Drummond letter urges new State Board of Education members to exercise independent judgment
OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 13, 2025) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond is asking Gov. Stitt’s new appointees to the State Board of Education to exercise judgment independent from the governor and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters. In a letter sent late yesterday, Drummond asked Ryan Deatherage, Michael Tinney and Chris VanDenhende to serve the people of Oklahoma rather than any politician or personal agenda.
“While I welcome the Governor’s apparent ‘shake-up’ of the Board, this action is only necessary because of Gov. Stitt’s extremely poor judgment in appointing, promoting and then endorsing Ryan Walters and his anti-public schools agenda,” wrote Drummond. “As a new board member, you must act independently of Gov. Stitt and Superintendent Walters. The oath of office you take is to the Constitution and Oklahoma law.”
Drummond detailed his concerns about public education under Stitt’s and Walters' leadership, including poor educational outcomes, the failed administration of $50 million in school security grants, illegally denied access for elected lawmakers to attend executive sessions, refusal to administer inhalers for schoolchildren, dismal transparency under the Open Records Act, pervasive waste and mismanagement of public education funds, and the denial of legislatively authorized maternity leave for teachers.
"Superintendent Walters also possesses an honesty gap in view of his own expectations for student performance on state-administered tests, having quietly lowered the student performance bar in 2024," wrote Drummond. "The Superintendent’s watered-down approach further undermines the integrity of Oklahoma’s educational assessments, which the Governor’s previous appointees green-lighted. This approach permitted students to score lower while still being considered proficient.”
He noted the State Board of Education has broad constitutional and statutory powers to supervise public instruction and shepherd Oklahoma’s public school system. Drummond said the superintendent is one member of the board but does not control the board.
“This independence from the superintendent and department entitles you to view proposals from the superintendent and Department of Education with curiosity and reasonable skepticism and to exercise your own independent judgment,” Drummond wrote.
The new board members replace Donald Burdick, Kendra Wesson and Katie Quebedeaux.
