Superintendent Ryan Walters on CCP Schools in America, Parental Preference, and Classical Education
A Texan nonprofit gives funding to a Chinese Communist Party-controlled (CCP) Confucius Classroom operating inside an Oklahoma High School, according to an Oklahoma superintendent and documents obtained by The Epoch Times. The CCP Confucius class, teaching American students, talks about the communist government positively while censoring the atrocities committed in its history.
Oklahoma Superintendent Takes on Corrupted Education System
Oklahoma superintendent Ryan Walters was elected with one mission: To upend a corrupted education system. In an interview with EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders,” Mr. Walters talked about the ills sabotaging the education of the next generation of Americans, in a state ranking 49th out of 50 in academic achievement.
Mr. Walters said that the Confucius Institute was “in one of our largest school districts, but also one of our least successful districts, where … 88 percent of kids aren’t reading on grade level.”
The Confucius Institutes teach children that “the communist government is actually a very successful government. They actually censor what they can say about the Chinese Communist Party inside the curriculum. And so this is the Chinese government absolutely indoctrinating our kids,” Mr. Walters said.
“We are putting a stop to it in Oklahoma,” he added.
Mr. Walters said that 25 other Confucius classrooms operate in the United States, teaching propaganda to the American youth. The classrooms do this by positively portraying the Chinese communist government, a government guilty of genocide and nationwide suppression.
Mr. Walters said that the Confucius classrooms do not touch the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authoritarianism, the famines, or the Tiananmen massacre, so they are not just indoctrinating, they are also censoring China’s recent history.
They say, “When you study our history, you are gonna cover it only this way,” Mr. Walters said.
The Epoch Times obtained two documents showing the establishment of a Confucius classroom at the Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The funding was provided by a Texas nonprofit, IL Texas Global, in which the Confucius Classroom Cooperation Office was operating.
The agreement mentions the “Confucius Classroom Cooperation Office at IL Texas Global,” so it is not clear if this means that IL Texas Global has its own premises.
Mr. Walters said that multiple groups sounded the alarm on this issue and found that the Texas nonprofit was taking money from the CCP.
In an email to The Epoch Times, Tulsa Public Schools denied taking money from the CCP.
“At a time when our state faces catastrophic shortages in certified teachers and school funding, Superintendent Walters has chosen to focus on a Chinese-language professional development opportunity for a single teacher,” the email reads.
“The teacher’s salary and adopted instructional resources are fully paid for by Tulsa Public Schools,” it continues.
Mr. Walters argued that the Confucius Classrooms undermine the view of America by saying communism is great and that capitalism is bad.
The American students in these classrooms hear that the communists “created a valid government that actually benefits the Chinese people,” according to Mr. Walters.
Domestic Enemies
Mr. Walters continued to the domestic threats to students’ educational growth, saying that left indoctrination at public schools, such as the Critical Race Theory and Inclusion theories, form a complete antithesis to what America really is. “Every individual is endowed by their Creator with these inalienable rights,” Mr. Walters said, adding that the aforementioned theories are lowering students’ expectations.
“Every academic goal needs to be tied [to] the race of the individual,” Mr. Walters said. “They describe to them that because of their skin color, they might be a victim or an oppressor. Based on their skin color!”
“So when you tell a kid at a young age that because of their skin color they are a victim, or they are an oppressor, first of all, you’re creating division.
“Second of all, you are lowering expectations on them. You are literally telling a kid, ‘You can’t be successful because of the color of your skin.’ That is literally the antithesis of the principles America was founded on.”
Radical gender theories and pornographic material made their way into young students’ books in public schools, Mr. Walters said, while teachers waste time on things such as calling students by different pronouns instead of focusing on learning and the academic achievement of the students they are entrusted to them.
One of the things Mr. Walters is proud of is that Oklahoma passed school choice, meaning parents choose the school for their child, which not only empowers parents but also creates a competitive environment for schools, pushing them to increase the quality of their curricula.
Mr. Walters mentioned the establishment of a new classical learning academy in Oklahoma and a new religious charter school as potential products of the legislative move.
This new Catholic charter school faced backlash from teachers unions because unions want the money to go to public school teachers, and they generally do not want religion shaping young people’s character, according to Mr. Walters.
He mentioned seeing non-religious parents sending their children to religious schools because they like the curriculum or the character students build in this environment. This is why, as a superintendent, he thinks that the state should get out of the way, trusting and empowering the parents.
Approach as Superintendent
Mr. Walters said he follows an “aggressive strategy to recruit the highest quality teachers in the country” in his duties as a superintendent.
For this purpose, Oklahoma now gives up to $50,000 as a sign-up bonus to high-quality teachers who choose to go to the most hindered areas. Mr. Walters said this move saw 800 applicants in one week.
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