Some people are calling for an impeachment investigation into our elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters.
First, let's deal with the matter of impeachment. The Oklahoma Constitution, Article VIII, states that the governor and other elective state officers, including the justices of the state Supreme Court, shall be liable and subject to impeachment for willful neglect of duty, corruption in office, habitual drunkenness, incompetency, or any offense involving moral turpitude committed while in office. They shall be automatically suspended from office upon their being declared guilty of a felony by a court of competent jurisdiction. If the court's decision is reversed, they are to be reinstated.
Just because I may not agree with the way someone speaks or how they do things, doesn't elevate the matter to an impeachable offense. Superintendent Walters was duly elected by the people of Oklahoma, and it should be the people that choose whether or not to reelect him.
I do believe there is a better way for many of the issues being discussed to be resolved. But we cannot keep doing business the way it's always been done and expect different results. If we truly want to better academic outcomes in our state, then we may have to accept some hard changes. But nobody likes the agent of change.
To my knowledge, Superintendent Walters has tried to work within the confines of state statute and in a sometimes very hostile environment. Granted, some of the hostility may be his approach. But to ask for impeachment without evidence of criminality is a very slippery slope. I believe that is why the superintendent asked for impeachment proceedings to begin, because he knows there is not a criminal offense on which to base this.
I am thankful, however, that several issues seem to be on the verge of resolution. School security funding is one. House Bill 2903 set up a revolving fund to allocate $50 million per year to public school districts throughout the state for three years to hire resource officers. It was set up to pay the salary for a resource officer for three years. If the school already had a resource officer, then the funds could be used for other security measures. The bill was unclear on whether those funds could carry over from one year to another. This was not clearly spelled out in the language of the bill, so I can understand why the superintendent might have had a question on this. Especially since there were two bills addressing the situation that did not pass to allow the rollover of these funds.
I wish he had asked for guidance much earlier than he did, but now the state attorney general has weighed in, saying the funds can indeed be carried over and the money should be released to schools immediately. I'm grateful for the clarification on legislative intent and happy that schools are already starting to receive this funding for security measures.
As for remaining issues, I am completely in favor of the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency looking into the finances of the Oklahoma State Department of Education to review if disbursements are being made as specified in state statute. LOFT did this about a year ago and found no major discrepancies.
If concerns about finances are found, I know the Legislature will act quickly to make sure those are appropriately addressed.
As always, if I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me. You may reach me by email at carl.newton@okhouse.gov, or phone me at 405-557-7339. God bless you and the State of Oklahoma.
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