Oklahoma
What is in Oklahoma’s ‘woke’ teacher test? New PragerU ad lists 34 questions
Oklahoma to start ‘woke’ test for teachers: What you need to know
Oklahoma’s new “America First” teacher certification test will require educators from California and New York to agree with conservative curriculum.
A full-page advertisement in the New York Times shows what PragerU says is the entirety of Oklahoma’s so-called “woke” test for teachers from left-leaning states.
PragerU, a politically conservative nonprofit, also paid for a front page ad about the test. Both ads ran in the paper’s Sunday, Aug. 31, edition, touting the organization’s development of the test “for the State of Oklahoma at the request of its Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters.”
The Oklahoma State Department of Education has repeatedly refused to release a copy of the test, which has brought national attention to Walters’ conservative schools agenda.
According to the PragerU ad, the test includes 34 multiple-choice questions written by the nonprofit. There are multiple questions about biology and gender identification, political viewpoints, civics, the Constitution, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, key U.S. historical figures and dates, presidents and patriotism.
One question asks: “Should teachers be allowed to express their own political viewpoints in the classroom in order to persuade the students to adopt their point of view?”
Another question asks: “Why is the distinction between male and female sports important in area like sports and privacy?”
Beneath the questions, the ad addresses PragerU’s support for the test:
“How would you assess a teacher who took this test and failed it? Would you want that person teaching your children? The answer for Oklahoma is no. We suspect (or, at least, hope) your answer would be the same. Oklahoma will require teachers from New York and California to pass this test before being hired. Oklahoma, it seems to us, has the right to expect its teacher to be both competent and consonant with its values.”
The ad also includes a QR code that directs readers to what it says is an online version of the test.
Since Walters became state superintendent in January 2023, he has often bypassed local and state media outlets to make major announcements concerning culture-war issues, opting instead to turn to national outlets such as Fox News and CNN. His agency has also amassed a poor record of responding to open records requests and has been publicly chastised by the Oklahoma attorney general’s office as a result.
The Oklahoman has made five requests of the Oklahoma State Department of Education for a copy of the test, including three formal open records requests. In each case, the agency said it did not have a copy of the test.
“In response to the above-mentioned ORR, please be advised that after conducting a thorough search, we have been unable to locate any documents responsive to your request,” the agency said in an email to The Oklahoman on Thursday following the newspaper’s most recent request for the test.
Publicly, Walters has only provided vague details about the test. “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,” Walters said as he explained the test during a July 24 Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting.
“You’re going to come in, and you’re not going to undermine American exceptionalism by teaching anti-American, anti-Semitic hate.”
Walters works with PragerU on standards, diploma seal
Walters routinely works with PragerU to inject conservative politics and values into the state’s school system. The California nonprofit has focused on creating education materials to counter what it calls “the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media and education.”
In 2023, Walters posted links to PragerU materials on the state Education Department website, and in 2024, he announced that PragerU’s leadership would help review the state’s new social studies standards. Those standards have come under scrutiny for their multiple mentions of Christianity across grade levels.
Oklahoma public high school students can also gain credit toward a new state “civics seal” on their diploma if they join PragerForce, which is PragerU’s online network of “thousands of young patriots.”
Walters claimed his decision to implement the PragerU teachers’ test wouldn’t need the board’s approval, drawing pushback from other board members. Board member Ryan Deatherage asked Walters for legal documentation as to why that would be the case, but Deatherage said he hadn’t received that explanation as of mid-August.
Walters has named California and New York as two states that have adopted requirements for teachers that run “antithetical” to Oklahoma’s standards. California, Walters contended, now requires educators to teach students there is no difference between genders.
According to the California Department of Education’s website, students must be taught “about gender, gender expression, gender identity and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes. Schools must also “teach about all sexual orientations and what being LGBTQ means.”
Oklahoma official asks whether ‘woke’ test is legal
The legality of Walters’ agency administering the test has been called into question. The Oklahoma Office of Educational Quality and Accountability oversees teacher assessments and its executive director, Megan Oftedal, sent an email to her agency’s commissioners last week noting that, according to a report from online news outlet Oklahoma Voice.
“This is not the first instance in which (the state Department of Education) has acted in ways that appear to exceed its legal authority, and the pattern raises ongoing concerns about governance and the proper exercise of statutory responsibility,” Oftedal wrote in the email.
According to state law, the Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability – and not the Oklahoma State Department of Education – has the responsibility for adopting competency tests for teachers to become certified in Oklahoma.
“CEQA is responsible for reviewing out-of-state certification assessments for comparability to Oklahoma’s testing standards,” Oftedal told The Oklahoman. “When a teacher applies for certification using an exam taken in another state – rather than Oklahoma’s required Subject Area Tests – CEQA evaluates whether the assessment aligns with our licensure requirements.”
