Latest news with #SocialStudiesStandards
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.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
OSBE meeting postponed last second after almost breaking the law
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The monthly Oklahoma Board of Education meeting was suddenly postponed Thursday after The Oklahoman reported that they were about to violate the law. 'They've always tried to get right up close to that line and see how far they can get to the line without getting in trouble,' Senator Mary Boren said after hearing the news. The Oklahoman published an article Wednesday, not long after the Oklahoma State Department of Education posted its agenda for the next day's meeting. The article pointed to the fact that the online agenda was posted around 20 minutes less than 24 hours before the meeting was to be held. According to their reporting, OSDE responded by saying that 'the law's requirements had been met.' Most comments submitted opposed to OSBE Social Studies standards It hadn't. When asked on Thursday, the Attorney General's Office told News 4 that a recent law requires the agendas to be posted at least 24 hours before both online and on the door. On Thursday, another article published by The Oklahoman announced the sudden postponement of the meeting. They reported email exchanges where board members and the board attorney were concerned about the possible violation of the Open Meetings Act. That article also reported on emails where board members wanted to discuss the Social Studies Standards again, but Superintendent Ryan Walters rejected that request. Those standards are expected to be decided on next week by lawmakers. News 4 reached out to OSDE spokesperson Grace Kim to ask for a response to the postponement. Their department sent a statement that said in part, 'Due to a technical issue the OSBE agenda for March was posted on the internet 19 minutes late.' Then it read, 'The agenda was sent to OMES (Office of Management and Enterprise Services) for posting ahead of the deadline.' In a video on Facebook, around 1 p.m. on Thursday, Superintendent Ryan Walters is seen staring at what looks to be notes and repeating the same response. The video was just over one minute long. News 4 asked OMES if they were to blame for the agenda being posted online later than the law allows, and their reaction to OSDE seemingly blaming them. OMES stated that, 'The employee referenced in these remarks is a technology employee embedded within OSDE and is managed by OSDE daily.' The agency explained that six minutes before the deadline on Wednesday, OSDE staff emailed that employee. They stated that the employee posted the agenda by 1:20 p.m., less than 30 minutes after it was received. 'It's important to note, that OSDE is responsible for the development of its meetings and agendas and allowing enough reasonable time to post those agendas so that the public may receive notice and attend the open meeting. To characterize this as an OMES error is dishonest and misleading. We also did not receive any media inquiries related to this error before publication,' stated OMES. Dozens of people showed up at the Oliver Hodge building ready to participate in the meeting. They told News 4 that they were the ones to let staff at the building know that the meeting had been postponed. 'I walked in, I asked staff if they knew and they were very shocked and told me that absolutely the meeting had not been postponed. But it had. I spoke to the troopers that were out here. They also had no idea,' said Preston Bobo of Defense of Democracy. 'There are parents here who drove from northeast of Tulsa to attend this meeting and that just feels offensive to me.' The meeting was said to have been carried over to next month's April 24 meeting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
