After almost half a year of threats against Tulsa Public Schools and an even longer history of rhetoric against TPS, State Superintendent Ryan Walters has at least appeared to have changed his tone about the district — specifically, its new superintendent.
For more than a year leading up to November, Walters has accused the district of low student performance, claims of indoctrination and violations of religious liberty. This rhetoric seemed to reach a fever pitch in August, when he alluded to lowering the district’s accreditation or possibly taking it over.
The threats prompted former superintendent Dr. Deborah Gist to step down, and the appointment of current superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson. Johnson has presented reports on student and district progress to Walters and the state Board of Education on a monthly basis.
Walters continued to criticize the district until December, when he praised Johnson for a “bold” and “data-driven” approach.
He maintained his tone on Wednesday, when he and Johnson discussed the district’s progress with city and school officials at Monroe Demonstration Academy.
“It doesn’t take long talking to Superintendent Johnson that you see an attitude of, ‘We’re going do this. We have some big issues; we’re going to tackle them,’” Walters said.
Specifically, Walters and the state board have tasked Johnson and the district with:
- Raising the number of students testing “basic” on state English Language Arts 5% by end of 2023-2024 school year
- Train all teachers and school administrators in the science of reading by end of school year
- Move 12 of the district’s 18 most rigorous intervention (MRI) schools off the list
Johnson announced on Jan. 8 that the district had moved four schools off the MRI list.
“We’ve always put students at the forefront of the goal, and so when students are at the forefront … adults just have to get in line. And so that’s what we’re doing,” Johnson said.
When asked about his recent change in tone, Walters said he was pleased with the numbers Johnson presented in December, and then was even more impressed after reviewing them a second time.
“We’re going to continue to follow student outcomes. That’s our focus. If the outcomes improve, if the outcomes are where they need to be, we’re going to say that, and we’re going to say, ‘Hey, there’s a lot of good things going on here,’” he said.
Walters’ praise of Johnson comes after he ordered a national superintendent search in December, four days before the TPS school board made her role permanent. The board ignored a letter from Walters when appointing Johnson, who Mayor G.T. Bynum had endorsed for the position.
