State Supt. Ryan Walters' funding plan approved by Board of Education
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — After a week of education confusion at the Capitol, there's now a clear look at where State Superintendent Ryan Walters wants funding to go.
The State Board of Education unanimously approved his budget request on Thursday.
The amended budget has a lot in common with the former State Superintendent, Joy Hofemeister's budget.
But, while Hofmeister focused on teacher pay across the board, Walters believes the only pay raise should be performance based.
In his first meeting in his new position, he took the opportunity to voice his priorities.
"There will be school choice. We will ensure that indoctrination and CRT are eliminated in our state. We will also make sure that our kids are safe. There will be no boys in the girls bathrooms. There will be no pornography in our schools," Walters said.
Not everyone in the room agreed with his policy goals. One public school parent took to the podium during public comment to voice her concerns.
"Please stop calling teachers indoctrinators. Please don't say that they're pornography pushers and please don't say that they are groomers. The teachers I know are selfless and they are kind," the public school parent said.
Aside from political talk, Walters did dive into the numbers he's proposing.
The main difference between his newly approved budget and Joy Hofmeister's amended one is teacher pay.
With a $159M reduction in that area, Walters is cutting the pay bump for all teachers and pushing for merit-based pay.
"So this gives a lot of flexibility. We're not saying a great teacher has to look exactly like this or a great math teacher has to look exactly like this," Walters said. "We're saying student performance is absolutely a major part of this, but there's also other ways that teachers can show that they're effective teachers."
There's also a focus on reading in the budget.
$100M is invested in improving childhood literacy. Some of the programs listed in that funding include tutoring support, a coaching network and dyslexia intervention grants.
"We have to have this aggressive approach to reading," Walters said. "If we don't get reading right in K-4th grade, we are not going to be able to get the state back on track."
Although the budget passed at the Board of Education, it's just a request.
The official decision of where the funding will go happens at the Capitol during session, and is between lawmakers and the Governor.
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