What to know about supposed 'anti-woke' tests for teachers moving to Oklahoma from 'blue states'

On July 24, 2025, Oklahoma state Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters announced that teachers moving to the state from "blue states" would be required to take a test in order to ensure they could teach to the state's standards. The proposed test, which Oklahoma City's newspaper The Oklahoman described as "anti-woke" and Fox News described as "America first," was supposedly created in partnership with the conservative advocacy group PragerU. The initiative aligns with efforts U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has taken to exert greater control over the education system.

With such claims came social media discussion. Snopes readers wrote in and searched the site asking us to fact-check the claim, as well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DMkpRDSufjK/

Snopes reached out to the Oklahoma Department of Education for more information about the test, since there was little information publicly available about it outside of Walters' answers at a public July 24 board meeting, including what information would be featured on it and which states it would apply to. In addition, at least one board member expressed concerns over the test's legality and there was a debate over whether the policy can be implemented without the board's approval. As such, we have elected to not attach a rating to this post. Here's what we do know:

During the meeting, Walters said the test was a response to practices in California and New York — long considered Democratic strongholds, hence the reference to them being politically "blue" — which he said "continued to adopt standards and requirements on their teachers that run antithetical to our standards."

His proposal, therefore, was that teachers coming from those states had to take a test to ensure they aligned to Oklahoma standards. This means that the test would not apply to any teacher already working in Oklahoma.

"You're not going to come in here and teach that there's 27 genders," he said. "You're not going to undermine American exceptionalism by teaching anti-American and antisemitic hate." (Snopes found no references to "27 genders" in California or New York standards).

Walters said the test was being worked in collaboration with the conservative advocacy group PragerU, long known for sharing misleading and sometimes inaccurate information about history, science and race. It was reportedly ready to be rolled out "within the next two weeks or so," in early August 2025.

However, Walters did not provide exact information about who would be required to take the test. While he named California and New York by name (in an interview with Fox News Digital, he added Maine to that list), he also said the Department of Education was looking at "seven or eight other states right now that are moving in that direction."

He also did not provide much information about what material would appear on the test. The Oklahoman reported that he called the material "very straight forward, very matter-of-fact, very common sense." NonDoc, a non-profit community newsroom, reported the test would cover "knowledge of the U.S. Constitution," "understanding of American exceptionalism" and "fundamental biological differences between boys and girls."

Several of Walters' fellow board members raised questions about the test, however. NonDoc reported that board member Michael Tinney, a lawyer, said he saw "several legal problems," while board member Ryan Deatherage asked Walters how Oklahoma was determining that current Oklahoman teachers met the standards. The Oklahoman noted board member Chris Van Denhende asking a question about why the test was required, since teacher contracts already mandate teaching to the standards. Walters told Fox News Digital that Van Denhende was "a puppet for the teachers union."

NonDoc also reported that Walters said the finalized test did not need to be brought before the board. However, whether that's actually true is unclear. The Oklahoman wrote that Deatherage asked Walters to provide legal documentation for why that was the case, and the board's attorney said he would need to research the question.

This is not the first controversial policy Walters has attempted to implement in Oklahoma public schools. Snopes previously reported on a change to the state's history curriculum that requires teaching high schoolers debunked conspiracy theories about election fraud in the 2020 election. He's also (so far, unsuccessfully) ordered public schools to teach the Bible.

Sources:

Anderson, Kayden. "Walters Says an 'anti-Woke' Test for Teachers Moving to Oklahoma Will Be Ready Soon." The Oklahoman, https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/education/2025/07/24/ryan-walters-woke-test-for-teachers-from-left-wing-states-will-be-ready-soon-oklahoma-education/85357938007/. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.

"Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling." The White House, 29 Jan. 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/.

"Independent Online Journalism." NonDoc, 25 Jul. 2025, https://nondoc.com/about-nondoc/.

Ndisabiye, Sasha. "Deriding Media and the 'peanut Gallery,' Walters Touts New Teacher Test That Could Face 'Legal Problems.'" NonDoc, 25 Jul. 2025, https://nondoc.com/2025/07/24/deriding-media-and-the-peanut-gallery-walters-touts-new-teacher-test-that-could-face-legal-problems/.

Nelson, Joshua. "Oklahoma Requires 'America First' Certification Test for Teachers Fleeing Blue States." Fox News, 28 Jul. 2025, https://www.foxnews.com/media/oklahoma-requires-america-first-certification-test-teachers-fleeing-blue-states.

"Oklahoma Supreme Court Blocks Superintendent Ryan Walters' Attempts to Purchase Bibles and Bible-Infused Instructional Materials." American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/oklahoma-supreme-court-blocks-superintendent-ryan-walters-attempts-to-purchase-bibles-and-bible-infused-instructional-materials. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.

"Oklahoma's Top Education Official Orders Schools to Teach the Bible." NBC News, 27 Jun. 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-ryan-walters-bible-taught-in-school-rcna159307.

Olmstead, Molly. "The Man Who Brought You Trump Bibles in Schools Is Truly Back at It Again." Slate, 22 Jul. 2025. slate.com, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/07/oklahoma-woke-teacher-screenings-ryan-walters.html.

Sutherland, Callum. "Oklahoma to Roll Out 'America First' Test for New Teachers." TIME, 1 Aug. 2025, https://time.com/7306969/oklahoma-education-america-first-teachers/.

"Watch: Ryan Walters Talks Prager U-Backed 'anti Woke' Test for out-of-State Transfer Teachers." The Oklahoman, https://www.oklahoman.com/videos/news/2025/07/24/ryan-walters-speaks-on-prager-u-backed-anti-woke-test/85357840007/. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.