OKLAHOMA SUPERINTENDENT ACCUSES TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF TAKING MONEY FROM CHINESE GOVERNMENT

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters

TULSA, Okla. –

State Superintendent Ryan Walters is criticizing Tulsa Public Schools following a grassroots report that the district is operating a so-called “Confucius Classrooms” program.

The program is a sister-school partnership that teaches language and culture and is funded by the Chinese International Education Foundation.

“You have communist China that is giving money to Tulsa Public Schools in order to try to undermine our United States government, our country,” said Walters in a video posted online.

Walters’ communication team provide more information saying that China initially utilized Confucius Institutes to exert influence on American education. Walters’ teams said these institutes were partially funded and administered by Hanban, a sub-organization of the Chinese Ministry of Education.

Tulsa Public Schools responded to the claims by the Superintendent saying;

“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.

One teacher from one of Tulsa’s award-winning high schools participates in professional development offerings with an organization out of Texas – the International Leadership of Texas program – which also partners with Confucius Classroom. The teacher’s salary and adopted instructional resources are fully paid for by Tulsa Public Schools. Contrary to Superintendent Walters’ accusations, the district takes no funds from the Chinese government.

Students benefiting from our teacher’s supplemental professional development with the International Leadership of Texas have achieved high honors in the past year, including placing in the Oklahoma Chinese Speech competition and the National Chinese Speech Contest.”