During a last-minute press conference this morning, former Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter announced a lawsuit against the State Board of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters regarding the board’s handling of controversial social studies standards, which seven plaintiffs argue were approved without following proper due process procedures.
“Due process, this legal principle requires adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard,” Hunter said Wednesday. “This lawsuit challenges the legitimacy of the state board’s adoption of the standards on that basis. Simply put, the state board broke its own rules and ignored due process.”
The petition (embedded below) requests that the Oklahoma Academic Standards for social studies be reviewed under a court of law and determined “invalid, null, and void,” owing to Walters and staff within the Oklahoma State Department of Education allegedly failing to provide adequate notice and time to review the changes made to the standards before enacting a vote for approval.
“The Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act required the Oklahoma State Board of Education to follow its internal rules and procedures in developing, proposing and adopting the new social studies standards — they did not,” Hunter said. “The standards now have the full force and effect of law as a result of the Legislature’s silent acquiescence. The APA required internal rules and procedures of the state board regarding the standards to ensure that the fundamental right is preserved under our Constitution.”
The social studies standards first gained media traction in December as the proposed revisions included over 30 mentions of the Bible and the addition of religious curriculum to be taught in Oklahoma public schools. But on March 12, the focused shifted after NonDoc revealed quiet changes had been made to the standards — adjustments that were not posted publicly or specified to board members before the Feb. 27 approval.
Revised following a December and January public comment period, the changes differed vastly from the initial version of the standards published for public comment. One new provision gained attention for directing teachers and students toward widely debunked theories of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
During the State Board of Education’s February meeting, Walters pushed for a quick approval of the standards, asserting the board faced a tight deadline to send the standards over to the Legislature for final approval.
Walters’ actions during the board meeting caused concern among newly appointed board members Chris VanDenhende, Michael Tinney and Ryan Deatherage, whom Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Feb. 11 owing to his dissatisfaction with recently approved OSDE administrative rules chronicling the immigration status of students. The new board members were asked to vote on the final version of the social studies standards during the meeting.
Despite that being the first meeting for the three new board members, who discussed postponing the vote so they could have adequate time to review the 179-page document and make an informed decision, the board approved the Oklahoma Academic Standards for social studies 6-1. Deatherage, who also made a failed motion to table the item, was the only dissenting vote.
“You’ve got board members saying, ‘These [standards] are different from what we’ve been suggesting, what we’ve been communicating to people or the standards we’re going to vote on today,'” Hunter said during Wednesday’s press conference. “So, back to due process, and you all don’t need a lecture on constitutional law today, but that’s just inappropriate. It’s inconsistent, we believe, with their internal procedures. And you know, you’ve got to allow people in a deliberative role — it’s democracy — you’ve got to make sure that they have the ability to understand what they’re voting on.”
With some board members wishing that had abstained from voting at the February meeting, the standards were then sent to the Oklahoma Legislature for the opportunity to approve, disapprove or modify the standards, pursuant of Title 70, Section 11-103.6a-1, before implementation. Three legislative joint resolutions were filed about the standards, including one from Senate Education Committee Chairman Adam Pugh (R-Edmond). But despite members of the House and Senate Democratic caucuses calling for action, no resolution was heard in either chambers. With no action, the standards were deemed approved under state law.
“The Senate had an opportunity to check Superintendent Ryan Walters’ power, and our Republican colleagues would not step up to put our kids first,” said Senate Democratic Leader Julia Kirt (D-Oklahoma City) in an April 29 press release. “Parents, teachers and bipartisan community members throughout Oklahoma have reached out to us, calling on the Senate to reject teaching children these politically divisive, inaccurate and age-inappropriate topics. Senate Democrats will continue to stand with Oklahomans and put people over politics.”
Focusing on the procedural process of drafting, reviewing and adopting academic standards, Hunter noted in the petition that Walters “incorrectly stated” and seemingly misled board members about the timeline of the legislative approval process. Additionally, Hunter said the lack of transparency of the review process significantly “undermines the legitimacy of the entire process.”
“Even worse, the composition of the three committees or the focus groups, red lines showing changes from existing standards to those being voted on and comments from the public to published drafts are not made available by the OSDE to OSBE members tasked with voting to approve the proposed standards,” Hunter wrote in the petition. “The lack of transparency in the internal procedures used by the OSDE in preparing proposed subject matter standards for approval by the OSBE has allowed Superintendent Walters to make last-minute, unpublicized or discussed revisions to the social studies subject matter standards without having to disclose either the existence or source of the proposed revisions.”
