‘We’re taking schools back.’ Ryan Walters’ TPUSA expansion marks new front in culture war

Ryan Walters vows Turning Point USA will have a presence in every high school in Oklahoma, saying in a new interview that “the process has already begun.”

Walters, the former Oklahoma State Superintendent who recently resigned to become CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, spoke with Fox News Digital about his push to establish TPUSA chapters in high schools across his state and his efforts to “take the fight” directly to teachers’ unions.

“The teachers’ unions descended and brought chaos to our state. They fought every reform. They fought parents’ rights. They pushed the most radical ideology the country has ever seen. They’re Marxist. They have to be destroyed,” said Walters.

“What we’re doing is we’re getting teachers out of the teachers’ union first, but then we’re creating an army of America First teachers that actually want to go back to teaching math, reading, history, science,” said Walters. “When I say history, I mean actually American values, actual history. You know, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, which forever changed the course of human events. Not Thomas Jefferson’s an evil slave owner, which is what you’re seeing in so many of our classrooms today.”

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Walters explained why he called for the creation of TPUSA chapters in every Oklahoma high school.

“The students of Oklahoma demanded it. Parents wanted it. Teachers wanted it,” he said.

“We saw the teachers’ union has been trying to fight that,” said Walters. “They’re one of the most radical groups in the country. They don’t want free speech. They don’t want our kids to have access to American values. They want BLM, LGBTQ+ clubs. They fight for those, and they fight to keep TPUSA out.”

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Walters shared specifically how he is fighting against the teachers unions.

“The first step is to get the teachers to leave. What happens when the teachers leave? They’re targeted. They’re targeted by the unions. We provide them liability insurance. Then what happens? The school districts try to force them to go back to DEI trainings through the unions,” he said.

Walters elaborated on the work done by his organization.

“We provide full professional development that actually focuses around academics, American values. And then lastly, we equip them on how to fight this fight. So they have liability insurance. They have a legal team to support them. They’ve got the trainings necessary to be great teachers.”

Walters added, “Lastly, they are going to get the trainings on how to fight back. How to get the schools back on track, how to partner with parents, how to partner with communities to make sure that American values are back in our schools.”

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Walters was asked if he thinks his resignation gave the teachers unions and American Federation of Teachers leader Randi Weingarten a political win.

“She’s scared to death that we’re going to destroy them nationally,” he said. “We already have a presence in all 50 states. And again, Randi won’t stop talking about me. Said she wrote a book in part because of the work I did.”

Walters said Weingarten “put my head on a target over my face just a few months ago. So she knows that we’re bringing the fight to her.”

“Here in Oklahoma, we’re standing firm, and it should be an example for the entire country, said Walters. “Stand for your values, stand for your faith, stand with Turning Point USA.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

During an interview with Fox News Channel’s Martha MacCallum, Walters said the groups will be “in every school because we’ve already got requests from every school — so that makes it very easy.”

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Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report