Oklahoma to give teachers from blue states a political loyalty test

[Jilly_in_VA]

Teachers from California and New York who want to work in Oklahoma public schools will be required to pass a certification test to prove they share the state's conservative political values.

Regardless of the subject or grade they teach, they'll have to show they know "the biological differences between females and males" and that they agree with the state's American history standards, which includes elements of a conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party stole the 2020 presidential election from President Donald Trump, which fact checkers have said are false.

The state Department of Education will implement the new certification test for teachers from the two largest Democrat-led states "who are teaching things that are antithetical to our standards" to ensure newcomers "are not coming into our classrooms and indoctrinating kids," Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, said in an interview with USA TODAY.

Walters has dubbed the new requirement an "America First" certification, in reference to one of Trump's political slogans.

Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Walters, a Republican, to the helm of the state's Department of Education in September 2020 and voters then elected him for a second term in November 2022.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/17/oklahoma-requires-blue-state-teachers-america-first-curriculum/85510568007/

If I were from either of those states, why would I even want to LIVE in Oklahoma, let alone teach there?

[dalton99a]

1. Oklahoma is 48th

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/public-school-rankings-by-state

[BarbaRosa]

10. Umm, I've lived in New Mexico

for most of my life, and don't recall being renamed.

[underpants]

2. Does Article VI Clause 3 "no religious test" not apply?

Article VI Supreme Law

Clause 3 Oaths of Office
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

[Ocelot II]

8. That clause applies to federal office holders.

However, the First Amendment's freedom of religion clause should resolve the matter to the extent that OK's rules for teachers means they have to profess or agree with any particular religion.

[Prairie Gates]

3. I really want one of these stories to show how many teachers this would affect

I'd estimate fewer than 10 total teachers a year move from NY or California to Oklahoma. I'll bet in some years the number is zero. This is a bit like Kazakhstan imposing special driving tests on supermodels from Fresno who happen to move to Astana. There aren't any.

[The Madcap]

4. Oklahoma will never recover.

Abject stupidity reigns there.

[CurtEastPoint]

5. how about Ed Sec Walters porn values?

https://newrepublic.com/post/198495/maga-superintendent-oklahoma-ryan-walters-porn-investigation

[Faux pas]

6. Tsk tsk and

[Grins]

7. Go back to jackin' off to porn sites.

It’s what you’re good at. Maybe the only thing…

[BadgerKid]

9. Pro-ignorance education is indoctrination. Nt

[tanyev]

11. Oh, yeah, teachers in blue states desperately want to come teach in Oklahoma.

[MagickMuffin]

12. " to ensure newcomers "are not coming into our classrooms and indoctrinating kids,"

That’s our job. The Bible is their textbook for teaching. No indoctrination or grooming here.

[Ping Tung]

13. Is that the loyalty oath that contains the phrase "Sieg Heil"? or the more acceptable sounding "I pledge Allegiance"?

[miyazaki]

14. Probably just the beginning of a sanctioned purge.

This type of mindset are permanently wired never to accept democratic leadership.

[GenThePerservering]

15. Republican performative nonsense

I doubt any qualified teachers are angling to teach in OK, for the simple reason that they'll be turned into no more than mouthpieces for the state Ministry of Propaganda. But these fools want to say "so there!"