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Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate doesn't act to reject social studies standards that question 2020 election results
The Oklahoma Senate appeared poised to not act on a resolution that would reject controversial social studies standards infused with election-denial language, a move that could effectively allow the standards to soon take effect. Senate Joint Resolution 20, authored by that body's Education Committee chair, Sen. Adam Pugh, was not listed among 41 bills and resolutions to be taken up April 29 by the Senate. Despite protests from Democrats – which included stalling tactics in the Senate chamber on other bills – Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, appeared unswayed. Pugh, R-Edmond spent a good portion of the morning session in Paxton's office, periodically popping onto the Senate floor to cast votes on other bills. Alex Gerszewski, Paxton's communications director, indicated in a statement that the resolution did not have enough Republican support to move forward. 'Following a lengthy conversation Monday, the caucus was not on board with rejecting the standards based on the process in which they were presented to the board of education," Gerszewski said. "The standards are not a legislative obligation, and the curriculum is developed by the State Department of Education.' More: Walters' office slips 2020 presidential election dispute into Oklahoma social studies standards The lack of action followed lobbying by state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters and a letter from far-right political lobbying group Moms For Liberty, which threatened to challenge any GOP legislator who voted for Pugh's resolution. Pugh had filed SJR 20 on April 24, as questions persisted about the process through which the resolutions were approved by the Oklahoma State Board of Education. Three new board members have said state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters deceived them, both in making last-minute additions to the standards without notifying them or the public and by telling them the standards had to be approved during a late February meeting, when in reality they could have been presented to the Legislature for approval as late as this week. Pugh's resolution notes "questions exist regarding the transparency of the subject matter standard adoption process.' New board member Michael Tinney told The Oklahoman earlier in April that he'd compared the standards he'd downloaded from the Oklahoma State Department of Education website to what Walters sent him and there were definite differences. Among the changes, the new version of one section of the standards says high school students should '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.' Chris Van Denhende, another new Education Board member, asked Walters during an April 24 board meeting to produce 'change documents,' showing the changes he'd made to the final version of the standards. Walters scoffed at that suggestion. 'That's completely irrelevant,' he said. More: Gov. Stitt adds another new member to Ryan Walters-led education board Gov. Kevin Stitt said April 23 that the Legislature should send the standards back to the state board for reconsideration, echoing the calls of two of the new board members, whom Stitt appointed in early February. A message left with two of his spokespeople on April 29 wasn't immediately returned. Walters said during the April 24 meeting that what went into the standards was his decision alone to make, with the new board members pushing back, but unable to stop him because Walters has sole authority to determine items that appear on the board's meeting agendas. Walters spoke to the 39-member Senate GOP caucus on April 28, lobbying them to not vote to reject the standards. It appears the majority of those senators believed Walters was telling the truth about the standards moreso than the three board members or Stitt. A spokeswoman for Walters didn't immediately return a request for comment on April 29 after the Senate had not acted on the standards. Moms For Liberty opposed the push to reject the standards in an April 28 letter, posted on X. The letter called the standards 'truth-filled, anti-woke, and unapologetically conservative.' 'This is not about flawed standards; it is about political interference and media manipulation,' the letter read. 'Oklahoma's adoption process for academic standards has been consistent, legal, and transparent.' In the Senate chamber, as they did last week, Democrats protested the inaction by taking turns asking multiple questions, extending debate and asking for procedural votes on many bills. It took the Senate 50 minutes to approve the first item on its April 29 agenda – House Bill 1017, a bill that would establish a commission to explore the creation of a new NCAA Division II athletic conference – a process that required three separate votes. During more than 2½ hours of the morning session, the Senate approved only three bills and had started discussing a fourth. But the stalling didn't change Paxton's mind. Constitutionally mandated legislative deadlines meant the Senate had to take action on April 29 to allow time for the House to do so by May 1, the deadline for the Legislature to formally approve or reject the standards. If the Legislature does not vote on them, the standards are deemed to be approved. Democrats had, earlier in April, also filed resolutions in both the Senate and House to reject the standards. 'The Senate had an opportunity to check Superintendent Ryan Walters' power, and our Republican colleagues would not step up to put our kids first,' said Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City. 