'I'm All About Kids:' Ryan Walters Responds To Calls For Investigation Into His Department

At least 25 Republican lawmakers are calling for an investigation into State Superintendent Ryan Walters and the state Education Department.

There are allegations of districts not receiving Title 1 funding, not receiving money for paid maternity leave, and Walters' department not fulfilling open records requests, including several from News 9.

Walters joined News 9 at 9 to discuss what this means for him and his department.

Walters said that the money is available but noted that disagreements between the House and Senate have stalled its distribution and that a legal opinion is being sought from the Attorney General to ensure compliance with state laws regarding fund allocation.

“There’s been a lot of misinformation,” Walters said. “The money is there. The money's to go out this year; so school is just starting, so the money will be there this year. The question is, 'legally, how can the money be doled out?' We can't get a consensus."

He said the reason his department waited to ask for opinion from the AG was due to lawmakers disagreeing on the use of funds.

"We had solutions that we had agreements on that then lawmakers came back and said, 'We don't want to do that moving forward,'" Walters said. "You have to make sure that if you don't have agreement from the legislature that you are aboveboard legally. So this is all manufactured crisis."

He said the call for an investigation into his department from Rep. Mark McBride is a "political witchhunt" and has nothing to do with the funding issues.

"It's about politics. He admitted it. He said it's about the 2026 gubernatorial election; he told you. He has been lying across the state of Oklahoma. He's been lying to other lawmakers saying, 'Hey, I need this information. Ryan won't give it to me,'" Walters said.

Walters said he has been transparent, and McBride is lying to lawmakers to get them to sign the letter he authored.

"He knows all of these issues are being dealt with, but the reality is: he lied to them. We already have lawmakers pulling their name off the list saying he lied to us," Walters said.

Regarding the delay in fulfilling open records requests, Walters said that the department has been overwhelmed by the volume of requests, leading to delays.

"There's some open records requests that causes us to go through tens of thousands of documents and redact personal and student information," Walters said. "We're fulfilling more open records requests than anyone else, but we're receiving a record amount."

There are 42 record requests listed, News 9 having more than 10.

When asked when News 9 would get them, Walters said some requests take longer than others due to sensitive information.

"When you're dealing with student information, when you're dealing with employee information, you cannot be releasing those type of details to the public," Walters said. "We have to have multiple staffers go through and make sure that those are redacted, so it depends on the request."

Walters also addressed recent criticisms about his conduct, including name-calling directed at the Bixby superintendent who says they have not received funding.

He defended his comments, calling him a liar and a clown, saying they were a response to persistent dishonesty.

"He's out for media attention. He continues to lie," Walters said. "The claim is that he doesn't know how much money he will receive. He was told that back in April. They have known since April how much money they receive."

Walters said he will continue to defend himself as the call for investigation is a "fake political crisis."

"I'm all about kids. I'm all about improving an education system, so I'm going to call out people that don't tell the truth. I'm going to call out people when they say that our agency is doing things that is untrue. We are getting money out. We are making sure that the legal processes are followed," Walters said.