Senate and House republicans are asked why they didn't act on school standards
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Senate Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton said that Governor Kevin Stitt changed his mind Sunday on having lawmakers act on the new controversial social studies standards.
'I don't know his reasoning for that. I asked him why he kind of decided not to help us push that forward. That's his call,' said Senator Paxton.
The governor, for several weeks, has voiced his opinion on giving the standards back to the board to look over.
Lawmakers voiced for several weeks as well to send the standards back.
Lawmakers will not consider resolution to stop proposed controversial social studies standards
Governor Stitt voiced his disapproval on Wednesday over the social studies standards switch that happened at the last school board meeting.
'There was a different standard that was sitting on the desk that they voted on. Well, that seems that's very, very odd,' said Gov. Stitt back at his last presser.
As first reported by NonDoc, changes were made to the social studies standards after the board approved them, which now directs teachers and students toward debunked theories of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, and to Old Testament Bible stories and how they influenced American colonists.
Last week, Senator Adam Pugh (R-Edmond), the Education Chair, filed a resolution to send the standards back.
Several republican lawmakers in the House and Senate co-authored the resolution.
Senator Paxton said he called the governor several times over the weekend and that he seemed to voice his opinion on the standards going back to the board. But Sunday, Paxton said his mind seemed to change.
Stitt's office spokesperson, when asked if the governor's mind had changed, said that the governor doesn't control the legislature.
In the end, it was up to lawmakers, especially in the Senate, as to whether they acted this week on the standards. They didn't.
Senator Paxton also stated that they just didn't have the votes in the caucus for the resolution, and that's why it wasn't heard.
Oklahoma governor disapproves of social studies standards switch
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) seemed not to understand what the concerns were surrounding the standards. He continued to repeat that he didn't see what changes people were talking about.
'The only discrepancies we could find are that some pages had watermarks and others didn't. And some words were italicized on one and bolded in the other,' said Rep. Hilbert.
It was then explained by News 4 that the issue was the changes were made 12 hours before the board had to vote, and that they wanted to look at them further.
'I mean, at the end of the day, they were appointed when they were appointed. You know, so that kind of created a time crunch for them with the timing of everything,' said Rep. Hilbert.
'It's just another example of Senate Republicans not holding Superintendent Ryan Walters accountable,' said Senator Julia Kirt (D-OKC) on Thursday.
When asked for a response to Senator Kirt's statement, Rep. Hilbert said, 'The democrats really love talking about Ryan Walters. So, I shared with one of the members today, I said, you know what? What are you guys going to talk about after today? And so, I'm sure there will be something else about Ryan Walters if they want to talk about it,' said Rep. Hilbert.
News 4 made it clear that Republicans last year signed on for possible impeachment for the Supt. Walters. Also, several house republicans signed on to co-author the resolution to send the standards back.
'Sure, yes, there were members who signed on as coauthors. And look, as I've said from the beginning, that we weren't going to take action without being in concert with the Senate,' said Rep. Hilbert.
Rep. Cyndi Munson (D-OKC) Thursday, brought up the concerns that the two right-wing think tanks who were on the standards executive committee could have their teaching materials in classrooms because these standards passed. Those two groups are Prager U and The Heritage Foundation.
The next steps include the textbook process of finding contracts with potential vendors. It's already been said by several school districts that traditional big textbook vendors are scared of these new standards.
The new textbooks, according to the standards, wouldn't come in until the 2026/27 school year and last for six years.
'We're going to make sure that that is analyzed with any of these calls for proposals, requests,' said Sen. Kirt.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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