OK School Standards with 2020 election theories 'going to take effect'
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma lawmakers made it clear on Thursday that the current Social Studies Standards submitted will take effect. One board member said Friday that lawmakers should send them back.
There is still a deadline for action to be taken, but many republican lawmakers said Thursday that it seems like it will be put in place.
For the past few weeks, lawmakers and others have sounded the alarm that they said there have been issues with the newly revised standards, including having students look into discrepancies with the 2020 presidential election.
'The current submission is going to take effect,' said Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton on Thursday during his weekly media availability. He said that the board can come back next year to revise them if they like.
If lawmakers don't act on the standards, then they automatically take effect for the next six years. They have 30 days after the Oklahoma State Board of Education submits them to act, giving them, at most, seven legislative days left.
We haven't gotten an exact date as to when OSBE submitted them to lawmakers.
News 4 spoke with newly appointed State Board of Education board member Ryan Deatherage Friday, telling him that lawmakers expect to have the standards take effect, and he said they still urge lawmakers to send it back to them.
The Oklahoman was the first to report that board members voiced their desire to have another look at them.
As first reported by Non Doc, standards were quietly added after the board voted on which included things like having students find discrepancies in the 2020 election or the origin of COVID-19.
Democrats file resolutions to halt state social studies standards
Their reporting specifically stated, 'Identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of 'bellwether county' trends.'
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) seemed to confuse reporters at his weekly availability when he was asked about the standards and how the legislature is handling them.
He was asked about the newly added standard having students learn stolen 2020 election theories, and he said he had read an article from The Oklahoman and, 'I've looked through the standards and I don't see that anywhere in the standards that says that, that it requires teachers to teach that.'
According to state law, teachers are expected to guide students in achieving these standards, which are often set by the state and adopted by school districts. These standards provide a framework for instruction, focusing on areas like reading, writing, math, science, and social studies.
Superintendent Ryan Walters was asked March 31 about the standards and said about the stolen election theories that, 'We have absolutely laid out standards on how to cover the 2020 election – you're going to look at data – you're going to look at charts, graphs, and information to study what happened in 2020. Listen, there of course, were irregularities – 30 million more people voted in that election.'
House Speaker Hilbert said that he sees no issues with the standards that they have. He was asked about the reporting, The Oklahoman did, that board members were requesting lawmakers send back the standards so they could review them.
The board had voted on the standards at the meeting in February, but Deatherage said he didn't have a clear understanding of what they were about. He was the sole no vote.
Most comments submitted opposed to OSBE Social Studies standards
When asked about board members asking lawmakers to send it back, Hilbert said that they haven't called him.
Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton on Thursday said he doesn't see an issue with the standards either.
Senator Paxton was asked about the fact that board members have been wanting lawmakers to send it back to them, and he said they could revise it next year.
'I don't see anything in state statute that states they can't bring it up next year,' said Senator Paxton.
The issue is that as of right now, the state superintendent is the one who has to power to decide what goes on the agenda and up for a vote. So, unless that changes, no, they can't legally bring it up for a vote.
'So are we going to get a Prager-U textbook for this fall and then revise them again?' said Senator Julia Kirt (D-OKC) when asked about the standards. 'How about we stop them ahead of that and actually fix them?'
There are resolutions that lawmakers have put forward to try and put a stop to the standards.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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