Beth Wallis
Reporter for StateImpact OklahomaBeth Wallis holds a journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. Originally from Tulsa, she also graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor's degree in music education and a master's degree in conducting performance. She was a band director at a public school for five years.
Beth is an alumnus of the Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellowship and NPR Next Generation Radio. She's been recognized for her work by the Hearst Awards, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Collegiate Press and the Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association. She was awarded Best Podcast from the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists for her series "At the Seams," which explores Norman's relationships with political division, police funding and its own racial history.
Beth enjoys hiking, playing with her four dogs and discovering new favorite musical artists.
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The state legislature is back in session, and there’s no hotter topic than education policy. StateImpact education reporter Beth Wallis talked with StateImpact managing editor Logan Layden about what to expect from lawmakers in 2024.
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The Department of Education overpaid at least $290,000 in teacher bonuses and is working to claw back the money mere months after it was distributed. Nine teachers have been issued demands for repayment.
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State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced in a news release Tuesday he was appointing Chaya Raichik to the department’s Library Media Advisory Committee. Raichik is behind the far-right X (formerly Twitter) account, LibsofTikTok.
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In a news release, Walters alleged, without providing evidence, the organizations “push an anti-parent, woke agenda,” work in tandem with “national extremist groups” and “force failed policies into schools.”
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Plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits against the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School will get another chance to disqualify the judge assigned to the case.
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KWGS' Max Bryan and StateImpact’s Beth Wallis have this update on how Tulsa Public Schools’ state-mandated improvement plan is going so far and the work that lies ahead.
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The subpoena comes from Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore), who chairs the Education Appropriations and Budget Committee; Rep. Rhonda Baker (R-Yukon), who chairs the Common Education Committee; and Speaker of the House Charles McCall (R-Atoka).
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The EO prohibits state funds, property or resources from going to certain DEI positions, departments, activities, procedures, programs and mandatory trainings “to the extent they grant preferential treatment based on one person’s particular race, color, ethnicity or national origin over another’s.”
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State Superintendent Ryan Walters proposed new rules Wednesday to eliminate all references to long-held American Library Association guidelines in Oklahoma’s Information Literacy Standards.
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The suit was filed in October 2021 by the ACLU and Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on behalf of students and educators.