Republican Oklahoma schools chief to roll out anti-'woke' test for teachers coming in from blue states

Ryan Walters, the far-right, deeply anti-LGBTQ+ Oklahoma schools superintendent, says the state will give teachers moving in from liberal states a test to assure they won’t teach so-called woke ideology.

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Walters told the Oklahoma State Board of Education Thursday that the test will be available “in two weeks or so,” The Oklahoman reports. The Oklahoma Department of Education, which he was elected to head, is developing the text with PragerU, a nonprofit run by right-wing commentator Dennis Prager.

He didn’t specify the exact content of the test or who’d be required to take it, but he said California and New York have standards for teachers that are “antithetical” to Oklahoma’s. “Seven or eight other states” are planning to impose “dramatically crazy requirements on their teachers,” he added.

“You’re not going to come in here and teach that there’s 27 genders. There’s boys and girls. That’s in our science standards,” he told board members. “You’re going to come in, and you’re not going to undermine American exceptionalism by teaching anti-American, anti-Semitic hate.”

He had said earlier that the test would focus on knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, American exceptionalism, and differences between genders, according to Oklahoma City TV station KWTV. Also, he had issued a press release this month saying, “We’re sending a clear message: Oklahoma’s schools will not be a haven for woke agendas pushed in places like California and New York. If you want to teach here, you’d better know the Constitution, respect what makes America great and understand basic biology. We’re raising a generation of patriots, not activists, and I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep leftist propaganda out of our classrooms.”

Related: Ryan Walters is too much even for Republicans in Oklahoma

At the board meeting, he claimed California requires teachers to assert there is no difference between genders, The Oklahoman reports. California actually requires teachers to recognize all sexual orientations and gender identities, the harm of gender stereotypes, and what it means to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Some board members questioned why the test would be given to some incoming teachers and not others and why it would not need the board’s approval, as Walters maintained. Walters said there is legal documentation as to why board approval is not needed, but the board’s attorney, Chad Kutmas, said he would have to research this.

Walters is known for denying the existence of transgender and nonbinary people and for urging the use of the Bible in public schools. Last year, he issued a mandate for the teaching of the Bible in fifth through 12^th grade. He had asked the legislature specifically to fund certain versions of the Bible, including the one endorsed by Donald Trump.

Related: Oklahoma superintendent’s ties to anti-trans influencer spark outrage in wake of Nex Benedict’s death

Parents, teachers, and faith leaders filed a lawsuit against the mandate last October. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has paused its enforcement, and Walters asked the court this week to lift the pause. “The Left has launched an all-out assault on Christianity in this country and will stop at nothing to destroy the Bible’s significance in our country and the principles that shaped this country,” he said in a press release. “Students cannot fully understand American History without understanding the Bible’s role in it, despite the liberal hysteria we continue to see.”

Also this week, he announced a partnership with American Virtual Academy, a conservative online K-12 school; parents who choose it instead of public schools can receive a tax credit. “Left-wing indoctrination in schools poses a serious threat to our students, and parents deserve more options for their kids,” he said in a release. “We are proud to be one of the first states in the country to do this.”