Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters Says He Is Resigning in Order to Fight the Woke Liberal Mob
Ryan Walters wants to "build an army of teachers to defeat the teachers union once and for all."
Published Sept. 25 2025, 3:34 p.m. ET
Despite the fact that it's been more than five years since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020, some folks still haven't mastered the art of video conferencing. At the height of the pandemic, there was seemingly no end in sight to stories of people hilariously flubbing a Zoom call, or similar. Remember when that one lawyer in Texas couldn't figure out how to turn off the cat filter during a civil forfeiture case hearing? He just kept repeating, "I'm not a cat."
Some of the Zoom-related stories weren't quite so charming. In October 2020, reporter Jeffrey Toobin was caught masturbating during a Zoom chat between members of the New Yorker and WNYC radio, per Vice. He was subsequently fired from The New Yorker. In September 2025, Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters resigned following an investigation into something that happened on one of his screens during a closed-door board meeting. Walters claims he's leaving for a different reason. What happened?
Why is Ryan Walters resigning?
Walters announced his resignation on Fox News @ Night, stating he was leaving to lead the conservative group Teacher Freedom Alliance. The organization confirmed Walters's move in a post to X, writing that it was proud to welcome him as its new CEO. "Ryan Walters fearlessly fights the woke liberal union mob," said the post.
Walters, who vowed to destroy teachers unions, said he has seen them "use money and power to corrupt our schools, to undermine our schools." He described Teacher Freedom Alliance as one of the "biggest grassroots organizations in the country," while promising to "build an army of teachers to defeat the teachers union once and for all."
Following Walters's hire in January 2023, he dealt with a number of controversies and issues during his tenure. According to NBC News, back in June 2024, the superintendent faced backlash after announcing in a memo that all "Oklahoma schools are required to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum across specified grade levels, e.g., grades 5 through 12."
In early January 2025, Walters proposed a regulation that would require Oklahoma students to prove their citizenship. The number of students who couldn't prove their status would be reported to the Oklahoma State Department of Education. The day before he resigned, Walters shared a video to X in which he announced a partnership with Turning Points USA, the conservative nonprofit organization founded by Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated Sept. 10, 2025.
Walters was not charged for the nude video incident in his office.
A week before Walters resigned, the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office announced they would not be charging him over reports of explicit images appearing on his office TV, per the Oklahoma Voice. The incident, which occurred in July 2025, involved two members of the Oklahoma State Board of Education who reported seeing images of naked women on a TV screen in Walters's office, which was on during a closed meeting.
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert investigated the incident and deduced that the recently installed Samsung television turned on at a time when the Jackie Chan movie The Protector was showing. Scenes in the film matched what the two state board members described. Walters later referred to this as a witch hunt.