In a Friday news release, Walters announced that beginning this school year, his department will allow districts to use approved benchmark assessments in place.
“The teachers-union-approach is failing our kids,” Walters said in the release. “By moving away from outdated state tests and empowering local districts, we’re reducing the burden on students, parents and teachers while ensuring high–quality education that is no longer driven by bureaucrats or outside groups.”
However, the tests are required by state law and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a federal law.
According to the state department’s website, it is requesting a federal waiver to expand the use of other assessments, including the conservative-backed Classical Learning Test. But, public comment for the waiver does not close until Sept. 8. After the comment period closes, the U.S. Department of Education has 120 days to respond.
StateImpact asked Madison Cercy, press secretary for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, to clarify if the department has now rolled out a policy dependent on approval of the federal waiver, and subject to public comment, before either has been finalized. She replied the department is “following the federal process.”
Asked for further clarification, she did not respond before publication.
StateImpact also asked if the department has the authority to bypass state law requiring these tests. Cercy replied the department is “not bypassing state law,” but did not offer further explanation.
Rep. Dell Kerbs (R-Shawnee), chair of the House Education Oversight Committee, reiterated current testing requirements in a Friday afternoon news release.
“End-of-year state assessments are mandated by both state and federal law,” Krebs said. “... We look forward to continued collaboration with Superintendent Walters and school districts so that any proposed changes to student testing align with state law and provides clear, actionable information on student college and career readiness.”
The existing tests have been the source of controversy in recent years after the department quietly altered the cut score metric in 2024, which gave the impression of higher scores. The Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability voted this spring to throw out the new metrics and return the state to the nationally aligned standards.
As most Oklahoma schools start classes this month, the announcement comes after a flurry of other proposed policy changes with dubious legal authority.
In July, Walters announced a mandate for districts to immediately submit new budgets to pay for all students’ school meals — a mandate some school leaders say is impossible to fulfill.
Days later, he announced a PragerU-backed ideology test for teachers from “woke” states he said would be implemented before the 2025-26 school year began.
Friday, public comment closes for a proposed “teacher effectiveness” substitution for the chronic absenteeism indicator that was removed from the state’s A-F report card by a bill passed this legislative session. After lawmakers pushed back on the proposal, OSDE said it was no longer submitting the teacher effectiveness metric to the federal government.
However, the state department has not clarified what will be submitted to the federal government in its place, as ESSA requires a metric not tied to academic tests.
The state department was required by state law to submit its amended plan to the federal government by Aug. 1 — seven days before public comment on the plan closed.
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