OK House Education chair: Walters' school lunch mandate is "empty threat"

Education Chair Dismisses SDE Mandate as "Empty Threat"

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 9th) – Oklahoma House Education Committee Chair Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, reacted to the Monday announcement by State Superintendent Ryan Walters that he would require all school districts in the state to provide free lunches to all students at the cost of employee salaries. The Superintendent does not have the Constitutional or legal authority to direct how individual school districts allocate their budgets.

"This attempt to overstep the authority of Walters' office is a threat to the independent decision-making power of Oklahoma's school districts. Regardless, it is nothing more than an empty threat," said Lowe, a former ag teacher. 

State Sup't Walters: schools must fully fund student meals with existing state/fed dollars

Walters Demands End to Bureaucratic Bloat

Oklahoma Schools Must Fully Fund Student Meals

Oklahoma City, OK – Starting in the 2025/2026 school year, the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) will mandate that every school district fully funds student meals using existing state and federal operational dollars. For too long, Oklahoma’s students and taxpayers have been fleeced by gross mismanagement and bloated bureaucracies that prioritize administrative paychecks over kids’ basic needs. This stops now.

AG O’Connor blasts Biden for withholding school lunches unless schools embrace gender-identity agenda

AG O’Connor Blasts Biden for Withholding School Lunches from Children Unless Schools Embrace Gender Identity Agenda

OKLAHOMA CITY -  Attorney General John O’Connor has joined a coalition of 26 state attorneys general calling on President Joe Biden to withdraw the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new guidance on sex discrimination for schools and programs that receive federal nutritional assistance. The coalition says recent guidance from the USDA imposes new—and unlawful—regulatory measures on state agencies and operators receiving federal financial assistance from the USDA.