Oklahoma Supreme Court Pauses New Education Standards

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has, at least temporarily, put a stop to the MAGA-humping madness that the State Department of Education is trying to implement as required learning .

According to the Associated Press, the state supreme court has put a pause on new social studies standards for K-12 public schools that would require, among other things, that educators teach students about President Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference lies, presumably, in a way that suggests Trump’s thoroughly debunked voter fraud propaganda should be taken seriously.  

The temporary stay that the state’s high court issued Monday will remain in place pending a lawsuit filed by a group of parents and educators, challenging the new standards, because it turns out people who are actually committed to teaching young people facts and critical thought would rather not legitimize MAGA nonsense that was never presented with a single shred of tangible evidence. The court directed the education department to maintain its current social studies standards until the case is decided.

From AP:

“This is a victory for transparency, fairness, and the constitutional rights of all Oklahomans,” said Brent Rowland, legal director of Oklahoma Appleseed, which is helping to represent the plaintiffs. “The authority to govern comes with accountability for making decisions in the full view of the people the government serves.”

After a group of parents, educators and other Oklahoma school officials worked to develop the new social studies standards, Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters assembled an executive committee consisting mostly of out-of-state pundits from conservative think-tanks to revise them. He said he wanted to focus more on American exceptionalism and incorporate the Bible as an instructional resource.

The new standards were also changed to include new language about the 2020 election and that the source of the COVID-19 virus was a Chinese lab, among other things.

Look, maybe there’s a reason why Oklahoma consistently ranks anywhere from 48th to 50th in education.

Perhaps the state that requires teachers who transfer from higher-ranking, Democrat-led cities to take an “America First” quiz to prove they’re conservative enough should come to grips with the possibility that its educational priorities are out of place. It couldn’t possibly be so important to appease Trump by rewriting the history of his first presidency that Oklahoma’s so-called “education” department is requiring teachers to teach outright lies as an alternative truth.

Or maybe it is that important…

“Christianity, American exceptionalism, and conservative values are under attack, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court is leading the assault,” said  Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters, who called the high court “embarrassing” and out of alignment with most Oklahomans. (According to AP, six of the nine justices in the Oklahoma Supreme Court were appointed by Republican governors, but whatever.)

So, Walters, who previously worked as a public school teacher, doesn’t just want to turn partisan propaganda into lesson plans; he also appears to want public school classrooms to double as churches. (What does he think Oklahoma is, Louisiana?) Rowland, on the other hand, understands that just isn’t how any of this is supposed to work.

“Public school classrooms may not be used to endorse religious doctrine – no matter what the religion is or how many people follow it,” he said. “Blocking these standards means Oklahoma students can learn history and civics in a way that respects every family’s beliefs while inspiring them to think critically, ask questions, and engage as informed members of our democracy.”

Oklahoma is proving that conservatives are full of it when they say they don’t want students to be “indoctrinated” in the classroom. They just need to be subject to the right kind of indoctrination.

Sad.

SEE ALSO:

Oklahoma Requires Teachers From Democratic-Led States To Prove They Back ‘America 1st’

OK Education Head Ryan Walters Investigated For Lewd Images On Work TV

Oklahoma Mandates Teaching 2020 Election Conspiracy Theories

Oklahoma Supreme Court Blocks State’s New (Mis)Education Requirements To Teach Trump’s 2020 Election Lies  was originally published on newsone.com