It looks like biblical verses aren’t the only myths Ryan Walters wants to teach in Oklahoma social studies classes!
According to a recent YawnDoc write-up that was not authored by Nathanial William H.P. Archibald Friedman “Quatros” Savage IV, Ryan Walters clandestinely inserted the debunked right-wing propaganda claim that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" or "stolen" into his proposed Oklahoma social studies standards, which were then approved by the board of education and sent to the state legislature for approval.
Here’s the specific rule:
Identify discrepancies in 2020 election 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.
That’s crazy and moronic, but on a positive note, at least he wants to teach about “bellwether counties” and not require all students to read The Bell Curve. I hate to give Ryan more bad ideas, but I guess that’s a positive note.
The inclusion of stolen election myths into social studies standards is one of several politically charged bullet points from recent events that Ryan wants to teach to all Oklahoma high school students who probably won’t be paying attention anyway.
Others include:
• “Explain the effects of the Trump tax cuts, child tax credit, border enforcement efforts including Title 42 and Remain in Mexico policy, consumer and business confidence, interest rates, and inflation rates prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
• “Describe the effects of the replacement of NAFTA with USMCA, expanded European contributions to NATO spending, the signing of the Abraham Accords, and the successful avoidance of new wars.”
• “Identify the source of the COVID-19 pandemic from a Chinese lab and the economic and social effects of state and local lockdowns.”
Great stuff, huh?
My only question is, why stop there? Shouldn't we also be teaching kids that heavy doses of horse dewormer build immunity to novel viruses, that Ukrainian Nazis invaded Russia first, and that coded emails from Anthony Weiner revealed that several high-ranking Democrats operated a child sex ring out of a D.C. pizza joint? Ryan should really be ashamed for not going all out here!
I guess what makes the stuff about the stolen election extra controversial is that it was snuck into the revised standards late in the game, after the public comment period had already concluded.
This means the public—and likely many educators, lawmakers, and stakeholders—didn’t get to review or provide feedback before the changes were finalized and sent to the state legislature for approval.
YawnDoc goes into all this in its long, meandering, hard-to-follow style, but here’s a curated snippet:
Revised following a December and January public comment period, the changes to the new social studies standards received no acknowledgement or discussion at the Feb. 27 State Board of Education meeting where they were approved for submission to the Legislature. The revisions do not appear to have been posted online for public review, and a packet of documents shared with State Board of Education members ahead of the meeting also contained no reference to the new changes.
“In the spirit of full transparency, I question why this was done in the 11th hour and why no mention of this was made during the presentation at the board meeting,” new State Board of Education member Ryan Deatherage told NonDoc on Wednesday.
That’s a fair question, but if Deatherage did his job as a board member and actually read and reviewed the standards before voting on them, maybe this wouldn’t be an issue?!
Actually, that’s not the case.
Here’s more:
At their Feb. 27 meeting, State Board of Education members received a presentation about the final version of the standards, but the revisions related to the Trump administration received no mention. Board members also did not discuss the increased references to Christianity, which has been a frequent criticism of the new standards.
According to the PowerPoint slides presented by Brenda Beymer-Chapman, OSDE’s project manager for social studies and personal financial literacy, the new standards concentrate on strengthening civics and constitutional studies to explain local, state, national, and tribal levels of government; principles of limited government; individual rights, liberties, and the role of the citizen in the selection of government officials; and the relationship between Oklahoma and the 39 tribal governments headquartered within state boundaries.
Neither the PowerPoint nor its presentation included the changes to the USH.9 section of the proposed social studies standards.
Seriously, what the hell is Ryan doing here?
The guy’s entire schtick is sticking it to the libs, feeding off the outrage, and turning it into a personal grift—and yet he tried to sneak this one through quietly, hoping nobody would notice???
That’s not his style.
Knowing how much he loves pandering to Trump, you’d think he’d be out there trumpeting this effort, complete with a press release, a string of unhinged tweets, and a shaky car vlog shot from his SUV.
Who knows? Maybe he was playing the long game, betting that getting caught would generate even bigger headlines and make him even more beloved among the right-wing psychos who live, breed, and mouth-breathe among us. But, honestly, it just feels like another amateur-hour blunder from a guy who can’t decide if he’s evil or just plain incompetent.
Anyway, you can read all about this over at YawnDoc.
According to them, the legislature has the power to reject the standards outright, approve them with modifications, or allow them to take effect as written. Although a lot of House members the publication spoke to seemed to question the changes, many conservative senators didn’t want to talk about it.
Although some in the House, such as Lowe and Johns, were ready to use their power to tackle the new social studies standards, Republican senators seemed less sure.
Through a spokesman, Senate Education Committee Chairman Adam Pugh (R-Edmond) declined to comment on the standards changes and the insertion of debunked election denialism theories.
Approached in the halls of the Capitol Monday, Senate Education Committee Vice Chairwoman Ally Seifried (R-Claremore) and Education Committee member Kristen Thompson (R-Edmond) also declined to answer questions about the social studies standards.
If you live in Edmond and don’t want right-wing myths and propaganda to be taught to distracted high school students, I’d suggest you reach out to your senator today and speak your mind.
When you do, let them know it’s okay to blink twice if they’re being held hostage by their own base. Also, to get their attention, say you want to ban Skittles—that’ll do the trick.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
