Oklahoma’s education system has become the latest battleground in America’s ongoing culture wars, as the state rolls out a new “America First” certification test for teachers relocating from states like California and New York. The move, announced by Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, is intended to ensure that incoming educators align with what state officials describe as Oklahoma’s conservative values and to prevent what they call “woke indoctrinators” from shaping the minds of local students.
The certification test, developed by the conservative media company PragerU, consists of approximately 50 multiple-choice questions. According to CNN and USA Today, the exam covers a range of topics, including basic facts about the U.S. Constitution, the structure of Congress, freedom of religion, and biological sex chromosomes. One question asks which chromosome pairs determine biological sex, while another probes why freedom of religion is important to America’s identity. The test also reportedly includes questions about false claims that electoral fraudsters handed the 2020 presidential race to Joe Biden at the expense of Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in January 2025, according to USA Today.
Superintendent Walters, invoking a favored slogan of the former and current Republican president, dubbed the initiative the “America First” certification. Walters told CNN, “We will not allow these leftists’ plans and schemes to take place here in Oklahoma. They are trying to warp the minds of our kids to turn them into social justice warriors, instead of kids that are getting the most of their god-given talents to go get a good job, to go live a fulfilling life.” He continued, “You’re gonna teach that there’s biological differences between males and females, period. You’re going to teach American history and use primary source documents, not pushing a left-wing agenda on to our kids.”
The Oklahoma State Department of Education shared the state’s required standards and certification tests with PragerU in July 2025. PragerU then compared them to standards in California and New York before developing the new assessment. PragerU CEO Marissa Streit told CNN that several questions are intended for “undoing the damage of gender ideology that is forced and taught through some of these other tests like the PRISM test.” The PRISM test, she noted, is administered in California to train teachers in supporting LGBTQ+ youth.
Walters emphasized his legal authority to administer the test, stating, “Every teacher that teaches in the state of Oklahoma will have to have a certificate that goes through my office. It has my signature on it. So that those will not move forward until this is done.” He also suggested that the test, initially targeting teachers from California and New York, could eventually expand to applicants from up to eight states.
PragerU, founded by right-wing commentator Dennis Prager in 2009 and headquartered in California, is known for promoting conservative values through animated educational videos. The company’s teaching materials are approved for use in public schools in ten states, including South Carolina, Alaska, Idaho, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Arizona, Montana, Texas, and Florida. PragerU claims that its content is watched five million times a day and boasts one million followers on X (formerly Twitter). According to its website, the company aims to counter “the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media and education.”
However, PragerU is not an accredited educational institution and has faced criticism for spreading inaccurate information. For example, a video featuring abolitionist Frederick Douglass falsely claims that “slavery was a part of life all over the world. It was America that began the conversation to end it.” This has raised concerns among critics about the reliability and objectivity of its content.
The introduction of the “America First” certification comes at a time when Oklahoma, like many states, is grappling with a teacher shortage. In an effort to recruit educators from across the country, Oklahoma is offering bonuses of up to $50,000, according to USA Today. Walters claims that the state has seen “a dramatic increase in teachers wanting to come to Oklahoma.”
But not everyone is convinced that the new certification requirement will help solve the teacher shortage. Critics argue that the test is a politically motivated “loyalty test” that could deter qualified educators from relocating to Oklahoma. John Waldron, Oklahoma Democratic Party Chairman and a former social studies teacher, told CNN, “You don’t sign up to teach schools because you hate America, that’s not who’s teaching in our classrooms.” He added that the assessment is “an insult to our profession.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, echoed these concerns in an interview with USA Today. “Teachers in this country are patriotic, and suggesting they’re not is insulting,” she said. Alluding to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, Weingarten added, “Ryan Walters appears to be trying out for Maga in chief, not educator in chief, because everything that he’s doing is about the culture wars, not about the reading, writing and arithmetic. If he wants to be Maga in chief then go be Maga in chief. But let someone else be educator in chief and focus on other things people deserve, which is reading, literacy and wraparound services – and actual teachers who want to be in Oklahoma.”
Cari Elledge, president of the Oklahoma Education Association, called the test “a political stunt to grab attention” and a “distraction from the real issues” facing the state’s education system. “When political ideology plays into whether or not you can teach in any place, that might be a deterrent to quality educators attempting to get a job,” Elledge said.
Oklahoma State Board of Education members raised questions about the legal merits of the assessment at their July 2025 meeting, requesting a review and approval before the test’s release. Walters, however, declined to allow the board to review or approve the test, maintaining that he has the authority to move forward independently. Democrats in Oklahoma anticipate legal challenges to the new certification, noting a surge in calls from concerned teachers and parents.
Meanwhile, PragerU’s influence continues to grow. In early 2025, the company collaborated with the U.S. Department of Education on an exhibit called “The Road to Liberty,” which debuted in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the West Wing. The exhibit features portraits of Founding Fathers with QR codes linked to AI-generated images, offering visitors a chance to learn more about each figure. A disclaimer on the videos clarifies that the partnership “does not constitute or imply U.S. Government or U.S. Department of Education endorsement of PragerU.”
Adding to the swirl of controversy, Walters recently faced unrelated allegations from colleagues who claimed they saw images of nude women on a television in his office during a closed-door meeting. Walters vehemently denied the allegations, and a preliminary investigation led by Oklahoma House Speaker Kyle Hilbert determined that the TV was tuned to a channel playing a 1985 Jackie Chan film, The Protector, which contains scenes with nudity. The investigation ruled out intentional misconduct by Walters as well as false reporting by the colleagues, according to KOTV and The Guardian.
As Oklahoma’s new teacher certification test goes into effect for the 2025-2026 school year, the state finds itself at the center of a national debate over the role of politics in public education. With supporters touting the move as a defense of local values and critics decrying it as a political litmus test, the outcome of this latest culture clash could shape the future of teaching—and learning—in Oklahoma for years to come.
