Teachers from “liberal” states who have relocated to Oklahoma and are seeking to work there must take a controversial new assessment, given for the first time today, that “keeps away woke indoctrinators,” according to Oklahoma’s top education official.
Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s superintendent for public instruction, told CNN that if applicants do not pass the test, they will not earn a teaching certificate to be able to teach in public schools in the state this school year, which begins for some Oklahoma districts on Monday.
The decision to use the assessment, developed by PragerU, a conservative media company whose teaching materials are now approved for use in public schools in ten US states, opens a new front in the education culture wars just days before schools are to open their doors.
PragerU has been embraced by the political right for offering curriculums that champion ideas aligned with the Make America Great Again movement, but, despite what its name implies, is not an accredited university or education institution, and has long been subjected to accusations of spreading inaccurate information.
Yet Oklahoma’s partnership with PragerU is a clear sign of the influence the company has gained in the US education system amid the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape US education in the mold of MAGA values.
Jonathan Zimmerman, who teaches history of education at the University of Pennsylvania, said that Oklahoma’s use of the assessment developed by PragerU represents a “watershed moment” for the company, shifting it from just being an outside organization that provides educational materials to now having a say in certifying teachers.
“It’s official and it’s institutionalized,” Zimmerman said. “It’s actually giving Prager an explicit role.”
For now, Oklahoma is giving its test to teachers relocating from California and New York, but this could be expanded to applicants from up to eight states in the future, Walters said.
“We will not allow these leftists’ plans and schemes to take place here in Oklahoma,” Walters said. “They are trying to warp the minds of our kids to turn them into social justice warriors, instead of kids that are getting the most of their god given talents to go get a good job, to go live a fulfilling life.”
CNN was given exclusive access to parts of the multiple-choice assessment, which is around 50 questions.
One proposed question deals with gender – asking teachers to select from a series of multiple-choice answers which chromosome pairs determine biological sex. Marissa Streit, CEO of PragerU, told CNN there are several questions on the test related to “undoing the damage of gender ideology that is forced and taught through some of these other tests like the PRISM test,” referring to a training for teachers in California that aims to “provide resources to bolster support for LGBTQ+ youth in California.”
Another question asks why freedom of religion is important to America’s identity. Other questions include asking for the first three words of the Constitution, naming the two chambers of the US Congress, and identifying the number of US Senators. Streit said the Oklahoma superintendent had asked for a test “that is more wholesome and in line with the Oklahoma parent body.”
An aide for Walters’ office said the test being given today is applicable to a “fairly large” number of those seeking teaching certificates in the state, though the office declined to give an exact number.
Political battle lines drawn
PragerU, a California-based media company, bills itself as “the most influential media organization in the world that promotes the American values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness through free educational content for all ages.” It was co-founded by right-wing commentator Dennis Prager in 2009, and is best known for animated videos that make up the core of its curriculums. Today, it has one million followers on the social media site X and claims that its content is watched 5 million times a day.
In July, the Oklahoma State Department of Education shared the state’s required standards and certification tests with PragerU. Walters told CNN that the company then compared them against the standards for teachers in California and New York to develop and write the new assessment.
“You’re gonna teach that there’s biological differences between males and females, period,” Walters told CNN of the standards that the assessment should reflect. “You’re going to teach American history and use primary source documents, not pushing a left-wing agenda on to our kids.”
In his view, California and New York have required teachers to “do things that are antithetical to our standards and values as a state,” and passing the assessment will be a way to help ensure “that these teachers agree to teach what is required in the state of Oklahoma.” The test specifically evaluates educators on areas including their understanding of “American exceptionalism” and their “grasp of fundamental biological differences between boys and girls,” Walters said.
But the test, the first of its kind in the nation to come from PragerU, comes as Oklahoma is facing a teacher shortage and drawing backlash for falling to near the bottom of public education system rankings in popular assessments.
John Waldron, the Oklahoma Democratic Party chairman and a former social studies teacher, told CNN, “You don’t sign up to teach schools because you hate America, that’s not who’s teaching in our classrooms.”
He characterized the assessment as a “loyalty test” from “an unaccredited agency,” saying that it felt like “an insult to our profession” to have to take it.
At an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting last month, board members pushed Walters on the legal merits of the assessment, and asked to let the board review and approve it before its release. Walters declined.
Walters said he believes that he has legal authority to order and administer the test, but did not provide an explanation for the claim.
Asked by CNN who will oversee and make sure that the assessments are being taken and passed, he said bluntly: “It’s up to me.”
“Every teacher that teaches in the state of Oklahoma will have to have a certificate that goes through my office. It has my signature on it. So that those will not move forward until this is done,” Walters added.
Local Democrats expect legal challenges ahead. In the meantime, they say that they have had parents and teachers calling their office, concerned about the assessment.
Growing influence
Besides Oklahoma, PragerU’s content has now been approved for use as teaching materials in public schools Alaska, Idaho, South Carolina, Louisiana, Arizona, New Hampshire, Montana, Texas and Florida.
The core of its content includes short kid-friendly videos focused on politics, history, social issues like race and sex, climate change and financial literacy – presented through a conservative lens.
Its website states that its goal is to counter “the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media and education.”
Many of the videos have drawn scrutiny and headlines over the accuracy of the content and ideological tilt – for example by presenting subjects such as intelligent design, a concept that is not scientifically accepted, as valid.
A video featuring abolitionist Frederick Douglass claims that “slavery was a part of life all over the world. It was America that began the conversation to end it,” which is untrue.
President Donald Trump and his allies have embraced and promoted PragerU over the years.
In December 2024, Trump made a surprise appearance at a PragerU gala, which was held at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“I want you tonight to think about all the good thing you are doing,” Trump said to the PragerU supporters. “You are a spectacular group, and you are so successful. I have many friends in the crowd.”
The Department of Education worked with PragerU to create a new exhibit for the White House earlier this year. Called “The Road to Liberty” and currently on display in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, near the West Wing, it debuted this summer and includes portraits of Founding Fathers with QR codes that link to AI-generated images for people to learn more.
“Facts do not care about our feelings,” the AI-generated John Adams says in one video.
The videos conclude with the disclaimer that the partnership “does not constitute or imply U.S. Government or U.S. Department of Education endorsement of PragerU.”
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