Ryan Walters' quest to make Oklahomans radical right-wing dummies is neverending
How dumb does the state superintendent think we are? Clearly, not dumb enough
Ryan Walters cannot be embarrassed and it’s a problem.
But forgive me for not pulling my hair out because I’m kind of enjoying it.
I’m kind of enjoying it because, far as I can tell, nobody’s with him on his latest foray; nobody in education is following him where he wants to take education; and nobody but fellow traveling nitwits believe he has anything helpful to say.
I’m also not crazy.
He’s still dangerous.
He still needlessly inflicts trauma.
And if he can get through a Republican primary for whatever office he seeks next, his own or the one Kevin Stitt’s held hostage for most of five years, he could probably win the general, too, as there’s more cowardice than courage in his party and what conglomeration of folks within it would continue to come after him in future Novembers?
I do, though, retain the right to be surprised.
Now, about that new foray.
If you didn’t know, Walters announced a partnership with PragerU on Tuesday, part of right-wing radio host, author and lecturer Dennis Prager’s media empire, which creates five-minute videos on various subjects.
It’s a boon for education in Oklahoma says the guy nobody but right-wing radicals have any use for any longer.
“What this means is classrooms across the state will have better access to great resources to teach their kids American history,” Walters said. “We want Oklahoma students to know more about American history than any other state in the country.
“We want them to know about American exceptionalism and want them to know about those founding documents, want them to understand what made this country great.”
Like who penned and signed those founding documents, but maybe not the fact many were slave owners.
Like the Civil War, with dates, and names and famous speeches in front of famous courthouses, but maybe not, at its core, what it was fought over, or how the former Confederacy responded, consequences of which remain today.
Actually, I’m just guessing.
I’ve not yet perused PragerU’s selection of five-minute videos — the means by which it educates — so why why don’t we just do that, right now, in real time.
Here we are, listed topics:
• Economics
• Political Science
• Race
• Culture
• Life Lessons
• American Values
• Environment
• Free Speech
• History
• Education
That seems reasonable, but let’s scroll past them and get to the videos, because they’re right here waiting for us.
Among those trending:
• What happened on 9-11
• Government: Is it ever big enough?
• ESG: Woke to broke
• Preferred pronouns or prison
• Was the Civil War about slavery?
• Illegal immigration: It’s about power
That last one’s sure to be a hit because guess who presented it?
Tucker Carlson
A few from the “Most Popular” list:
• The inconvenient truth about the Democratic Party
• Why I left the left
• War on boys
• Is Islam a religion of peace?
• Make men masculine again
And a few more from the catalog:
• Russian collusion & the death of journalism
• The whiteness of wokeness
• The truth about gender affirming care
• America is fat, but you don’t have to be
• Herbert Hoover: success or failure
You have to love an outfit that not only takes on obesity, but also seeks to rehabilitate the president who gave us The Great Depression.
Also, OMG, those are real titles. I didn’t make any of them up. Not one.
Talk about batshit crazy.
I digress. Sorry.
And we thought Walters ran against indoctrination. We thought he was about just the facts, man, like Jack Webb and Sherman Potter keeping the streets of LA safe, only the Oklahoma education version.
Well, none of us with a brain did, but that’s what Walters said he was running against, leading to this philosophical query:
Is irony really irony if it’s entirely disingenuous?
Finally, if I may, the reason we can laugh about it, at least a little.
Score one for KOKH-25’s coverage of Walters, which has to be pissing off its Sinclair Broadcast Group bosses.
Because Thursday, in a story published on the Fox affiliate’s website, written by Payton May, statements from various school districts in response to the PragerU announcement were collected.
I won’t run every word of each. That would make this too long. But I’ll give you enough to get the gist.
Oklahoma City
“The endorsement of PragerU by our State Superintendent doesn’t change anything we are doing in the classroom. We trust our teachers to do everything they can to help our students grow. Our instructional staff uses the Oklahoma Academic Standards and we believe that our teachers are the experts …”
Tulsa
“Tulsa Public Schools supports the outlined and approved curricular resources that are currently being implemented at our sites. We have not reviewed Prager U as a curricular resource and have no plans to alter the curricular selection process that we follow in Tulsa Public Schools when adopting and implementing new curriculum.”
Norman
“I want to make it clear PragerU has not been adopted or vetted by our district. In Norman Public Schools, all district-adopted curriculum undergoes the district’s approval process, which takes time and input. That process involves our content coordinators and teachers.”
Edmond
“Edmond Public Schools will continue to follow our policy for selecting district adopted curriculum materials which includes a textbook committee with teachers and parents. Pacing guides, district curriculum and teacher resources for the 23-24 school year are already in place and available for our teachers. No resources from PragerU are included in these resources …”
Moore
“Moore Public Schools will continue to use its current curriculum that is aligned with state standards approved by the Oklahoma State Legislature.”
Yukon
“Yukon Public Schools will continue to use our current curriculum. This curriculum is directly aligned to the state standards approved by the Oklahoma State Legislature.”
Mustang
“Mustang Public Schools will continue to follow our policy for selecting district-adopted curriculum materials as laid out in Board Policy #2235. Pacing guides, district curriculum, and teacher resources for the 2023-24 school year were in place well before the first day of classes; no resources from PragerU are included in these resources …”
Walters had to know he’d get resistance from OKC, Tulsa and Norman, but Mustang, Edmond, Yukon and Moore?
He’s radioactive.
And dumb.
“PragerU does a tremendous job of offering these materials to our teachers, to our students,” Walters said. “[They’re] also very transparent for parents to see everything that their kids are learning in the schools.”
He got the transparency part right.
They’re nakedly radically extreme is what they are, education malpractice created by and hoping to create more right-wing dummies.
Back in May, I penned a column headlined “Ryan Walters jumps the shark.”
This time, maybe, the shark will eat him.
Let’s hope.