OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Tensions ran high at Thursday’s Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting as public commenter Sean Cummings bluntly told State Superintendent Ryan Walters, “You suck, once again.”
Cummings strongly criticized OSDE’s partnership with a struggling Arizona charter school, which is reportedly shutting down due to poor performance. Questioning its legitimacy, he claimed, “We called their offices in Arizona. They said they have a building here, but no one knows where the f— it is! Where’s the double triple hide man, where are you hiding this company?”
Superintendent Walters also addressed a resignation letter from former OSDE Chief Compliance Officer Kourtney Heard, who accused the department of manipulating school accreditation processes and deleting staff reviews. Walters pushed back, saying, “Our accreditation system is a very public-facing system… you see how we make those decisions.” He declined to comment on specific personnel issues but added, “If you can’t meet the expectations, we’re trying to turn around an education system to be better for our parents and our families.”
In response to a recent WalletHub study ranking Oklahoma’s school system 50th out of 51 (including D.C.), Walters dismissed the ranking criteria: “They love to take into account how much money we put into education. That’s never been an evaluation of mine… it’s outcomes. It’s driving students to a career.”
Despite the low rank, Oklahoma’s score of 32.62 edged out New Mexico, which came in last with 30.37.
Katie is a senior who has been on staff for three years. Her favorite type of stories to write is reviews and features. Katie’s favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry.
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