Oklahoma’s controversial state superintendent is under investigation after state Board of Education members alleged they saw images of naked women on his office’s television during a closed meeting last Thursday.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the fiery Republican pick leading one of the nation’s lowest-ranked education systems, was in the middle of a meeting during an executive session of the Oklahoma State Board of Education when images of naked women allegedly popped up on his television screen, two board members told The Oklahoman.
One of the board members said she could barely believe what she was seeing.
“And I was like, ‘Those are naked women’. And then I was like, ‘No, wait a minute. Those aren’t naked, surely those aren’t naked women. Something is playing a trick on my eye. Maybe they just have on tan body suits. This is just really bizarre’,” board member Becky Carson told the outlet.
“I saw them just walking across the screen, and I’m like, ‘No.’ I’m sorry I even have to use this language, but I’m like, ‘Those are her nipples.’ And then I’m like, ‘That’s pubic hair.’ What in the world am I watching? I didn’t watch a second longer. I was so disturbed by it, I was like, ‘What is on your TV?’ I was very stern, like I’d been a mother or a classroom teacher. And I said, ‘What am I watching? Turn it off now!’”
Ryan Deatherage, another board member, added that Walters was sitting with his back to the television, so he wasn’t able to see the alleged X-rated video in the moment.
“I am in shock and I’m not wanting to distract them. I’m trying to listen. Quite frankly, I didn’t know how to handle it. I was just in shock. I was being human and I didn’t know what to think. I kept thinking that it was just going to go away and so I quit watching it,” Deatherage told the outlet.
Carson wound up having to tell Walters about the lewd images lingering on the screen behind him, which he then shut off without any explanation or apology.
Walters later issued a statement Sunday denying all claims as “categorically false.”
“These falsehoods are the desperate tactics of a broken establishment afraid of real change. They aren’t just attacking me, they’re attacking the values of the Oklahomans who elected me to challenge the status quo. I will not be distracted. My focus remains on making Oklahoma the best state in the nation, in every category,” Walters said.
Other members of the board told the outlet that while they didn’t see the images themselves, Walters appeared “shook up” and “flustered or embarrassed” by whatever Carson pointed out.
Walters, a staunch conservative, has previously made national headlines for his stances and policies in Oklahoma schools.
He repeatedly sought to enforce strict rules about what’s permitted inside the classroom, including restrictions against LGBTQ+ students that have come under fire from critics on the left.
At the same time, he’s loosened prohibitions on the separation of church and state by requiring the Bible to be taught in public schools as a “historical document.”
Deatherage and Carson said Walters should hold himself to the same standards he enforces on educators, noting that the board has “suspended teaching certificates for less than this.”
It’s unclear who may have been responsible for the racy images and why they were bizarrely featured on the government office’s system.
The investigation into the incident is being led by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
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