'Not one dime': Charter school CEO pushes back against Ryan Walters' Chinese government claim

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — State Superintendent Ryan Walters is facing backlash on Thursday, September 28, from a group he claims is responsible for feeding money into Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) from the Chinese government.

This situation involves a group called the International Leadership of Texas. ILTexas' CEO Eddie Conger spoke at today's Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) meeting.

Conger says Walters' claims are not true.

"I've not sent any money to Tulsa Public Schools," Conger said.

Conger says at ILTexas, children learn English, Spanish and Chinese.

"[We're] doing it out of national security. That's going to make America stronger."

Walters accuses TPS of having a contract with the Chinese Communist Party through a program called Confucius Classroom.

"We continue to ask for all information available," Walters said. "We continue to see roadblocks from the district."

On Thursday, ILTexas sent Fox 25 a copy of its former agreement with TPS, which became official in September of 2022.

It allowed a world language teacher at Booker T. Washington High School to take professional development sessions with the Confucius Classroom Coordination Office at ILTexas. Much to Walters' dismay.

"Any kind of agreement with a communist party is unacceptable," Walters said.

TPS says the expired deal "did not involve the transfer of any funds to Tulsa Public Schools." It adds "the district has not received funding from ILTexas.

Conger said the same thing at today's OSDE meeting.

"Not one dime," Conger said. "I would have, but they said no."

The two sides actually parted ways a day after the August 24 OSDE meeting, which is when Walters shared his concerns about Chinese Communist Party propaganda in Tulsa schools.

"Whether it's the money from adversarial governments, we've got to get this under control," Walters said that day. "Step one is to figure out how much of this is going on, and what exactly we're dealing with."

More than a month later, Walters claims TPS hasn't shared much information with him about the former agreement.

"It's also the lack of transparency."

He says that today, but two weeks ago, TPS answered all of OSDE's questions via an email.

Walters says TPS didn't provide him with all the information he needed when he testified before a U.S. House Committee last week. But, records show TPS sent its answers to OSDE four days before that happened, on September 15.