Even for the GOP this is unhinged
Oklahoma is a red state that has favored the GOP in presidential elections since overwhelmingly backing Richard Nixon in 1968. Donald Trump won the state in 2020 and 2024, each time with over 65% of the vote. The Oklahoma Legislature is solidly Republican, and the governor and other statewide executive officers are all Republicans. All that said, Oklahomans are making headlines for their outrage at MAGA’s latest attempt at self-serving revisionist history.
Parents, teachers, and other community members are pushing back hard against a new social studies curriculum that will cost taxpayers an estimated $33 million while forcing students to explore conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, as well as learn lessons grounded in Christian nationalism. Their demand for truth over nonsense in public education is fueling legal challenges and organized activism.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters slipped in some extremist last-minute changes to an over 400-page curriculum mere hours before a scheduled vote, according to a Popular Information report. Most notably, these changes require students to spot “discrepancies” in the 2020 election, echoing language from debunked claims, including mail-in ballot “risks” and “sudden batch dumps.” Half the voting board members did not even realize the curriculum contained last-minute changes before their vote, as reported by Oklahoma Voice.
In response to this latest GOP sneak attack, a parent-led group called We’re Oklahoma Education (WOKE) is turning a 2024 law Republicans passed to let parents shield kids from what they perceived as liberal propaganda, using an opt-out form. In addition to opting out of lesson plans based on fake election narratives or Bible as historical fact, parents can elect to protect their children from all exposure to Walters, including any video or audio in which he appears.
WOKE Director Erica Watkins has threatened schools with legal action if they do not honor opt-out requests. Another group of parents, grandparents, and teachers have already filed a lawsuit, claiming the process violated transparency rules and that Walters intentionally misled the board.
Once again, Republicans are trying to rewrite history to suit their political agenda and please the cult leader, Donald Trump. Oklahomans are showing America that we do not have to passively consume whatever junk the GOP wants to feed us through its trademark deception. If a red state’s citizens can rally in support of the truth, then the whole country can.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month