Curriculum standards to be implemented in Oklahoma public schools next academic year include a change to how the 2020 election is taught, working in allegations central to President Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
The revised standards call for classrooms to identify “discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”
The guidance represents a dramatic shift from previous direction for educators to examine “issues related to the election of 2020 and its outcome.”
The standards were controversial even among Republicans as state Superintendent Ryan Walters (R) pushed for quick changes hours before the vote, The Associated Press reported Saturday.
“The standards do not instruct students on what to believe; rather, they encourage critical thinking by inviting students to examine real events, review publicly available information, and come to their own conclusions,” Walters, a vocal Trump supporter, said in a statement to the AP.
Walters has previously praised the president’s education reforms, including shutting down the federal Education Department and getting rid of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
The Hill has reached out to Walters’s office for comment.
Trump has repeatedly insisted the 2020 election was stolen from him, despite a lack of supporting evidence and the results of multiple investigations — including by his first administration — showing the vote was free and fair.
Some Republican lawmakers in the state Legislature looked to pause the new revision but could not gather the support.
A group of parents has sued in an attempt to halt the teachings in state classrooms.
Mike Hunter, a former attorney general for the state, is representing the parents and said the state school board “broke its own rules and ignored due process,” according to local outlet Fox 23 News.
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