’s reported use of tax dollars to hire public relations firms to get Walters booked on national talk shows.

“This is not sustainable,” State Representative Mickey Dollens (D-Oklahoma City) said on KFOR’s ‘FlashPoint’ last month.

What also concerned lawmakers was the report that more than 130 OSDE employees have resigned since Walters took office.

News 4 found those resignations include all of the department’s lawyers and chief of staff — who were all people Walters personally hired. 

Treat said with this week’s report about the U.S. News rankings in mind — the reports about the resignations now raise more red flags for him.

“I do have some concerns with the reports of upwards of 130 or so employees gone,” Treat said on Thursday. “Is that impeding [OSDE’s] ability to get these simple things done that may harm some of our schools?”

Oklahoma Democrats have taken their criticism of Walters’ leadership further — calling for him to be impeached for the past several months.

“We’re calling for another investigation into the possible impeachment of Ryan Walters,” Dollens said on FlashPoint last month. “This is enough. Enough is enough, it’s got stop.”

For impeachment to happen, Oklahoma house speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka) would have to bring it before the house for a vote.

On Thursday, reporters asked McCall if he still believes Walters and other OSDE leaders can competently lead their department.  

While McCall did not directly answer the question, he hinted he would likely not support using his power as Speaker of the House to limit Walters’ power or remove him from office.

“As I've said before, the State Board of Education and the leader of the State Department of Education is a statewide elected official,” McCall responded. “And we all, myself, as the Speaker of the House, I stand accountable for the House of Representatives. What goes on in this body, in this institution, good and bad. I have to devote a lot of my time to ensuring that this institution is functional and serving the people of the state of Oklahoma like it should be. And I have to respond to when people are unhappy with something going on in the House of Representatives. That's those are all issues that the elected official of [OSDE] needs to pay close attention to. But the legislature is going to continue to monitor those things.”

With that said, McCall noted that lawmakers are keeping the reported issues at OSDE top of their mind, as they decide OSDE’s budget.

“We have already said this year we were going to we would consider running language in the limits bill in the education to bar the use of state tax dollars for individual promotion and marketing and campaigning,” McCall said. “We're certainly not going to withhold money from the State Department of Education in terms of funding for schools as some type of some type of punishment for disagreements over how things are being run.”