Oklahoma’s new “America First” Teacher Certification Test requires educators in California and New York to agree to a conservative curriculum.
The new Oklaho Muskholder Curriculum includes the 2020 election plot
Oklahoma’s new curriculum includes a Trump 2020 election plot that is expected to teach as fact.
California and New York teachers who want to work in Oklahoma public schools must pass certification tests to prove they share the state’s conservative political values.
Regardless of the subjects they teach or grades they must show that they know “the biological differences between women and men.” They agree to state American historical standards, including the teachings of disproved conspiracy theory that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from President Donald Trump.
The state Department of Education has conducted new accreditation tests for teachers in two biggest Democratic-led states, “oppose our standards” to ensure new referees are taught “oppose our standards,” the Oklahoma principal said in an interview today.
Walters calls the new requirement “America First” certification in relation to one of Trump’s political slogans.
Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Republican Walters to the helm of the state’s education department in September 2020, and voters then elected him for his second term in November 2022.
Oklahoma offers educational bonuses of up to $50,000 to attract teachers across the country, and has seen “a dramatic increase in teachers who want to come to Oklahoma.” The new test aims to ensure that teachers are eliminated with conflicting views from state standards. The state, like many others, has a sustained teacher shortage.
He said the tests apply for now only to teachers in California and New York, as these states specifically teach the opposite lessons to those taught in Oklahoma.
“Many credits go to Gavin Newsom,” Walters said. He claims that under the governor, California implemented lessons on “gender theory,” which are not permitted in Oklahoma schools. (The California Healthy Youth Act, passed in 2016, requires that statewide public school lessons must include “LGBTQ students,” and teach students “gender, gender representation, gender identity, “negative gender stereotypes” and “exploring the harms of all sexual orientation and LGBTQ harms.”).
Oklahoma’s “America First” Test
Prager U, a non-profit, conservative media company, is helping Oklahoma’s Department of Education develop tests.
The company previously helped develop the state’s new high school history curriculum standards. This includes lessons on how to analyze the results of the 2020 election, including learning about suspected mail-voter fraud, “unexpected record-number voters,” and “security risks of mail-in voting.”
The new curriculum also taught the contested theory that Covid-19 came out of lab leaks, and removed previous suggestions for George Floyd’s murder and lessons on black life issues.
“These reforms reset classrooms to educate children without liberal indoctrination,” Walters wrote in an X post on April 29th. “We are proud to advocate for these standards.
The state’s overseer said some of the historical questions were about the US government, how the nation turned out, and its founding documents.
The Walter’s Office shared five sample questions with USA Today.
- What are the first three words of the Constitution? a. We trust in God. Life, freedom, happiness c. US D. Our people
- Why is religious freedom important to American identity? a. It makes Christianity a religion of the nation. It prohibits any form of public worship. It limits publicly born religious teachings. Protect religious choices from government control
- What are the two parts of the US Congress? a. Lord’s House and Commons B. Courts and Senatech. Executives and legislatives. Senate and House of Representatives
- How many US senators are there? 435b. 110c. 50D. 100
- Why do some states have more representatives than others? a. They cover a larger geographical area B. They have held the nation for a longer period of time. This number is determined by military claims. Expression is determined by population size
Walters said the test would be finished by August 15th and would be available to future teachers in the week of August 18th.
“We’re very close,” he said.
The Oklahoma schools took the helm of the state’s education division under Walters in September 2020 and selected him for their second term in November 2022.
Teacher union leader: Tests become a “big turn-off” for teachers amid the “serious teacher shortage crisis”
Teachers’ union leaders denounced the new accreditation test in an interview with USA Today.
Randy Weingerten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said Walters’ new test would be a “big turn-off” for teachers and not “solve problems.”
“Teachers in this country are patriotic and suggest that they are not,” she said. Weingarten criticized Walters for some of his conservative pushes to education in Oklahoma, including biblical lessons, and criticised his support for religious charter schools.
She called those moves and the implementation of new tests “a big distraction.”
“It seems like Ryan Walters is trying out the Chief’s Magazine, not the best educator, because everything he’s doing is about culture wars, not reading, writing, or arithmetic,” she said. “If he wants to be the best Magazine, then he wants to be the Magazine. But focus on someone else being an educator and reading, literacy, wrap-around service and what is appropriate for other people who are real teachers who want to be in Oklahoma.”
Teachers union leaders in Oklahoma and California agreed.
“This is a political stunt to attract attention,” said Kari Elledge, president of the Oklahoma Education Association. “Every order coming out of the Department of Education is baseless and is a distraction from the real issues in Oklahoma.”
One of these pressing issues is the “crisis of a serious teacher shortage,” she said. “I think it might be a deterrent for quality educators looking to get a job as to whether political ideology is capable of teaching anywhere… and we are meant to be a fearful and confused.”
The political situation in Oklahoma is contributing to the lack of teachers, she said. He said Oklahoma has around 30,000 teachers who are state-certified education but do not work in the classroom.
“We believe we are scared to teach political morale,” she said. “Our work is extremely important and at the end of the day it’s about the future of our students.”
The state teachers union told members in a July 11 letter provided by Eldage to USA Today that Walters “does not have the legal authority to review teachers who are certified based on political ideology.”
They say that “licensing and certifications are in compliance with state law, not personal opinions or partisan preferences,” and that state laws “need to recognize out-of-state education credentials.”
The letter refers to a portion of the state education code that states that “certificates must be issued to qualified teachers from other US states and territories if they meet basic requirements, including criminal history checks.”
The union is also concerned about the partnership between the state education department and Pragel.
“The OEA is actively monitoring this and other overdues,” reads the letter. “We are still vigilant about protecting the rights of educators and students in Oklahoma.”
Oklahoma teachers do not teach newly implemented conservative ideologies in their classrooms. This is expected to take part in the “America First” certification test.
“They aren’t here to give their opinions in class. They’re here to teach the facts,” she said.
Anyway, due to political differences, there are not many teachers in Oklahoma, who are from California or New York.
“The people in Oklahomans have more conservative values,” she said. “It’s not a destination state for the people of California and New York. It’s a really good place and it’s sad because the students here deserve the best they could have.”
David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, said he has never heard of the influx of teachers who want to move from California to teach in Oklahoma.
But as the state is trying to solve the teacher shortage, Oklahoma tests are “trying to scare them,” he said.
“This seems almost like a satire, but so far I’ve been away from my research into what Oklahoma educators need,” he said. “I don’t see that this isn’t any hyperpolitical epic in any way that doesn’t serve any of these needs.”
Goldberg refuses that what teachers need in California – “respect” and livable wages – is different from what teachers in Oklahoma need to thrive. Teachers are responsible for caring for children in both locations, despite their different educational systems, he said.
Please contact Kayla Jimenez (kjimenez@usatoday.com). Follow her on the X on @kaylajjimenez.
