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Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Board clashes with Supt. Walters over social studies standards
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Thursday's Board of Education meeting was a back-and-forth between Superintendent Ryan Walters and three of the state school board members over the proposed social studies standards. 'There may have been some comments that weren't 100% accurate, but I wouldn't say that's not new to the Department of Education,' said Board Member Ryan Deatherage. The proposed standards were posted online and included the ones submitted for public comment. But board members said that 12 hours before the February board meeting, changes were made. It 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. It was changed last minute, and the board members said they were not made aware. Senate leader taking a 'second look' at social studies standards The members called it a 'bait-and-switch.' 'That's simply not true. And so that is a lie. Now that has been pushed to the governor. It has been pushed out of the people of Oklahoma,' said Supt. Walters to the board members on Thursday. Walters also claimed that the changes were made based on public comment. News 4 got an open records request back for the public comments but none of them mentioned what was changed in the standards. When asked about that, Supt. Walters said, 'I stand by the decision we made, and I told the board members that it was up to me to make the final decision of what are we going to put in and what are we going to take out.' There were also several discrepancies with the minutes that were posted after the February board meeting. In the minutes, it said that member Deatherage was the one to make a motion to approve the social studies standards. That wasn't the case according to Deatherage. Also, what wasn't in the minutes was the fact that Deatherage put it up to a vote to give the members more time to look over the standards. That vote failed to pass in February, but it wasn't listed in the minutes. Oklahoma governor disapproves of social studies standards switch Deatherage asked to have that changed. Also, the video from the broadcast for the February meeting was deleted almost a month ago. News 4 reached out to the OSDE spokesperson, who said that Facebook is deleting broadcast videos after 30 days. Walters continued to claim that what the governor said and what the board members said was a lie about the standards having two sets. Ultimately, the minutes for both January and February were tabled by the board members to be discussed at a future board meeting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Oklahoma governor disapproves of social studies standards switch
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — 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 actually voted on. Well, that seems that's very, very odd,' said Gov. Stitt. 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. NonDoc found that revisions were made following a December and January public comment period that received no acknowledgment or discussion at the Feb. 27 OSBE meeting. On Wednesday, new State School board member Ryan Deatherage was in the crowd at Gov. Stitt's presser. He is still asking for lawmakers to send the standards back to the board. Democratic lawmakers have been pleading for the last few weeks for Republican lawmakers to act. Essentially, if lawmakers don't act on them, then they will automatically go through. The last day for them to act is Monday. OK School Standards with 2020 election theories 'going to take effect' 'We will waste a year of my and teachers' time and students' time,' said Senator Mary Boren, D-Norman. 'We should not be spending taxpayer money to fund the propaganda of election deniers or teach their conspiracy theories.' Republican lawmakers hinted last week that the standards will more than likely pass. If they do go into effect, they will be the standards Oklahoma schools have for the next six years. 'So hopefully that does go through. Hopefully, politics doesn't get in the way, and the pro tem will get that done,' said Gov. Stitt. News 4 reached out to Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton's communications team to see if they plan on acting on the standards, but didn't hear back by Wednesday evening. 'The legislature will allocate millions of dollars to provide new social studies. Textbooks for our schools and local school districts will also chip in their own local funds for textbooks,' said Sen. Boren. 'This is our second time calling on Republican leadership to listen to the concerns of everyday Oklahomans,' said Rep. Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City. The governor didn't answer when asked if he has urged republican lawmakers to act, he instead insisted that the standards be sent back to him. News 4 reached out to the OSDE spokesperson to see if they had changed their minds and would listen to board members who said they want the standards back. The spokesperson did not respond. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
