Oklahoma will require candidates for teachers coming from California and New York to pass an exam for which the chief employee of the state, dominated by Republicans, says he is intended to protect against “radical left -wing ideology”, but which opponents are declared as a “Magic Loyalty Test”.
Ryan Walters, Head of Oklahoma State Schools, said on Monday that any teacher coming from the two blue states will be obliged to pass an evaluation exam administered by Prageru, a conservative non -profit purpose based in Oklahoma before receiving a state certification.
“While I am a chief, the Oklahoma classrooms will be protected from radical left -wing ideology, encouraged in places like California and New York,” Walters said in a statement.
Pragu, short for the University of Prager, releases short videos with a conservative perspective on politics and economy. It is popularized as “focused on changing minds through the creative use of digital media.”
Quinton Hitchcock, a spokesman for the State Department of Education, said the Prager test for teacher candidates has been finalized and will unfold “Soon”.
The state did not release the entire 50 -questions test for the Associated Press, but provided the first five questions that include asking the question of what are the first three words in the US Constitution and why freedom of religion is “important to America’s identity.”
Prager did not immediately reply to a phone message or email, looking for a comment. But Marisa State, CEO of Pragu, told CNN that several questions about the assessment relate to “cancellation of gender ideology.”
Jonathan Zimmerman, who teaches a history of education at the University of Pennsylvania, said that Oklahoma’s treaty with Prageru to test possible teachers outside the state “is a” water breath “.
“Instead of simply being a resource you can prepare in an optional way, Prager is institutionalized as part of the state system,” he said. “There is no other way to describe it.”
Zimmerman said the American Historical Association did a study last year by grades 7 to 12 teachers and found that only a minority relied on textbooks for daily training. He said on top of this, most history textbooks are “deadly boring”. But he said it means that history teachers rely on online resources, such as those from Prager.
“I think what we see now in Oklahoma is something different that actually enables Prager as a type of goalkeeper for future teachers,” Zimmerman said.
One of the largest teaching unions in the nation, the US Federation of Teachers, is often contrary to the administration of President Donald Trump and the repression of the autonomy of teachers in the classroom.
“This MAGA loyalty test will be another turn for teachers in a country that is already struggling with a huge shortage,” said Aphtha President Randy Weyngarten.
She was critical of Walters, who insisted on the standards of the state’s curriculum to be reviewed in order to include conspiracy theories for the 2020 presidential election.
“His priority should be the students’ education, but instead it is Donald Trump and other Mag’s politicians to notice him,” Vinggarten said in a statement.
Tina Elsworth, President of the National Non -Profit Social Research Council, also expressed fears that the test would prevent teachers from applying for a job.
“State education councils must remain true to the values and principles of the US Constitution,” Elsworth said. “The imposition of an ideological test to become a teacher in our great democracy is antithetic to these principles.”
State representative John Waldron, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Oklahoma, described the test as “political posing”.
“If you want to see a definition of an indoctrination textbook, what about a teacher loyalty test,” Waldron said. “This is a sad echo from a more paranoid past.”
Waldron, a native of New Jersey, said he would be in the target demographic group for this type of test when he moved from Washington, District of Colombia, to Oklahoma, to teach social research in 1999. He said it would hit him as an indication that the state is not serious to attract quality teachers.
“Teachers are not rushing here from other countries to teach. We have a huge shortage of teachers and it is not like we have a giant delivery of teachers coming from blue countries,” he said.
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Holingsworth reports from Mission, Kansas and Stengle from Dallas.