Oklahoma State Superintendent of Schools Ryan Walters announced his resignation during a live TV interview on Wednesday, just one day after revealing his plans to force all high schools in the state to establish chapters of Turning Point USA—Charlie Kirk’s organization—and threatening to take away the accreditation of any school that refuses.

On Tuesday, embattled MAGA Republican Oklahoma State Superintendent of Schools Ryan Walters joined the ranks of conservatives exploiting the death of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk for political clout or to distract the public from their poor job performance or personal scandals.

In Walters’ case, the latter is most likely.

In July of this year, Walters was reported by two members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education for having pornographic images on his office TV while the board was meeting there. It was just the latest scandal among many for the self-described Christian nationalist MAGA Republican politician.

In a Tuesday post on X, Walters declared:

I am very excited to announce a partnership with [Turning Point USA] to establish chapters in ALL Oklahoma high schools. Radical leftist teachers’ unions have dominated classrooms for far too long, and we are taking them back.”

Walters claimed:

“[R]adical leftists… dominate classrooms and push woke indoctrination… They fight parents’ rights, they push parents out of the classroom and they lie to our kids about American history.”

“[TPUSA would allow kids to participate in] dialogue about American greatness, a dialogue around American values.”

TPUSA promotes Christian nationalist and White nationalist/White supremacist narratives. The organization encourages conservative students to report their teachers, professors or administrators for upholding LGBTQ+ equality; supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); or for not adhering to a conservative, Eurocentric, whitewashed version of American history including unchallenged American exceptionalism.

In an official statement posted on the state’s department of education website, Walters is quoted as saying:

“We will be putting TPUSA on every high school campus in Oklahoma. Charlie Kirk inspired a generation to love America, to speak boldly, and to never shy away from debate.”

“Our kids must get involved and active. We will fight back against the liberal propaganda, pushed by the radical left, and the teachers unions. Our fight starts now.”

The official statement declares:

“Whether enrolled in a public school, private school, or homeschool, students now have the tools to start a [TPUSA] chapter on their campus and make their voices heard.”

Homeschools were included, too, so children would be reporting their mom or dad to TPUSA, seemingly a violation of the Fifth Commandment that a devout Christian like Walters should be aware of.

When asked by KOKH reporter Paige Taylor what would happen to any school without a TPUSA chapter, Walters replied:

“They would be in danger of not being a school district [lose accreditation] if they decided to reject a club that is here to promote civic engagement. Everything would be on the table in that scenario.”

You can see Walters’ response here:

Then on Wednesday, Walters abruptly resigned as Oklahoma State Superintendent of Schools.

In an interview on Fox News @ Night, Walters said:

“I’m excited to announce, uh, I’ll be stepping down as Oklahoma State Superintendent and taking on the role as the CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance. We’re going to destroy the teachers’ unions. We have seen the teachers’ unions use money and power to corrupt our schools, to undermine our schools.”

“We are one of the biggest grassroots organizations in the country. We will build an army of teachers to defeat the teachers’ unions once and for all. So, this fight’s going national and we will get our schools back on track. We will not allow any further union control.”

You can see Walters’ announcement on Fox News here:

Walters continued:

“That’s why we put Turning Point USA in every high school in Oklahoma. We’re very proud to do it because students need to understand American exceptionalism. And part of that is freedom of speech, engaging other people with different viewpoints, sharing your faith, sharing what you believe in.”

“And again, Charlie Kirk has left the most tremendous legacy and the students are gravitating towards it. We’ve never seen a national movement like this of so many kids, so many parents so willing to step up and say, ‘Listen, we have got to get the country back on track.'”

“We’ve got to turn away from this radical leftism that…just the hate and vitriol coming out of that. Let’s get back to a place where we can talk to each other, openly, discuss, and again, Charlie Kirk was the best example of that.”

People celebrated the best thing Walters could and did ever do for education in Oklahoma—resign from any involvement with it.

Even Walters’ fellow Republicans applauded his departure.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond wrote on X:

“Ever since Gov. Stitt appointed Ryan Walters to serve as Secretary of Education, we have witnessed a stream of never-ending scandal and political drama. From the mishandling of pandemic relief funds that resulted in families buying Xboxes and refrigerators to the latest squabbling with board members over what was or wasn’t showing on TV, the Stitt-Walters era has been an embarrassment to our state.”

“Even worse, test scores and reading proficiency are at historic lows.”

“It’s time for a State Superintendent of Public Instruction who will actually focus on quality instruction in our public schools. Gov. Stitt used to say he would make us Top Ten, but after seven years we are ranked 50th in education. Our families, our students and our teachers deserve so much more.”

Although people had a few comments and questions for Republican Governor Stitt’s GOP Attorney General.

Elected to his current position in 2022, Walters had previously served as Oklahoma Secretary of Education after being nominated by Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt in 2020.

According to the Christian publication Baptist News Global:

“Walters has generated controversy throughout his tenure for crossing the line on separation of church and state, based on his claim that America was founded as a ‘Christian nation.’ He is currently facing litigation on multiple fronts for his efforts to infuse Christianity into public education.”

A proud anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalist who frequently spouts white nationalist rhetoric, Walters mandated the Ten Commandments and his version of the Christian Bible be part of all secular public school curriculum for grades 5-12. In 2024, he tried to force school districts to purchase Trump-branded Bibles for their classrooms.

In the aftermath of being caught displaying images of nude women on his office TV during the state board meeting, Walters took cues from MAGA Republican President Donald Trump’s handling of the Epstein files. He repeatedly changed his story for why the images were on a TV playing in his office in view of at least two board members.

Walters even accused the board members, the teachers’ union, and Republican Governor Stitt of conspiring against him and playing pornography on his office TV. On September 17, 2025, Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicky Behenna announced the material Walters played in his office—an R-rated film with nudity—was inappropriate, but not criminal.

Investigations by the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office and Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) concluded the display of nude images during the meeting was likely unintentional.