Editor’s note: This story is part of Oklahoma Voice’s “Whatever Happened To …” end-of-year series that provides updates to some stories that captured the interest of Oklahomans in 2023.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Almost a year since portraits of the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame were taken down at the state Department of Education, the organization’s leaders say they still hope the agency will reconsider the removal.
But, state Superintendent Ryan Walters has given no sign of budging.
“OSDE is a place that celebrates our students, not educational bureaucrats,” said Dan Isett, agency spokesperson.
For decades, portraits and plaques honoring the hall of fame’s inductees hung in the hallway that led from the Department of Education lobby to the board meeting room, one of the few parts of the building accessible to the public.
Walters had the portraits taken down in February, a month into his tenure as state superintendent. At the time, he said the department would not honor “union leaders and association heads.”
The images and plaques have remained in climate-controlled storage at the department ever since, the hall of fame’s leaders say.
Meanwhile, the walls where the frames once hung have been mostly sparse. Children’s drawings from a private elementary school are posted on part of the hallway.
The hall of fame’s longtime executive director, Sharon Lease, said the Department of Education gave no warning the portraits would be taken down.
Discussions with the agency have amounted to “a lot of disappointment,” she said.
“It’s just so unfortunate that there’s this perception,” Lease said. “These are fine educators, really giants in their profession, and they’ve earned the recognition.”
The hall of fame, a small nonprofit honoring exemplary educators, has had a few offers for new locations, said Eugene Earsom, president of the hall of fame’s board.
But he said none of the suggested sites met three criteria that made the state Department of Education building ideal — a location in Oklahoma City with public access where all of the portraits and plaques could be displayed at once.
Earsom and the organization’s vice president met with agency staff days after the portraits were removed and asked if the images could be rehung in another part of the building.
“And the answer was just a flat no,” Earsom said.
The hall of fame pictures have been taken down before under former state Superintendent Janet Barresi, who like Walters was known to have an adversarial relationship with teachers and their collective bargaining associations. Barresi’s successor, Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, had them put back on display when she took office in 2015 and was inducted into the hall in 2021.
Drew Cole, son of 2005 inductee Bill S. Cole, said it hurts to see his father and other honorees disrespected. He said the decision illustrates Walters’ refusal to listen to educators, accept accountability and recognize the state’s true history.
“It’s so petty, childish,” said Cole, of Edmond. “I don’t take any more from it than I would a third grader calling me names because I know that’s how my father would be. He would laugh it off and walk on down the hall.”
Bill Cole started his career as a classroom teacher before becoming a college dean and a university president. He retired in 2006 after 17 years leading East Central University and died in 2010.
Although Bill Cole and other educators’ images aren’t on display, it doesn’t mark the end for the hall of fame. Its organizers say they will continue adding new names and honoring past inductees each year.
The hall of fame leadership is still weighing options, but Earsom said the outcome the group most hopes for is to see the portraits returned to their decades-old place at the state Department of Education.
He said the organization sent Walters a letter and called multiple times, all to no avail.
“We’re going to continue to reach out to him to see if he’s had any change of mind,” Earsom said. “There are individuals who remain interested, and he apparently remains adamant that he’s not going to move.”
