New OSDE school standards come with $33 million price tag

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The newly proposed school standards submitted by the Board of Education are coming with a $33 million price tag, and lawmakers could have the board take another look at them.

The resolution was filed late Thursday by Senator Adam Pugh (R-Edmond) to reject the standards that were submitted. Which means if this resolution makes its way through the legislature and is fully approved, the standards would go back to the board.

"We had to file that resolution on Thursday. So, I just felt like it was the right thing to do," said Sen. Pugh to News 4 before his guest appearance on Flashpoint this Sunday.

"So, that is the cost of going through this textbook adoption cycle. When you write a new curriculum of standards and you go through that process, then you have to issue an RPF (Request for Proposal). The cost that taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill for is a consideration for us as the legislature. So, we're being very careful and scrutinizing every single dollar that we're going to send to state agencies."

The resolution mentioned that there were questions regarding the transparency of the standard's adoption process. It states that the board was given the latest version of the standards at 4 p.m., when they were going to be voted on the next morning.

The board members battled with Supt. Ryan Walters at the Thursday board meeting over the fact that the standards they saw online and available to the public weren't like the ones they got the evening before the vote at the board meeting.

There were many changes made to the standards, some included asking kids to identify irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, using means that have been debunked largely in the courts. Another was identifying the location of COVID-19 originating from a Chinese lab in Wuhan, as well as many other controversial topics.

"I just felt like it was the right thing to do," said Sen. Pugh.

"What I've been told by the school districts in my area is that the big vendors, the big curriculum vendors that they're using already don't want to touch our standards," said Rep. Trish Ranson (D-Stillwater).

Rep. Ranson said that many of her school districts have voiced concern over the most current proposed standards.

She mentioned Prager U and The Heritage Foundation. Both of them were involved in the committee when the standards were being put together.

"So, what my district is telling me is that they are seeing The Heritage Foundation and Prager U as the two options for curriculum coming forward," said Rep. Ranson. "This leaves Prager U as, oh, we have curriculum that you could use. That just reeks of inside dealing."

The Heritage Foundation sells books and provides curriculum resources for those who need them.

Right now, teachers have access to Prager U teacher supplemental material for free.

It's unknown if PragerU would be interested in participating in the RFP process if these standards do get final approval. News 4 reached out to the media contact for PragerU, and a representative responded immediately saying they would try to get a response.

PragerU has partnered with Idaho for its social studies standards. On Prager U's website, it said that the department of education there had approved a list of more than 400 PragerU resources, including videos, books, lesson plans, and worksheets aligned with the state's K-12 Social Studies standards.

PragerU's website also stated that they "are not an accredited university, nor do we claim to be. We don’t offer degrees, but we do provide educational, entertaining, pro-American videos for every age. View counts represent cumulative views from our website and social media channels."

Superintendent Ryan Walters, in their recent annual report, said this about the organization, "There's no better example of a curriculum that rips the soul out of the liberal takeover of our schools than providing PragerU to every Oklahoman student."

Rep. Ranson said that the time is ticking as the textbook adoption cycle starts in August. RFP's are sent out for bids, the superintendent chooses which ones get the contracts, and then the 2026 school year starts for the ones chosen.

"Let's reject the standards and hold our current standards for now, and come back to it at the next adoption cycle," said Rep. Ranson.

So far, three of the board members, the governor, and several Senate and House Democrat lawmakers have asked for the standards to be sent back to the board.

The resolution that was filed by Pugh could end up on the governor's desk if it is voted in both houses at the Capitol.

An OSDE spokesperson was asked for comment on the filing from Pugh to reject the standards, and they are choosing not to comment.