Tim Walz’s Misleading Claims About Winning Teaching Awards

As Minnesota Governor Tim Walz comes under fire for making misleading claims about his military service, IVF treatments, and drunk driving arrest, it seems the vice presidential nominee has also made dubious claims about winning teaching awards.

A Daily Wire review found several claims that Walz, a former high school teacher, won either one or two Minnesota Teacher of the Year awards. In reality, he won no such title.

In a 2005 article in the Austin Daily Herald, a reporter who appears to have gotten his information directly from Walz wrote that “Twice, [Walz] was selected a Minnesota teacher of the year for ethics and excellence in education.”

A local paper’s glowing profile of Tim Walz in 2005:

Walz “served a tour of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom”

“He was deployed overseas with his National Guard field artillery unit in Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

It appears the reporter interviewed Walz for this piece…???? pic.twitter.com/ID3Q2Fm4jE

— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 10, 2024

Walz’s biography at VoteSmart lists three teaching awards — a 2002 “Ethics in Education,” award, a 2003 Minnesota Teacher of Excellence award, and the 2003 Mankato Teacher of the Year award.

In a 2006 congressional campaign ad, a voiceover simply claims that Walz was “teacher of the year,”  leaving the impression Walz won a state or national award.

Here is another example of Tim Walz using his Command Sergeant Major rank in a 2006 campaign ad. Walz even implies that he served in Afghanistan.

This is a full year removed from his demotion from a CSM-E9 to a MSG-E8.

This is textbook Stolen Valor.pic.twitter.com/i0I47TBeyI

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) August 12, 2024

A 2006 article from Walz’s alma mater, Chadron State College, claimed “In 2002, Walz was one of six Minnesota teachers to receive a $10,000 award recognizing their high performances and contributions to the teaching profession. He also received an Ethics in Education award from the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation.”

Walz’s 2018 campaign website reportedly claimed he won the 2003 Minnesota Teacher of Excellence award, according to On The Issues, which cites the website. The website no longer exists, and instead redirects visitors to Vice President Kamala Harris’ main campaign website.

But Walz was never selected as a Minnesota Teacher of the Year recipient. A  website for the award includes a list of past nominees – and Walz’s name does not appear.

Walz did win the Mankato Teachers’ Association’s Teacher of the Year award — a prize given by members of the local teachers’ union — in 2002.

In 2003, Walz won an Ethics Award from the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation, which comes with a $10,000 prize. But this is not a “Teacher of the Year” award, nor is it two awards, as the Chadron State College article claimed.

Walz has won two awards related to his teaching, but he did not win any statewide “Teacher of the Year” awards, as his campaign has led many to believe.

The governor’s claims about his awards are similar to misleading statements he has made about his military service. He served honorably, but he did not see combat in the Middle East or retire as a command sergeant major, as he has claimed or implied multiple times.

Requests to Walz and the Harris-Walz campaign were not returned prior to press time.