OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KFOR) Some teachers from New York and California aiming to teach in Oklahoma face a newly unveiled ideological test.
PragerU, a Christian conservative non-accredited group, has partnered with Oklahoma’s State Department of Education.
“I would just caution the department to ensure whatever they’re doing passes legal muster. It seems that we’re on the edge with this right now. And I don’t want to go over that edge,” remarked board member Chris Van Denhende during last month’s board meeting.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters introduced the collaboration with PragerU at the meeting and noted that the test would soon be accessible to incoming teachers in the program.
The test consists of 34 questions, with many focusing on American history. Most of the first 10 questions, however, pertain to gender.
Examples include:
- What is the fundamental biological distinction between males and females?
- How is a child’s biological sex typically identified?
- Why is the distinction between male and female considered important in areas like sports and privacy?
Additional questions cover topics such as the U.S. Constitution and Martin Luther King Jr.
Those who answer incorrectly are asked to go back and continue selecting answers until they get the correct one.
Upon completing the test, candidates were prompted to consider donations to PragerU. Initially, the lowest suggested donation was $100, though it dropped to $50 by the following day.
affiliate KFOR investigated the legality of hiring teachers through this exam process, with a constitutional attorney indicating that state law does not permit such practices.
The attorney said such practices would open the Department of Education up to what he called “easy” lawsuits.
KFOR reached out to an OSDE spokesperson weeks ago and submitted an open records request to review the test, but never received a response.
