The blackboard and the ballot box

Oklahoma is manufacturing a 'woke' crisis in its schools instead of focusing on educating its children.

By Jeff Nesbit

In Oklahoma, where classrooms sit empty because of a severe teacher shortage and where educators are among the lowest paid in the nation, state leaders have found a novel solution. It isn’t raising salaries or funding recruitment. Instead, it’s a political purity test.

The proposed “America First Test” for new teachers is a manufactured solution for a manufactured crisis: the alleged threat of “woke” educators from liberal states such as California and New York.

This initiative, however, does nothing to solve the state’s real educational challenges. It is a dangerous political litmus test that subverts the purpose of public schooling, threatens to worsen the teacher crisis, and places students squarely in the crossfire of a culture war.

At first glance, the test might seem innocuous. Sample questions released to the public quiz applicants on basic civics, asking for the first three words of the Constitution or the number of U.S. senators.

But this veneer of civic duty quickly peels away to reveal a clear ideological agenda. One sample question, for instance, requires teachers to identify the chromosome pairs that determine biological sex, a direct foray into the deeply politicized debate over gender identity.

The test’s origin is even more telling. It was developed in partnership with PragerU, a conservative media nonprofit, not an accredited academic institution.

PragerU is known for producing videos that promote a specific political viewpoint, often by distorting historical facts. Its materials, already approved for use in Oklahoma classrooms, feature a video in which abolitionist Frederick Douglass is portrayed as agreeing that the Founding Fathers’ “compromise” on slavery was justified. This portrayal has been condemned by historians as a distortion because it strips Douglass's complex constitutional arguments of their context while ignoring his lifelong, fiery condemnation of slavery and its enablers. Another video on Christopher Columbus dismisses the brutality of slavery as an institution “as old as time” and “better than being killed.” This sanitized portrayal directly contradicts the historical record, which shows that Columbus's cruelty was so extreme that he was arrested and stripped of his titles by the Spanish crown itself.

By outsourcing its teacher certification to an advocacy group, Oklahoma is not vetting for competence; it’s screening for conformity.

This effort is not an isolated event but the latest escalation in a coordinated national campaign to reshape public education. Oklahoma is simply the testing ground for a broader political project.

States like Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, New Hampshire, Montana, and, more recently, South Carolina and Idaho have already approved PragerU materials for classroom use.

The organization recently partnered with the Trump White House and the Department of Education to produce “The Road To Liberty,” a series of videos for the nation's 250th anniversary.

PragerU is clearly cozying up to Trump and his administration. Trump and his allies have embraced and promoted PragerU for years. Trump attended the December PragerU gala at the president’s Florida home.

The strategy is clear: replace evidence-based curricula and critical inquiry with a sanitized, nationalist narrative. It’s an attempt to create a generation of students who are taught what to think, not how to think.

By mandating a single, state-approved version of American values, these initiatives undermine the very purpose of a liberal arts education, which is to expose students to a diversity of thought and equip them with the tools to navigate a complex and often contradictory world.

The real consequences of this ideological crusade will be borne by Oklahoma’s teachers and students. The state is already struggling to fill its classrooms. Why would a qualified educator from another state choose to move to a low-paying job only to be subjected to a hostile political screening?

As Jena Nelson, Oklahoma’s 2020 Teacher of the Year, bluntly stated, Superintendent Ryan Walters has created a “statewide hostile work environment.” (Nelson is now running for Congress.)

The ultimate victims, however, are the students. They will be denied an education that prepares them for the realities of the 21st century. Instead of learning to analyze primary sources, weigh conflicting evidence, and form their own conclusions, they could wind up in classrooms where they will basically be handed a political script.

This approach sets them up for failure in higher education and a modern workforce that demands innovation, adaptability, and an understanding of diverse perspectives. Contrary to the narrative that parents are demanding this shift, many are, in Nelson’s words, “absolutely appalled.”

The battle unfolding in Oklahoma is not just about a single test or a single state. It is about the soul of public education in a democratic society.

We can choose to equip our children with the intellectual tools of critical thought, or we can hand them a political catechism. The future of our republic depends on which path we take.

Jeff Nesbit was the public affairs chief for five Cabinet departments or agencies under four presidents.

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