Oklahoma State House Subpoenas Supt. Ryan Walters

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters was subpoenaed by the state House on Tuesday, News 9 has learned.

In a statement emailed to News 9, Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, wrote:

"As the branch of government charged with appropriations and oversight, the Legislature has a responsibility to make sure that taxpayer dollars are being spent properly by the agencies and departments under its purview. Myself, and many of my legislative colleagues, have repeatedly tried to communicate with the superintendent and his staff about these important issues. With the amount of tax dollars being spent by the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), legislative oversight of this spending is crucial. We have tried to work with the Superintendent, like we do with all state agencies, but have been met with a lack of transparency and increasingly unprofessional conduct. As Chairman of the Appropriations and Budget Education Subcommittee, I am constitutionally bound to ask questions, and statutorily entitled to have them answered, of the leadership of the legislatively appropriated OSDE. As those questions have not been answered, and no voluntary answer is forthcoming, I have exercised my power as Chairman to subpoena the superintendent to produce the records and communications requested by the committee. Where taxpayer money is concerned we must be diligent. The time for playing political games is over, and the time for answers is at hand. My focus is, and always will be, doing what is best for the children of Oklahoma, and the only way we can do that as a Legislature is to get basic questions answered properly. I look forward to reviewing the subpoenaed documents, and their timely delivery to my office."

Ryan Walters' Senior Advisor Matt Langston issued the following statement regarding the subpoena from Rep. Mark McBride:

"Representative McBride has repeatedly lied about Superintendent Walters and the State Department of Education. He has made up false narratives and has yet to show a serious effort to improve education in Oklahoma. All Oklahomans should question his political and ideological stances. Representative McBride actively works with Democrats and teachers unions to undermine Superintendent Walters' and Oklahomans' conservative policies."

The subpoena comes amid tensions between the state Legislature and the Department of Education. One lawmaker called out an OSDE staffer for what he calls 'childish behavior.'

Republican House Representative Mark McBride says the legislature has struggled to communicate with OSDE on spending, among other issues. However, McBride says the latest communication he received took it too far.

"You know it's been going on for a long time,” McBride said.

McBride is the chair of the education appropriation and budget committee.

"My job is to see to it that money gets to education and gets to education in the right ways," McBride said.

He says the lack of communication from OSDE and State Superintendent Ryan Walters is not new.

"It's hard for anybody, whether it's a superintendent or the legislature, to get any information out of the Department of Ed,” he said.

But after months of information requests about teacher signing bonuses, OSDE spending, and emails from Walters went unanswered, McBride put his foot down.

"Wednesday, I sent and I said you know we need answers to these questions,” McBride explained. “And that's when somebody from the department of ed slipped this sarcastic little letter under my door."

The letter read ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,’ and it was sent by OSDE Senior Policy Advisor Matt Langston.

"I thought it was very unprofessional," McBride said.

We reached out to Matt Langston for an interview but did not receive a response.

Langston did release a statement responding to McBride Friday, calling McBride a 'whiney Democrat' and saying in part '...McBride continues to cry for attention while promoting failed policies, backing woke indoctrination, and promoting porn in schools...'

"Really it's kind of childish. I’m not a Democrat," McBride clarified.

He says there's a bigger picture at hand.

"It needs to be about the kids," McBride said.

He says transparency and communication between OSDE and the legislature is the only way forward.

"They need to do the business that the people elected them to do," McBride said.