Earlier this week, V1SUT reported on Governor Kevin Stitt’s (R) war against education reform, President Trump’s immigration agenda and State Superintendent Ryan Walters (R).
Stitt is publicly supported in his efforts by 29 progressive NGOs including the Oklahoma Education Association, Oklahoma’s largest teachers’ union.
29 NGOs signed release supporting Stitt’s recent actions against State Board of Ed
On February 11th, Stitt stripped the State Board of Education, exchanging three (3) previous appointees with conflicted replacements. Minutes after being sworn in, new board member Chris VanDenhende moved to halt all board discussions about the impact of illegal immigration on Oklahoma’s public schools.
And now, to give Stitt’s newly appointed State Board of Education members greater control, Oklahoma’s newest and youngest ever (30) House Speaker, Kyle Hilbert (R) pulled a legislative card trick.
With the deadline for submitting new bills within the current legislative session long since passed, Hilbert replaced all of the language within an existing bill that had been submitted on time.
Complete substitution of HB 1491 by Speaker Hilbert (3/4/2025 - 5:06 pm)
Referred to as a “committee substitution”, HB 1491 originally targeted the process by which the State Board of Education suspends and revokes teaching certificates due to educator misconduct by amending existing state statute (70 O.S. 2021, Section 3-104).
HB 1491 was authored by Rep Ronny Johns (R), a former teacher, coach, athletic coordinator, vice-principal and Ada high school principal.
“An Act relating to education…relates to the powers and duties of the State Board of Education; limiting the State Board of Education's authority to revoke or suspend licenses or certificates.” - HB 1491 summary, as originally introduced on 2/12/2025
Johns had already requested a dangerous amendment to his own bill which would omit both teacher “incompetency” and “neglect” while inserting “conviction” as allowable reasons for the State Board of Education to remove teacher credentials.
Committee amendment to original HB 1491.
Making conviction a basis for suspending teaching certifications ignores Oklahoma’s complicated statutes of limitation for criminal prosecution of child sex crimes. Children rarely disclose abuse, and due to a previous legislative failure, adult reports of abuse that occurred prior to 2017 are largely non-prosecutable in Oklahoma . In many cases, revoking a certification is the only available mechanism by which a pedophile teacher or coach can be removed from the classroom.
After 5:00 pm on Wednesday, March 4th, that amended bill was gutted and replaced with language giving Stitt’s new appointees control over the State Board of Education agenda, a right and responsibility historically reserved for the State Superintendent as the only member of that board elected by We the People.
Hilbert’s after-hours substitution of HB 1491.
The new language reads, “Upon written request by at least two (2) members of the Board, any member of the Board shall be authorized to place an item on a Board agenda. The item shall be placed on the agenda for the next meeting or a subsequent meeting, as decided by the requesting members, in accordance with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.”
It appears those fighting the removal of predator teachers and coaches from Oklahoma’s schools will no longer need to limit the State Board of Education’s power as originally intended within HB 1491.
In alliance with Stitt, the education establishment, both within and behind the legislature, appears to now have voting control concerning each case of educator misconduct coming before the State Board of Education. And now, they are moving to control the full conversation at that table.
House Education Oversight Committee.
At 9:16 am on the morning following Hilbert’s after-hours bill replacement, all nine (9) members of the Republican dominated House Education Oversight Committee voted to advance the entirely new bill. Five (5) of those members (Hasenbeck-R, Provenzano-D, Waldron-D, Wolfley-R and Lowe-R) are former educators, coaches and/or school administrators.
Of note, the description on the official record of that committee vote still describes the previous purpose of the bill making it unclear what committee members actually voted to advance:
Education Oversight Committee vote on HB 1491 (3/5/2025 9:16 am)
In anticipation of this bill flip for Stitt, Hilbert released the following statement connecting both Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton (R) and Governor Stitt to the substituted bill.
Both Hilbert’s press release and the new HB 1491 language fail to acknowledge the elevated role and responsibilities of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, in this case Walters, within the State Board of Education. As the only elected board member, the State Superintendent is not only chair but the recognized executive officer of the board under Article VI Section 1 of the Oklahoma Constitution.
State Board of Education members are not legal equals, the voters choose the body’s executive officer and there’s no voting among members to select a chair. State statute also defines the greater role of the elected executive officer of the State Board of Education:
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is the official provided for in Section 1 of Article VI of the Oklahoma Constitution who shall be the executive officer of the State Board of Education and have control of and direct the State Department of Education. (70 OK Stat § 70-1-105)
In synchronicity with Hilbert’s press release, Governor Stitt’s X post in support of the HB 1491 replacement states, “No one member should control a board.” Perhaps unstated was ‘unless that one person is Governor Stitt’.
Reactions to Stitt’s post show Oklahomans are aware UniParty leaders regularly accuse others of what they are actually doing, especially when further consolidating power to themselves. Stitt’s claim the new bill will “give parents and students a voice in Oklahoma’s Board of Education” appears to be falling flat with constituents.
In November of 2022, Oklahomans overwhelmingly voted for Walters’ platform of reclaiming public schools and giving power back to parents. That mandate has once again been trampled.
Should readers wish to identify and contact their State House and Senate representation to express their views on the new HB 1491, a link is provided.
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I’m sure Senator Hall will vote for this, and I’m also very sure that will be well documented on the campaign handouts of his next primary opponent.
We'll be taking names. There is another election coming up.