Walters is at the nexus of Oklahoma lawsuits over transparency, religious freedom

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a litigious week for Oklahoma’s top education official, state Superintendent Ryan Walters has both sued and been sued by advocacy groups.

The Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Walters, his administration and the state Board of Education in Oklahoma County District Court.

The lawsuit accuses the Oklahoma State Department of Education of violating open meetings laws and of improperly withholding records detailing Walters’ Library Media Advisory Committee.

In an unrelated matter, Walters sued the Freedom From Religion Foundation on Monday in Muskogee federal court, complaining of the cease-and-desist letters the Wisconsin-based organization has sent to Oklahoma schools over alleged violations of church-state separation.

“Oklahoma will never be bullied by radical, out-of-state atheists who use intimidation and harassment against kids,” Walters said in a statement.

The two organizations have been involved in a court battle against Walters before. Both supplied attorneys to a pending lawsuit challenging Walters’ purchase of Bibles with state funds and his mandate that schools teach from the Christian text.

Walters’ lawsuit accused the Freedom from Religion Foundation of inhibiting religious freedom in Achille Public Schools when it discouraged the southeast Oklahoma district from having student-led prayer during morning announcements.

The foundation called the lawsuit frivolous and said it won’t back down.

The civil suit filed against Walters on Tuesday was “nothing more than a politically motivated attack,” Walters said in a statement through a spokesperson.

“These extremists are using the legal system to harass and obstruct progress in an effort to push their radical agenda,” Walters said.

Oklahoma Appleseed filed its case after the state agency failed to provide details of the formation, membership selection and activities of the Library Media Advisory Committee despite repeated requests, according to the lawsuit.

The Tulsa-based nonprofit requested that a judge order the Education Department to release the records and pay for the group’s attorney fees.

The lawsuit also asked a judge to declare that the agency violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act and that the advisory committee broke the state’s Open Meeting Act, which requires government boards to conduct their business in public view.

“This lawsuit is about government transparency and accountability,” Oklahoma Appleseed legal director Brent Rowland said in a statement. “The public has a right to know who is making decisions affecting its public schools. Oklahomans have a right to expect that their government will follow the law regarding open records and open meetings.”

The Education Department has said it doesn’t view the advisory committee as a “public body” subject to open meeting laws.

“The Library Media Advisory Committee is a volunteer-based group responsible for reviewing books for suitability to minor students based on content,” the agency’s open records office wrote to Oklahoma Voice on Dec. 17 in response to a request for documents. “Please note that this committee is exempt from the Open Meetings Act, as it does not have decision-making authority or engage in formal deliberations. It does not meet the legal definition of a ‘public body,’ as it does not conduct meetings or engage in decision-making activities. Its role is solely advisory, and it is not supported by, nor entrusted with the management of, public funds or property.”

Walters formed the advisory committee in 2023 to review whether certain books are age-appropriate for schools or whether they violate state rules against sexual content.

Following the committee’s recommendation, the Education Department ordered Edmond Public Schools to remove the best-selling novels “The Kite Runner” and “The Glass Castle” from its high school libraries. Edmond appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, who decided that local schools, not the state Education Department, have control over what books to keep on their library shelves.

Walters and his administration have refused to disclose the names of the advisory committee members but one — out-of-state social media personality Chaya Raichik, who runs an account known as Libs of TikTok.

Raichik and the Library Media Advisory Committee also are named as defendants in the Oklahoma Appleseed lawsuit.

“(The state Education Department) will not be bullied by extremist organizations trying to weaponize the courts and remains committed to transparency and compliance with all legal requirements,” Walters said.

The state agency has denied multiple requests from news media, including Oklahoma Voice, to identify the rest of the committee’s members.

Email records the agency provided to Oklahoma Voice were heavily redacted to cover up individuals’ names. The Education Department’s open records office has so far refused to cite a state law requiring that these names be kept confidential.

Oklahoma Appleseed contended these records should be available to the public with “narrowly tailored and legally justified redactions.”

“In this instance, the state Department of Education has formed a Library Media Advisory Committee to make decisions about students’ access to books when our state Supreme Court has determined those decisions should be made by local school boards,” Rowland said. “State officials cannot hide behind closed doors and avoid public accountability, and why would they want to?”

Oklahoma Voice (oklahomavoice.com) is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. Oklahoma Voice provides nonpartisan reporting, and retains full editorial independence.