Supt, Bixby Public Schools, OK. I love my JOB! My tweets represent my thoughts & do not reflect official positions of the Bixby BOE or the school district.
And let me make this point crystal clear: NEVER again disparage or slander my ethics, integrity, or character in public without evidence. I wore a Marine Officer's uniform while you still crawled in diapers. You're supposed to be a leader. Act like one.
@RyanWaltersSupt
Sir, your remarks crossed a line today. You owe me and
@BixbyPS
an apology. Your false statements and ad hominem attacks are beneath your office. The students and families of
#oklaed
deserve better leadership than that.
Listen to the unhinged remarks from
@RyanWaltersSupt
after today's BOE mtg. Let me set the record straight- Bixby Schools is not experiencing any financial problems and has a clean audit. He's lying and apparently stuck in middle school.
#BeBetter
The math doesn't work. He says he needs $3M to add to the $3M already set aside to purchase Bibles for every USH and Literature classroom in grades 5-12. At most, that's 10,000 teachers. So, we're buying $600 Bibles! They must be gold-embossed, autographed Trump Bibles?
He wants $3m in taxpayer dollars for bibles in classrooms. Says it’s vital for the teaching of history.
Can I hear from teachers and students? What outdated or beat up textbooks do we need to replace before buying new bibles for your classrooms?
1/5 The wording behind the
@oksde
Bible RFP is a ruse. It seeks to conflate the Bible with the historical documents associated with the birth of our nation. The US Constitution does not mention the Bible, God, Jesus, or Christianity.
Supt Walters should copy Summer Boismier's idea and just share this QR code with all students and teachers in OK. They can choose to download a FREE Bible if they want. I even put a bow on it to make it pretty. Just saved $6 million dollars!
#oklaed
school districts finally received information from
@OSDE
yesterday stating that initial Title allocations would be released NLT Aug 14. This is three weeks later than last year (July 21) and three months later than we were given preliminary planning figures in 2022. 1/5
Really? You're going to bring up an incident seven years ago, under my predecessor—a full year before I even came to Bixby. The boys were wrong, we held them accountable, and nothing else has happened since.
Got to work today to learn our Title I allocations posted last Thursday had been removed from our Grant Management System (GMS). Nothing but zeroes again. I wonder what's going on now!
It's nearly August, and
#oklaed
schools have yet to receive Title I allocations from
@OSDE
for FY25, which started July 1. Districts used to get preliminary figures in the spring, most recently in May 2022, under prev. SDE leadership. These were helpful in planning budgets. 1/3
Mr. Walters is asking schools to disregard the constitution in a vain attempt to raise his political profile. We will stand firm to protect the rights of our students and parents while preserving the rule of law.
"These districts are not breaking the law; they are following it. ... The more districts that band together, the harder it will be for Walters to wage a culture war against all of them."
#oked
via
@tulsaworld
When I refer to prelim Title I allocations, I'm talking about schools rcving initial figures for budget planning as recently as May 5, 2022. This practice ended in
@RyanWaltersSupt
's first year. Why? These are funds used to serve some of our neediest kids.
46 years ago, Alan Moguin, a
@SandSpringsPS
Chemistry and Physics teacher, changed my life trajectory by asking me six simple words one day: "What can I do to help?" His caring efforts helped me secure a full Marine Corps ROTC scholarship to Oregon State University.
I can't speak for the woke radicals, but the conservative Christians who've emailed me in the past two weeks would prefer that our educators teach the course standards to their kids, and leave the Bible out of it.
#oklaed
Reps. Josh West, Burns and Banning released a statement reacting to disparaging comments made by State Supt. Ryan Walters about Bixby Public Schools Superintendent Rob Miller after a disagreement over delayed Title I allocations. Read more:
#okleg
This speaks for itself. In this legislative meeting in June,
@RyanWaltersSupt
and his Chief of Staff stated that
#oklaed
school districts had been given preliminary budgets. This is not true.
So, my question for
@SuptRyanWalters
is simple. We obviously knew how to provide preliminary Title allocations as recently as May 5, 2022. Why can every other state in our region provide this information before July 10, yet not OK?
@RyanWaltersSupt
@realDonaldTrump
Supt Walters, as others have pointed out, your continued use of this official X account for political purposes is a violation of ethics. Here is the OMES policy. You should stop.
The talent drain at the
@OSDE
and the absence of leadership and accountability are directly responsible for this situation. Maybe
@RyanWaltersSupt
can take a break from his travel and media events, stop by the office (if he remembers where it is), and help us out. 3/3
With everything happening in our crazy world, I am comforted by the thought that I will find goodness tomorrow in the face of a child.
#BixbyPS
#Oklaed
Title I is a federal program that assists low-income students with challenges in reading or math or who risk falling behind. Without budget numbers, schools cannot make final staffing decisions or procure materials needed to support these students. 2/3
@BngHotCoffee
I might add a disabled Marine veteran due to service in the Persian Gulf War, a war fought against a bully and tyrant. So, yeah, I have some training there. And I think that experience earned me the right to speak up against bullies and tyrants here as well.
Young leaders quickly learn that statements like, "Do it MY way or else," are a sign that you've lost the argument. Instead of sound evidence and reasoning, they must resort to threats and intimidation. They are not the words of strong leaders but rather weak tyrants.
#oklaed
@RyanWaltersSupt
@RyanWaltersSupt
, Sir, your agency received this complaint five months ago, conducted a full investigation, and issued an 11-page report on 7/22. Please read it. Your compliance director determined that all students received services per the IEPs that parents signed last year.
