“Oklahoma is putting the Bible and the historical impact of Christianity back in school,” State Superintendent Ryan Walters said in a Thursday news release. “We are demanding that our children learn the full and true context of our nation’s founding and of the principles that made and continue to make America great and exceptional.”
According to the release, the new standards up the mentions of the Bible from two to more than 40. If they are adopted, students as young as first grade would be taught stories about ancient Israel, such as David and Goliath, and Moses and the Ten Commandments.
Second graders would be taught Christian stories that “influenced the American colonists, Founders and culture, including the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.” Fifth graders would be taught how the framers based the Constitution on Biblical principles.
Eighth graders would see a substantial infusion of teachings on the role of Christianity in history and government, including the role of Judeo-Christian ideals in supporting colonial demands for independence, “as exemplified by the Bible being a frequently cited authority by America’s founders,” the influence of Judeo-Christian ethics on American political systems, and the theological movements of the Protestant Reformation.
High school students would receive a litany of teachings on Christianity’s role in America and across the world. In government courses, students would learn how the Constitution was “influenced by religion, morality and the Bible,” Judeo-Christian concepts of ethics as the basis for American civilization, and how the First Amendment has been used to protect religious freedom, “as well as the Judeo-Christian tradition,” through Supreme Court decisions.
The standards also add two standalone courses: Ancient and Medieval World History, which largely centers on the history of Christianity and early Christians, and 20th Century Totalitarianism.
Walters said at Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting the new standards reinforce his administration’s argument to put Bibles in school classrooms. OSDE recently purchased 500 Donald Trump-endorsed Bibles for AP Government courses, and it remains to be seen if the department will re-issue a bid request for more.
“As we rolled out our Bible initiatives earlier in the year, this strengthens them by providing over 50 references to the Bible and Christianity,” Walters said. “Our previous standards only had two references, so we have included the Bible and Christianity more in our history standards in the state of Oklahoma than any other state in the country.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) released a statement in response Thursday afternoon, saying the standards revision advances “Christian Nationalist myths and disinformation about the influence of Christianity on our nation’s founding.”
“Ryan Walters, backed by his Christian Nationalist allies, is once again abusing his power to proselytize our public school students and further a political agenda, instead of teaching our students facts and history,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of AU.
Laser points to a lack of curriculum standards on the separation of church and state. Walters has previously claimed the concept of church-state separation is not constitutional.
In the statement, Laser said AU, which is currently suing Walters in two other lawsuits, intends to take a closer look at the standards proposal and “take any steps necessary” to “protect the religious freedom” of students.
The standards, especially for younger grades, are also more prescriptive than previous ones on teaching patriotism, such as examining ways citizens can demonstrate patriotism, studying civic virtue and learning about principles of equality, fairness and “respect for legitimate authority.”
“These standards are pro-American. They’re pro-American exceptionalism,” Walters said at the board meeting. “… Voters elected President Trump with a clear mission: to drive woke indoctrination out of our schools, [and] to have no more left-wing content into our schools that undermine our education system and lie about American history.”
Another way in which the proposed standards differ from current standards can be found on the first page. While the previous standards list seven expert groups whose work informed the content, such as the Center for Civic Education Civics Standards and the National Council of the Social Studies Skills Framework, the new version lists none.
The current standards have been cited by the conservative nonprofit Thomas B. Fordham Institute as tied for the seventh-best standards of civics and U.S. history nationally. Walters himself, who was a history teacher at the time the existing standards were adopted, served on the executive committee for those standards, saying they “foster an environment that creates a love of history due to the engaging nature in which it will now be presented.”
Walters announced in July he was tapping conservative figures to head the executive review committee for the standards. Walters announced the committee included Dennis Prager of PragerU; Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation; and David Barton of the Christian Nationalist organization, Wallbuilders.
The committee's makeup of outsider influence elicited an outcry from Democratic lawmakers, who accused Walters of “putting his extremist political agenda over the needs of Oklahoma’s students.”
Controversy over the standards ramped up in September, when Oklahoma City television news outlet Fox25 was denied entry to a review committee meeting. Members told a reporter the set of standards they had worked on was thrown out and replaced with a new set with content that made one committee member say they wanted to “throw up.”
StateImpact asked Walters office Thursday if the review committee voted on and accepted the released standards, what level of influence the new executive review committee had and if the standards were pulled in part from the conservative Civic Alliance’s American Birthright curriculum. The department did not respond.
Dylan Goforth, editor at nonprofit news outlet The Frontier, tweeted an alleged copy of the embargoed standards on Dec. 13. OSDE Communications Director Dan Isett said in a tweet, “Don’t know where you got this document, but this is not our standards.”
The draft released Thursday is not the same as the leaked version, though it does share concepts that focus on American patriotism and symbolism, as well as how certain Biblical stories informed history and government.
Fox25 reporter Wendy Suares tweeted one of the committee members, who was forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement by OSDE, said the department made some “last minute edits that [made] the language of some of the problematic standards a little better,” and that they could have been “much worse.”
Walters told Fox News Thursday the standards revision does away with “woke garbage” and teaches students to “love” America. Though, the standards are not as prescriptive as what Walters told Fox.
For example, Walters said:
“You’re not going to come in and teach ‘President Trump wanted an insurrection on Jan. 6.’ We’re not going to allow it. We will be crystal clear on what President Trump’s victories were in the White House.”
The only related mention in the standards says students will “examine issues related to the election of 2020 and its outcome.”
Of note, the standards list the impeachment of former president Bill Clinton, but not the two impeachments of Trump.
Asked how the standards would teach COVID-19 lockdown history, Walters also told Fox students would learn how “rights were taken from individuals during COVID,” and that lockdowns “hurt kids… families and businesses,” saying the current curriculum does not address that argument.
The standard related to COVID says students will “evaluate federal and private response to the COVID pandemic, as well as its lasting impact on global health and American society.”
The draft is now up for public comment until Jan. 21 on the state department’s website. The state board will vote on the standards at its Feb. 27 meeting, then submit them to the legislature for approval.
