Oklahoma’s new chief of public schools said changes could be coming to the controversial academic standards for social studies that the state passed earlier this year.
State Superintendent Lindel Fields said Thursday he intends to restart the process of reviewing the social studies standards, obtaining public input, and presenting a draft to the Oklahoma State Board of Education and the state Legislature for approval. Typically updated every six years, academic standards are a lengthy list of topics that Oklahoma public schools must teach to students at each grade level.
Oklahoma already adopted new social studies standards this year under Fields’ predecessor, Ryan Walters, but they faced significant criticism over the last-minute addition of dubious content and for their inclusion of Bible teachings. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has blocked schools from implementing Walters’ social studies standards while two lawsuits are pending over them.
Fields said his administration will ask the Court to extend that pause through the rest of the current school year, leaving state officials time to review the standards and potentially make rewrites.
“I think there will be some changes to them, yes,” Fields told news reporters Thursday after an Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting.
The board voted unanimously during the meeting to start a 60-day review period for “consideration and possible further action” on the social studies standards.
Fields said he believes the Court’s decision to pause the standards enables his administration and the board to make potential changes, even though the board and the Legislature already approved Walters’ version.
Walters’ standards claim there were “discrepancies” in the results of the 2020 presidential election between former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, whom Walters had endorsed. Walters said he didn’t intend to support or deny the 2020 election results, though his standards appeared to connect to Trump’s unverified claims of election fraud.
The former state superintendent, who resigned Sept. 30 to lead a conservative teacher organization, also added a claim that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese lab. The origin of the virus has not been determined, according to the World Health Organization.
Half of the state Board of Education members at the time said they had no idea the new language had been included until after they voted to approve Walters’ standards. Walters and his staff did not point out the new content before the board took a vote, and the Education Department didn’t publicly post the updated standards until weeks later.
Multiple lawsuits contend this violated state transparency laws and would enable misinformation to be taught in schools. The standards’ requirement that public schools teach students Bible stories also faces a legal challenge.
“I think we need to look at all of the things that were added to see if they’re germane to what kids need to learn,” said Fields, whom the governor appointed to finish Walters’ term.
