Oklahoma's Education Chief Sparks Debate Over 2020 Election Curriculum

In a move that’s turning Oklahoma’s education landscape into a political battleground, Ryan Walters, the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, is standing firm on a controversial decision to include discussions of "discrepancies" in the 2020 presidential election in high school history classes. This curriculum change has drawn sharp criticism, not only from media outlets but also from Oklahoma’s own Republican governor, Kevin Stitt.

Walters, a Republican himself, told Fox News Digital that the state is undergoing a "dramatic turnaround" in education, which he attributes to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the federal Department of Education. He emphasized that Oklahoma parents and grandparents are driving the push to "get back to the basics" of education, free from what he described as left-wing agendas.

"We want these parameters around our standards so that we know our kids are going to be taught facts, not have a left-wing agenda pushed on them," Walters stated. "Parents and grandparents here demand this, and I think we need to listen to them."

The most eyebrow-raising part of these reforms is the approved Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies document. It asks teachers to guide students in analyzing graphs and data to identify "discrepancies" in the 2020 election results, including ballot-counting halts in key battleground states, mail-in balloting security concerns, sudden batch dumps, and deviations from historical voting trends.

The response has been anything but muted. State Rep. John Waldron, vice-chair of the Democratic caucus, accused Walters of replacing one form of indoctrination with another. "The superintendent campaigned to end indoctrination in our schools, but what he is doing instead with these new standards is promoting his own brand of indoctrination," Waldron said.

Governor Stitt’s camp also weighed in, calling the curriculum change a "distraction" from addressing more pressing educational challenges like declining test scores. "The governor is more focused on making sure kids can read," said his representative, Abegail Cave.

Despite the backlash, Walters isn’t backing down. He defended the curriculum as a way to teach students critical thinking skills. "The left doesn't want kids to look at the numbers, look at the data, and ask questions about the election," he said. "We’ve never seen an election like 2020, and our kids need to do a deep dive into it."

Walters argued that this approach will make students "better-rounded people" and encourage them to think independently. "Hey, don’t take anybody’s word for it. Do your own research. Do your own study. That’s a really important message to get across to our kids," Walters added.

While the curriculum has already been approved by the state Board of Education, it still requires the green light from the legislature or the governor. Walters expressed optimism about legislative approval but didn’t hold back criticism of Stitt, accusing him of being a "never Trumper." He claimed the governor’s stance is "way out of step with Oklahomans."

Cave quickly dismissed the "never Trumper" label as "ridiculous," pointing out Stitt’s public support for Trump and his belief in states managing their own educational systems. "That’s just Ryan Walters trying to spin the narrative and muddy the waters for no reason," she said.

With the decision awaiting higher-level approval, the debate over Oklahoma’s educational direction continues to heat up, leaving parents, educators, and lawmakers grappling with the balance between teaching history and navigating political minefields.