'Parents, teachers and bipartisan community members throughout Oklahoma have reached out to us, calling on the Senate to reject teaching children these politically divisive, inaccurate, and age-inappropriate topics. Senate Democrats will continue to stand with Oklahomans and put people over politics.' Kirt's counterpart in the House, state Rep. Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, echoed Kirt's comments, saying that because Republicans took no action, 'the voices of Oklahomans—across the state and party lines—who have been urging us to disapprove these problematic, and costly, social studies standards have gone unheard. 'These standards insert an extremist political agenda into our public education system that will only cost Oklahomans more taxpayer money. It is clear that the political pressure put forth by the state superintendent on House and Senate leaders matters more than the needs and desires of Oklahoma educators, parents, and students. I am disappointed in the lack of action and deeply concerned for the future of public education for our teachers and students.' Erika Buzzard Wright, the director of the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition, a grassroots lobbying group, expressed 'deep disappointment in the Senate's refusal' to reject Walters' standards. 'These standards, as written, do not reflect the input of educators, historians, and community members across Oklahoma who have raised serious concerns about their content and development process,' Wright said. 'At a time when our children's education should be the highest priority, the Senate's inaction demonstrates a troubling lack of political courage. Rather than standing up for what is right for Oklahoma students, lawmakers chose expediency over transparency, ignoring the call for an open and honest process rooted in public accountability.' This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Senate will allow controversial social studies standards
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oklahoma senator moves to reject controversial social studies standards
A prominent Republican in the state Senate is making moves to return controversial social studies standards back to the Oklahoma State Board of Education before they take effect. Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, filed Senate Joint Resolution 20, which would declare the Legislature "hereby disapproves in whole the social studies and science subject matter standards approved by the State Board of Education on February 27, 2025." Pugh chairs the Senate Education Committee. Pugh's resolution comes after weeks of speculation about whether GOP lawmakers would take action on the standards. The standards have been at the center of controversy since they were introduced in December with dozens of mentions of the Bible. State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters later circulated a new version of the standards, featuring one section that includes requires students to learn about 2020 election denialism. Pugh filed the resolution April 24, hours after a debate during an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting. Walters and three new board members accused each other of lying over the content of the previously approved social studies standards. More: Oklahoma State Board of Education delays vote to clarify official record with Ryan Walters Board members have said the version of the standards on which they voted during a February meeting didn't match what was publicly available on the education department's website. In response, Walters accused the board members and Gov. Kevin Stitt of spreading misinformation about the process. 'I can't make you read,' Walters said during the meeting. 'I can't make you do the research before you vote. But here's what I'm going to say, and my expectation is to not have board members lie about a process and create a fake controversy.' A spokesperson for Walters and the education department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pugh's resolution notes "questions exist regarding the transparency of the subject matter standard adoption process." However, members of the Senate and House Democratic caucuses had also filed joint resolutions to reject the standards, calling the proposed subject matter "too advanced" for the agents of students and "politically charged and biased." Pugh's resolution is more likely to gain traction since Republicans control both chambers. It represents the first step in the process of potentially returning the standards to the board. Two board members told The Oklahoman that this is their wish. It is unclear if House leaders will sign on to the resolution. Hours before Pugh filed the resolution, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, seemed doubtful that his chamber would take action but said, 'If we were to do anything, it would be in concert with the state Senate.' On April 23, Stitt called on the Legislature to act on the standards and championed proposed legislation that would allow board members to add items to the meeting agenda. That legislation, House Bill 1491, didn't clear the Thursday deadline for House bills to be heard in a Senate committee. It was sponsored by Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada, and Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, and would have allowed an item to be placed on the agenda if requested in writing by at least two members of the board. The Legislature has until May 1 to take action on the proposed standards. If they do nothing, the standards will automatically go into effect. "The standards themselves, the Legislature, hopefully they'll act on that," Stitt said April 23. "I don't know. They may punt it to me, so we'll see." Contributing: Scott Carter and Murray Evans This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Republican senator moves to reject Oklahoma social studies standards
