No contract exists between the Oklahoma State Department of Education and California-based PragerU, which worked with past state schools superintendent Ryan Walters to develop a test for teachers moving to Oklahoma from so-called “woke” states.
The test was just one of the many ways Walters partnered with PragerU, a nonprofit that promotes conservative educational materials. Their work to inject far-right politics into Oklahoma’s school system drew national attention before Walters resigned in September.
His successor says no state contract covered the work, and PragerU did not receive state funding.
“I’m not sure exactly what they were doing, but there was no State Department (of Education) money spent with PragerU,” new state schools Superintendent Lindel Fields told The Oklahoman on Monday, Oct. 27.
Ryan Walters pushed for PragerU-developed curriculum, teacher ‘anti-woke’ test
Walters worked closely with PragerU during much of his two years and nine months in office.
He encouraged schools to use PragerU-developed curriculum — including cartoon videos depicting its version of historical events — in classrooms. In one video, a character depicting Christopher Columbus said slavery “is better than being killed, no?”
Later, Walters included PragerU’s cofounder, Dennis Prager, on his “executive review committee” to help develop new social studies standards for Oklahoma schools. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has put a pause on the enforcement of those standards, which include dozens of mentions of Christianity, as well as debunked claims about results of the 2020 presidential election.
Earlier in 2025, Walters said he would institute a so-called “woke test” that teachers moving into Oklahoma from Democratic-controlled states, such as California and New York, would be required to pass before being issued an Oklahoma teaching license. He did so despite the fact the state Department of Education isn’t allowed under Oklahoma law to administer such a test as a requirement for teacher licensing.
He said the test, dubbed the “America First Assessment,” would be developed by PragerU. The nonprofit debuted the test with an ad in The New York Times in August. The test included 34 multiple-choice questions written by the nonprofit. There are multiple questions about biology and gender identification, political viewpoints, in addition to others about civics, the Constitution and key U.S. historical figures and dates.
The online version of the test was designed so that a person taking it could not advance to the next question until providing what the test-maker believes is the correct answer — essentially making it impossible to fail.
To take the test, people were required to provide personal information to PragerU, including their names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers, and agree to the terms of PragerU’s privacy policy.
New state schools Superintendent Lindel Fields says there’s no evidence the Oklahoma State Department of Education spent money with California-based nonprofit PragerU during his predecessor’s time.
Fields, who said he has not taken the test, said Monday he doesn’t know how PragerU is using the personal information of those who did take the test. An email sent to an address listed on the PragerU website for media inquiries on Monday wasn’t immediately returned.
Walters resigned Sept. 30 to take a private sector job. Two days later, Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Fields to fill out the remainder of Walters’ term, which will expire in January 2027.
Within hours of Walters’ departure, the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s website was scrubbed to remove a section about the PragerU test. Fields has said the PragerU test is not required for those seeking to obtain an Oklahoma teaching certificate.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma didn’t pay PragerU for teacher ‘woke’ test, superintendent says