Oftedahl said her agency didn’t have data on how many certified teachers with current valid teaching certification in other states have applied to teach in Oklahoma, which is who the PragerU assessment is targeting. But among uncertified teachers who completed certification tests in other states and now want to teach in Oklahoma, since 2020, out of 573 out-of-state applications, only 19 came from California or New York, Oftedal said. In 2025, she said, only one applicant came from California and none from New York.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma City police are investigating an early morning shooting that left one man injured in northeast Oklahoma City.
Around 3 a.m. on Thursday, emergency crews were called to a reported shooting near Kelley and Wilshire Blvd.
Investigators say the shooting occurred between a couple inside the home, adding that the woman shot the man.
However, police say they are trying to determine if the shooting was accidental.
The victim was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
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The woman has been taken into custody for questioning, but it is unknown if she will face charges just yet.
Oklahoma is just three outs away from steamrolling through the right side of the bracket and knocking out Georgia to reach the championship finals.
To prepare, let’s take a look at what arms we should expect for the Sooners just like we did for the North Carolina earlier.
The Sooners have leaned heavily on their freshmen pitching trio in Cord Rager, Xander Mercurius and Nick Wesloski throughout Omaha. The first two went at least seven innings, while Wesloski tossed 5.2 innings on Wednesday. Even though they used relievers LJ Mercurius and Jackson Cleveland in the first two games, neither pitched more than two innings nor allowed a run.
If LJ, who entered for Wesloski on Wednesday, finishes the game, he will have gone 3.1 innings.
That sets up Oklahoma very well to matchup with UNC, which went 3-0 and also hasn’t used many arms up to this point.
If OU does win, expect Rager, Xander Mercurius and Cleveland to be ready to go. Rager, who hasn’t pitched since their first round game against Alabama on Saturday, June 13, would have a full week of rest.
Oklahoma
Rep. Kevin Hern wins Oklahoma GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, governor’s race heads to runoff
U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern easily won Oklahoma’s GOP nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, and the race for a new governor in the deeply conservative state began with Republicans Gentner Drummond and Mark Mazzei advancing to a runoff.
In a primary that again tested President Donald Trump’s status as Republican Party kingmaker, both Hern and Mazzei carried his endorsement in their bids to win open races for two of Oklahoma’s biggest offices. With nearly all the votes counted, Drummond, the state’s attorney general, was narrowly ahead of Mazzei, a former state senator.
The primary had Republicans picking their preferred successor to outgoing Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and a nominee for the Senate seat once held by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Democrats haven’t won a Senate seat in Oklahoma since 1990.
Hern’s most serious potential GOP rivals stayed out of the Senate race after Trump endorsed him even before Mullin was confirmed as a replacement for fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Hern received more than 50% of the primary vote to avoid a runoff.
He struck a somewhat bipartisan tone in speaking with reporters after winning big, touting his experience as a House member working on issues such as trade and energy. He promised to represent conservative principles and “Oklahoma ideologies” in the Senate and noted he already has relationships with senators.
“We have a lot of friends in a lot of different states, including blue states,” Hern said.
READ MORE: Live Results: Oklahoma midterm primaries
Trump endorsed Mazzei last month in a hotly contested race that also had other major candidates, including former Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall and Chip Keating, a former state public safety director who is the son of a two-term governor.
Drummond told reporters at his watch party that he had expected a runoff after Trump endorsed Mazzei and suggested that Trump could reconsider his endorsement of Mazzei, saying, “who knows?”
“Mr. Mazzei got a bump, but now he’s got to earn the rest,” Drummond said.
Trump repeated his endorsement of Mazzei on his Truth Social platform on Monday. Mazzei told supporters Tuesday night, “All I can say is, ‘Wow.’
“Eighteen months ago when we started this adventure, no one thought this was possible,” he said. “The political insiders said we had no chance. We started at zero, but who in here actually had faith we could get the job done and get in the runoff? You did.”
Mazzei also boosted his campaign with personal funds — nearly $10.9 million, or almost 95% of the $11.5 million he raised, according to campaign finance reports. Drummond put $2.5 million from his own pocket in raising about $7.2 million. Together, Drummond, Mazzei, Keating and McCall contributed $22.5 million of their own funds to their campaigns, or 72% of their combined fundraising of more than $31 million.
READ MORE: Oklahoma begins choosing a new U.S. senator and governor in crowded primary
The winner of the GOP runoff will face Oklahoma House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, who won the Democratic nomination Tuesday by a wide margin.
In a solidly Republican state, the races for two of Oklahoma’s biggest offices set off a political scramble. To replace Mullin in the Senate through this year, Stitt appointed Republican Alan Armstrong, an energy executive, but state law prohibited him from seeking a full term.
In November, Hern will face the winner of a Democratic runoff between N’Kiyla Thomas, a nurse and community activist, and Jim Priest, an attorney and minister.
The governor’s race is open because Stitt is finishing his second four-year term and cannot serve a third under the state constitution. Trump has seemed eager for him to go.
As head of the National Governors Association, Stitt drew Trump’s ire earlier this year over a dispute over invitations to White House events at the group’s annual meeting. The fallout led to Trump attacking Stitt on social media as a “RINO,” meaning Republican in Name Only.
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