After resigning his position as Oklahoma State Superintendent, Ryan Walters has been named incoming Chief Executive Officer of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a new national organization founded by the Freedom Foundation that provides educators professional support services and resources as an alternative to traditional union membership.

While conservatives supported many of Walter’s anti-woke initiatives, they frequently acknowledged that, during his term as State Superintendent, the most dangerous place any Oklahoman could stand was between Ryan Walters and a television camera. What Oklahomans demand is quality K-12 instruction in phonics, mathematics, and personal economics. Less dramatic leadership would also be appreciated.

Former Choctaw-Nicoma Park High School teacher Samuel Melton has pleaded guilty to sexual crimes against a young student, receiving a 42-year sentence—the longest ever for an Oklahoma sexual predator in the classroom according to a release from OK Attorney General Genter Drummond.

Melton pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape by instrumentation, second-degree rape, sexual battery and sodomy as an adult employed by a school district.

Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs President Jonathan Small yesterday criticized the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) for arbitrarily banning four teenagers from playing basketball for Glencoe High School. The four youth used the state’s open-transfer process to attend the Glencoe district in the 2025-2026 school year.

Glencoe is located in northern Payne County, Oklahoma. The population was 601 at the 2010 census, an increase of 3.1 percent from the figure of 583 in 2000.