The seven plaintiffs listed on the petition consist of parents, grandparents and educators who allege the “illegal” adoption of the standards violate the rights and privileges of public school students and educators. The plaintiffs are not seeking compensatory damages, only the dissolution of the social studies standards by a court of law.
“There are over 800,000 young people in Oklahoma schools,” Hunter said Wednesday. “That’s around 20 percent of the population. These standards have the force and effect of law, and the fact that these standards are going to into effect without being properly reviewed and adopted are of great concern with my clients. They want their children, their grandchildren and their pupils to be educated in a way that’s consistent with the law. And in our view — again, we’re going to be in court with this — the law was not followed.”
During the press conference, Hunter said he plans to call on each OSBE member, Walters, OSDE staff and individuals involved in the academic standards process as witnesses in open court. Hunter also said he has yet to speak to the six appointed State Board of Education members or Walters. He lightheartedly added, “but I plan to.”
After the press conference, Walters released a statement regarding Hunter’s lawsuit:
The loudest voices attacking Oklahoma’s new social studies standards come straight from the teachers union playbook. Why? Because these standards do something they can’t stand: teach students to be proud of America.
These are the most pro-American standards in the nation, rooted in the founding principles that built this country and shaped our state. That’s exactly what Oklahoma parents want their kids to learn.
Time and again, these radical teachers unions are standing against the future of Oklahoma’s education system and the values we hold dear. We’re proud of these standards, and we’ll keep fighting for an education system that puts students and our country first.
Hunter, who resigned as attorney general in 2021, said he plans to appear before Oklahoma County District Judge Brent Dishman to request a temporary restraining order to keep the social studies standards from taking effect before the conclusion of the lawsuit. Beth Harrison, senior account director at the public relations firm Gooden Group, said Hunter intends to meet with Dishman on Thursday.
Senate committee votes against OSDE’s proposed administrative rules
In a separate action involving part of Walters’ agenda, state senators advanced Senate Joint Resolution 22 on Wednesday during a short meeting of the Senate Administrative Rules Committee.
Approved by a committee vote of 6-1 with no discussion, SJR 22 would disapprove parts of multiple new or amended rules promulgated by OSDE and the State Board of Education in January.
Among the rules proposed for disapproval is a new requirement that school districts collect students’ immigration status on enrollment and then report the number of undocumented students to OSDE. Walters has received criticism for the rule from members of his own party, including Gov. Kevin Stitt, who cited the rule as a reason for his shakeup of the State Board of Education in February.
After the meeting, committee Chairman Micheal Bergstrom (R-Adair) said he and his counterpart in the House, Rep. Gerrid Kendrix (R-Altus), had worked together on a package of six bills approving and disapproving agency rules across Oklahoma government. While the Senate Administrative Rules Committee approved three of those resolutions Wednesday, Kendrix’s committee approved the other three Monday.
Both sets of bills now head to their respective floors for approval by the full chambers. If passed, they will be voted on by the opposite chambers.
“I expect that [Kendrix will] be running some on the floor next week, and I’ll be running some on the floor next week so that we can get it done in a timely manner and get it done effectively,” Bergstrom said.
In addition to the immigration status provision, the other OSDE rules proposed for disapproval are:
- A change from “will” to “may” for a clause concerning the use of Robert’s Rules of Order;
- A repeal of language requiring the OSDE records custodian to respond to an Open Records Act request within a “prompt and reasonable” time;
- New language requiring the State Board of Education to timely respond to a petition for a new rule by recommending approval or denial of the petition;
- A change from a 10-day requirement to a 20-day requirement for parents to notify a school district that their student’s application to transfer to that district was approved;
- A requirement that teachers seeking renewal of their certifications pass a U.S. naturalization test; and
- A requirement that school districts report any gifts from an “external source of revenue” in excess of $17,000 or “the current annual gift tax exemption amount” as determined by the IRS.
Although the vote on SJR 22 was listed as the second item on the meeting’s agenda, senators took it up first, before Sen. Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin) and committee Vice Chairman Shane Jett (R-Shawnee) had joined the meeting.
The lone vote against advancement of the resolution was Sen. Kendal Sacchieri (R-Blanchard). Sacchieri appeared irritated during the vote, and she initially passed before eventually voting against the SJR 22.
After the meeting, Sacchieri said she voted against the bill because she didn’t know which version she was voting on. Although three amendments were proposed to the bill, the version senators voted on and advanced was the resolution as introduced.
“I voted ‘No’ because I didn’t even know what amendments had been taken up and approved or not,” Sacchieri said.
Read Hunter’s May 7 petition on the social studies standards
