Oklahoma’s recent “America First” initiative for K–12 education has renewed debate on partisanship in public education.
Teacher candidates from outside the Sooner State are now screened for progressive ideologies such as transgenderism or critical race theory.
Oklahoma Education Superintendent Ryan Walters said the measure was to root out “woke politics” and protect parents, rights, and religious freedom.
Critics have characterized the assessment as a political loyalty test that won’t help improve outcomes in schools.
But some education policy watchdogs say that other states have pushed politically-biased directives for years in more subtle ways, such as mandatory diversity oaths and equity commitments….
Oklahoma’s ‘America First’ Teacher Screening Test Spotlights Partisanship Debate