Teachers are Oklahoma's most valuable resource because they directly impact the future of our state, one child at a time. I want to thank every
#Oklaed
teacher this morning for what you do and will do to change children's lives this year. Have a great school year!
@RyanWaltersSupt
Let's cut to the chase. Requiring every classroom teacher to have a Bible and "teach from it" with no connection to approved academic standards is indoctrination, and it's unconstitutional. Period.
Here's why having prelim Title I budgets in the spring is important. In BPS, we are adding a school to Title I, on top of the two we already have. Without good numbers, we can't create budgets to serve students at each of those schools. Hiring staff in Aug is also very difficult.
5/5 Finally, why would we purchase 55,000 copies of these documents when there are maybe 3,000 SS OK teachers who teach these academic standards? What are our math, science, PE, STEM, and PK to grade 4 teachers supposed to do with their Bibles and Constitutions?
And if you also had a life-changing teacher, take a moment to express your gratitude to them sometime soon. Mr. Moguin passed away before I had that chance, and I regret it to this day!
4/5 Also, take a look at the US History books used by your local district. The US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights are already included in those texts. Why purchase more of the same resources we already have to support our USH teachers?
@RyanWaltersSupt
We won't allow rogue state bureaucrats to violate the Constitution and infringe on the religious freedoms of our students, teachers, and families.
2/5 While many of our founding fathers were deist and were inspired by their faith, they also fiercely supported religious freedom. James Madison, “The Father of the Constitution” was a strong advocate for the separation of church and state.
Are you curious to know how we compare to our neighboring states? I was, so I took a little trip on the interwebs. Links to each state's allocation pages are provided. 2/5
Kansas Initial Title I Allocations 7/10/2024
3/5 In 1785, Madison wrote an influential petition called “Memorial and Remonstrance,” which clearly laid out 15 arguments against Gov support of churches. Madison emphasized that religion was a matter of individual conscience and should not be directed by the Gov in any way.
@RyanWaltersSupt
Please explain why you believe a physical copy of the Bible is needed in a kindergarten classroom? A 7th grade math class? A high school chemistry class? Why is a link to an online Bible insufficient? Unless your objective is indoctrination, there is no other reason.
@RyanWaltersSupt
The district is currently meeting with each child’s family and IEP team to determine the appropriateness of their service delivery, considering LRE and FAPE.
@BixbyPS
is committed to working with all families to provide a quality education.
@RyanWaltersSupt
The issue concerns a procedural process for determining LRE. The report directed the district to review and revise any necessary policies and practices related to these students' placements. We have completed that review and sent updates to your agency as requested.
@The_Red_Hat
I'm aware of several other districts whose allocations were zeroed out today. We were told by SDE that info would be shared during tomorrow's "lunch & learn" webinar. Seems weird - why not just send an email to everyone and tell us what's going on?
@RyanWaltersSupt
I appreciate Supt Walters recognizing the historic funding from President Biden and his USDE. He is correct that schools did not receive initial allocations until 8/23 last year. The difference is that the SDE supplied projected amts on May 5th for our budgeting. 1/2
@RyanWaltersSupt
"Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18)
"A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit." — John C. Maxwell
Four years later, I earned my degree & was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant. The rest is history. Without Mr. Moguin's caring heart & direct guidance, I'm unsure what I would be doing today. To be sure, I would likely not be the
@BixbyPS
Supt. His impact on me will last my lifetime.
Like Mr. Moguin, teachers go beyond simply sharing knowledge; they provide encouragement, support, & care, often becoming mentors & role models. A teacher's impact extends far beyond the classroom, shaping students' academic growth, character, and future.
A3: Not a fan of "top ten" rhetoric without evidence of a significant paradigm shift in
#oklaed
. So, how about just focusing on how we can get better. This starts and end with quality teachers and building admin. It's not complicated. Great teachers and principals=great schools.
@RyanWaltersSupt
2/2 This is unprofessional and beneath your office. People can support positions on both political spectrums and not hate America. It's called critical thinking. It's called discernment. You should try it. Please try to do better.
@RyanWaltersSupt
@realDonaldTrump
Hold on, I thought educators were not supposed to use official school emails or social media platforms for political purposes like this.
Supt Walters, are you now saying teachers and school administrators are authorized to use school resources to support specific candidates?
I hope to see many of my
#oklaed
friends at the Capitol tomorrow.
My message to
#okleg
is simple: Cuts have consequences. We are fighting for our students because they deserve the best and we can do better!
A2: Of course reducing class sizes is a goal for most districts in
#oklaed
. However, the demand for quality teachers greatly exceeds the current supply. The pipeline of future teachers has been damaged by years of neglect. We need a plan to aggressively address this issue NOW.
A2:I wonder what would happen if a large number of
#oklaed
parents simply opted their children out of all state mandated testing. Of course, I would never support such a thing. Just asking for a friend.
@RyanWaltersSupt
We did not receive any FY24 projections this year. Also, in prev FYs, we rcvd alloc in July (FY20 on 7/1/19; FY21 on 7/20/20; and FY22 on 7/2/2021). I'm not sure why it was delayed in FY23. Regardless, it's accurate to claim that we normally have these allocations in July. 2/2
A7: To build & maintain a sustainable, high quality teaching force in
#oklaed
will require higher pay, more teacher autonomy, greater respect, more support for children w/ learning challenges, more mental health & family supports, & reduced emphasis on test scores, just to start.
To all of my
#oklaed
friends, I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve and a productive and Happy 2019. As someone once wrote, January 1 is just the first page of a new 365-page book. Write a good one!