Former high school teacher Ryan Walters was elected Oklahoma state superintendent of schools in 2022, but more than two years later, the state still ranks 49th in education.
“I was elected to turn the state’s education system around,” Walters told CBS News. “We were 49th when I was elected. We’re working to move all these things around, and it takes a dramatic shift in education.”
As he works on addressing that problem, he has also turned a lot of his attention to President Trump’s mass deportation plans.
“We should be utilizing all of our resources to make sure we are supporting what President Trump is wanting to do,” Walters said.
Earlier this year, the Oklahoma State Board of Education approved a proposal requiring students to submit their immigration status during school enrollment. Walters said he would share that data with federal authorities. The proposal must still receive the approval of the Oklahoma Legislature, which started considering it last week and could vote on it this month.
“Well, we’re following their executive order,” said Walters, in reference to an executive order Mr. Trump signed immediately after beginning his second term that allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to make arrests near schools and places of worship. “So, when you have an executive order that says, no longer will churches and schools not give over information that they’re asked for, we took that seriously in Oklahoma. So we began to implement it. Well, if you need to get information from us and from our schools, you have to first collect the information.”
Walters’ position on the issue has angered some students and teachers in the state. A visit to Carnegie Elementary School in Tulsa in late January drew dozens of protesters.
But one of Walters’ loudest and most surprising critics is conservative Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who first met Walters at a tennis match and helped launch his political career.
He doesn’t believe the Trump administration is actually requesting the immigration status of students.
“Every time I’ve heard President Trump talk about this, he’s talking about making sure we know who’s coming in our country,” Stitt told CBS News. “And then also making sure that we get the criminal element out. I’ve never once heard him say, ‘I want to go gather up 8-year-olds’ immigration status.”
When asked about the issue, a White House official told CBS News that it doesn’t want undocumented immigrants “or gangs to take refuge and hide out in schools or churches because they know law enforcement can’t go inside.”
The official added that it is “not a directive” for Department of Homeland Security agents “to go into a school or church.”
“Our agents use discretion,” the official said. “They would also need secondary supervisor approval before any action can be taken in locations such as a church or a school. We expect these to be extremely rare.”
The governor, meanwhile, has replaced three Oklahoma State Board of Education members after Walters proposed checking students’ immigration status.
“When I found that out, I was going to pull every lever I could to unwind that rule,” Stitt said.
Walters couldn’t disagree more.
“The governor’s absolutely dead wrong on this,” countered Walters, who said Stitt’s position on the immigration status won’t perturb him.
“No, look, we’re going to move forward with what we’re doing,” Walters said. “The reality is we are following executive orders.”
Shanelle Kaul is a CBS News correspondent based in New York City.
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