GOP’s Walters defeats Nelson for top Oklahoma education job

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican Ryan Walters, Gov. Stitt’s secretary of education, easily dispatched fellow teacher and Democrat Jena Nelson on Tuesday in the race for Oklahoma’s superintendent of public schools.

Walters, 37, is a conservative firebrand who has mostly targeted what he says are liberal indoctrinators masquerading as teachers and pushed for the banning of certain books from school libraries.

“The radical left has decided that our schools need to be places of indoctrination,” he said during a recent debate.

Walters also embraced Stitt’s education-voucher proposal that would allow public money to be spent on tuition at private schools, including religious schools.

Nelson, 44, is a former state teacher of the year who took a leave of absence from her English teacher job with Oklahoma City Public Schools to run for state superintendent.

Nelson focused much of her campaign on addressing the increasing number of teachers taking better paying jobs in other states or leaving the profession altogether.

“We need a state superintendent who believes in our public schools, elevates our teachers, not threatens to defund schools or threatens teachers,” Nelson said.

Both were vying to replace two-term State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, who switched parties from Republican to Democrat in an unsuccessful run for governor against Stitt.

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