Senate, House Democrats blast politically charged, age inappropriate social studies standards; renew call for vote to reject standards

OKLAHOMA CITY – Members of the Senate and House Democratic Caucuses are stepping up their call for votes on joint resolutions to reject Superintendent Ryan Walters’ social studies standards. If the Legislature fails to act in the coming days, those standards will take effect in the 2025-26 school year. Senate Joint Resolution 19 and House Joint Resolution 1030 disapproving the social studies standards were filed in March.

Democratic lawmakers said Walters’ standards include concepts that are too advanced for the ages of students and contain material that is politically charged and biased.

Senate Democratic Leader Julia Kirt said the social studies standards would not address the educational needs of Oklahoma students and schools.

"Oklahoma teachers and community leaders devoted a year to thoughtfully updating our social studies standards, only to have their work thrown out and replaced by the superintendent's out-of-state political hacks, who put their politics above the educational needs of our children," said Kirt, D-Oklahoma City. "We have time to fix this, but that window is quickly closing."

House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson emphasized that Walters continues to neglect his duties to Oklahoma students, teachers and families.

“We rank 49th in the nation for public education and last in the region for teacher pay and per-pupil spending. The superintendent is not focused on improving education outcomes or increasing funding for our public schools,” said Munson, D-Oklahoma City. “He is solely focused on boosting his partisan political agenda. The House Democratic Caucus made six requests to Republican leadership to form a committee to investigate the actions and inactions of the Superintendent, and we have now made two calls on them to listen to the concerns of Oklahoma’s teachers and parents regarding the social studies standards. It has become clear that the political pressure the superintendent has placed on House leaders has more power than our constituents – it is disappointing, concerning, and dangerous for the future of public education for our children.”

Sen. Mary Boren, D-Norman, said the extreme nature of the social studies content would preclude the use of academically accepted and appropriate textbooks.

“The Ryan Walters social studies standards are so radical that normal textbooks can’t be used to teach them,” Boren said. “This year the Legislature will give schools millions of dollars to spend on social studies textbooks. We don’t want to pay for propaganda to teach MAGA conspiracy theories. Teachers and students deserve mainstream social studies standards and textbooks that aren’t driven by political agendas.”

Assistant House Democratic Leader Melissa Provenzano said parents and teachers deserve to know that the standards were vetted correctly and carefully.

“The desire to push through and ignore that call from parents and teachers should concern us all,” said Provenzano, D-Tulsa. “Further, we hope that OMES will fully vet any curriculum request for purchase that comes based on these standards and exclude vendors who have ties to the members of the executive committee that made changes to them before they came to the board of education for a vote.”

Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City, shared his concerns about the content of Walters’ social studies standards.

“These standards inject religion and conspiracy theories into the education of our students. It’s wrong, and it needs to be stopped,” Mann said. “Every Oklahoma parent and educator deserves to know where their legislators stand – with Ryan Walters, or Oklahoma families and schools.”

To view examples of areas of concern within the social studies standards, click here.

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For more information, contact: 
Sen. Julia Kirt at 405-521-5636 or Julia.Kirt@oksenate.gov
Sen. Mary Boren at 405-521-5553 or Mary.Boren@oksenate.gov
Sen. Mark Mann at 405-590-4471 or Mark.Mann@oksenate.gov
Rep. Cyndi Munson at 405-557-7392 or Cyndi.Munson@okhouse.gov
Rep. Melissa Provenzano at 405-557-7330 or Melissa.Provenzano@okhouse.gov