Oklahoma Backs TPUSA Chapters; Walters Resigns

Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters announced a partnership with Turning Point USA to establish TPUSA chapters in every Oklahoma high school, saying groups of at least three students can form chartered chapters and that TPUSA will help secure teacher sponsors, field representatives, sample constitutions, activism kits and other support. Walters framed the move as a response to “woke” influence and teachers’ unions, invoked the late TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, and said the effort will promote “American greatness,” civic dialogue and free speech. He has threatened repercussions — including targeting district accreditation — for districts that refuse to host chapters. The proposal drew immediate pushback from Democrats, local school leaders and civil‑liberties observers who say it risks politicizing classrooms and raises unanswered questions about whether participation will be voluntary and how chapters will be formed, funded and overseen. Walters said he will resign as Oklahoma superintendent to become CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to weakening teachers’ unions, a move he described as expanding his national influence. Observers say the state‑backed push to embed a partisan national student organization in every public high school is unprecedented and will be closely watched for legal, political and educational consequences, following a pattern of contentious policies during Walters’ tenure that spurred lawsuits and investigations.