A few hundred protestors gathered at the Oklahoma State Capitol to call for State Superintendent Ryan Walters' impeachment on Saturday afternoon.
The demonstration was organized by the Sooner State Party, a new group seeking to unite Oklahomans dissatisfied with both Republicans and Democrats around new policy goals. Along with collecting signatures to be recognized as an official party in the state, the group gathered just over 200 signatures on a petition to impeach Walters.
The protest comes as the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation investigate claims that images of naked women were seen on a TV in Walters' office during a State Board of Education meeting. Oklahoma House Speaker Kyle Hilbert said a review of the incident found the lewd images were from "The Protector," an R-rated film playing on a Samsung channel during the time of the meeting.
Rally speakers and attendees also pointed to Oklahoma's recent ranking as 50th in the nation for education among states and the District of Columbia.
Jennettie Marshall, a former member of the Tulsa Public Schools Board who recently announced her candidacy for State Superintendent, accused Walters of leaving parents, educators and legislators out of Oklahoma's educational system.
"Character begins with truth, and truth begins with Oklahoma receiving the educational value. Education in excellence," Marshall said.
During Marshall's speech, two pro-Walters counter-protestors entered the rotunda balcony and held up signs expressing their support for the current superintendent. The audience below booed the women until rally organizer CJ Webber-Neal encouraged them to focus on the speakers.
Connie Thayer, one of the counter-protestors, said she first grew worried about public education during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. As she watched her grandson face school closures, she began to feel like something needed to change. Walters has expressed his opposition to such closures.
"I saw everybody having to show papers to be on the roads, wearing a mask, not being able to go into public, schools being locked down or children being forced to wear masks," Thayer said. "I was shocked."
Rally organizers and Sooner State Party members said that they feel Walters' actions favor political theater over benefiting students.
"Education needs to be focused on reaching students' needs, on fulfilling people's wants and desires for their future, not just filling political theater for the benefit of men and rooms with closed doors," said organizer Ezra Marshall, the interim communications executive for the Sooner State Party.
CJ Webber-Neal, a co-founder of the party, pointed to new social studies standards that encourage students to scrutinize the results of the 2020 presidential election. He said that standards should be re-examined by drawing on the expertise of educators.
"I think we need to listen more to teachers. Teachers are in the classroom each and every day so they know what's going on," Webber-Neal said. "And we need to pay more attention to that."
The state has faced difficulties in recruiting teachers for public schools. During Walters' tenure, Oklahoma has issued a record number of emergency teaching certifications to fill vacancies.
Oklahoma has also been criticized for low teacher pay, though salaries increased by 10.5% on average between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, according to the National Education Association. The average Oklahoma teacher salary in the 2023-24 school year was just over $61,000, ranking Oklahoma 35th in the nation.
Keith Ross, an incoming ninth-grade student who attended the rally with his family, said that if he could change one thing about Oklahoma schools, he would want to have better teachers.
"Better teachers — actually teach. Like, don't just get mad and just stop teaching," Ross said.
Saturday's protest adds to a growing list of political clashes surrounding Walters' tenure since he took office in 2023. With formal investigations still underway and critics promising more displays of dissatisfaction, the state's debate over education policy is far from over.
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