Notably absent from this set of standards is instruction to “identify discrepancies in 2020 election results” or unproven theories on the origin of COVID-19. Students are instead invited to “examine political polarization and constitutional issues” related to the 2020 election and the “federal and private response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its impact on global health and American society.”
Rather than dozens of mentions of the Bible, the proposed standards have one related to the translation of the Bible during the Protestant Reformation.
State Superintendent Lindel Fields took over after Walters resigned last fall. The new standards are one of several Walters policies Fields has undone during his tenure, in addition to nixing a mandate requiring Bibles in Oklahoma classrooms. The State Board of Education also recently approved a rule to remove a requirement for teachers to take the U.S. Naturalization Test.
In December, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Walters’ social studies standards were unenforceable because the board violated the state’s Open Meeting Act when it approved them. According to the court, the board and public did not receive adequate notice that the board’s Feb. 27 vote would be on “fundamentally different” standards than a previous draft.
It was revealed to the public after the vote that the standards had been updated to include “discrepancies in 2020 election results,” among other things. Board members had been sent the new standards in an attached document less than 24 hours before the February meeting. There was no indication given in the email that changes to the publicly available standards had been made.
Lawmakers filed a Senate Joint Resolution to reject the standards, citing questions around transparency of the standards adoption process. But, after a closed-door meeting with Walters, the resolution was never voted on and the standards were tacitly approved without a vote.
This legislative session, Rep. Jacob Rosecrants (D-Norman) filed House Bill 2987, which stipulates that if the legislature fails to adopt a joint resolution within 30 legislative days following submission of the standards, they would be deemed disapproved, rather than automatically approved.
Public comment can be submitted on the state department’s website for the new standards until Feb. 18. The standards will then go to a State Board of Education vote, and then to the legislature for approval. If approved, they will go into effect for the 2026-27 school year.
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