Ryan Walters: "We cannot allow our schools to become "terrorist training camps"

On Thursday, Ryan Walters, the ultra-conservative state superintendent of education in Oklahoma, posted a video on X claiming that the "radical left" teachers' unions have infiltrated schools and are training students to be terrorists. Walters lamented, "What a terrible day when we see terrorist attacks on American soil. It's absolutely tragic and we've got to look as a country on how these things happen. We absolutely have to shut down the border, to not allow terrorists to come across the border." (Note: Neither the New Orleans or Las Vegas perpetrators crossed the border).

Walters continued on with his baseless charges, "We also have to take a look at how are these terrorists coming from people that live in America. And, you know, you have schools that are teaching kids to hate their country, that this country is evil. You have the teachers' unions pushing this on our kids. The radical left wants people to hate this country. They've completely destroyed the integrity of the FBI by making them more concerned about DEI than about protecting Americans. It's a major part of this. 

Then Walters gave his big finish: "And look, this is a real uncomfortable truth, and I know the left is going to lose their mind, but listen: we cannot allow our schools to become terrorist training camps. We cannot allow our schools to teach our kids to hate this country. We cannot allow our kids to teach that this is an evil country." (Note: I think Walters meant to say that "We cannot allow our kids to be taught that this is an evil country). That is why we are getting back to the basics in Oklahoma to make sure that our kids love this country, understand American values, understand the role that the Constitution, the Bible, the Declaration of Independence played in American history. Because we want patriots, and that's going to be the focus of our schools."

Walters has been on a mission to transform secular education in Oklahoma into education that supports a government that resembles a theocracy more than a democracy. In a clear blurring of the lines of church and state, Walters declared on X in June that "Oklahoma kids will learn that the Bible and the Ten Commandments are foundational for western civilization. The left is upset, but one cannot rewrite history." Unless, of course, you are Ryan Walters.

In addition to the teaching of the Bible's role in America's development, Walters mandated that each public school display a Bible in their classrooms. In putting out a request for proposals (RFP) to purchase the Bibles to distribute, Walters set standards only met by two Bibles -- We the People Bible ($90) and God Bless the U.S.A. Bible ($60), both branded by Donald Trump. Walters requested $3 million to purchase 55,000 copies of the Bible for Oklahoma classrooms. (Note: Walters' request works out to be $54.55 per Bible, so he must be hoping for a volume discount from Trump).  

Given that Oklahoma ranks 49th in the country in terms of the quality of its educational system, you would think Walters would be more concerned about improving its schools' standing in the nation.