Walters Says PragerU Will Be In 'Every School'

Ryan Walters spoke in Tulsa Sunday night, telling a crowd that PragerU content will be in every school instead of just an option. But last week, Walters said the State Education Department would not require schools to use the material.

Monday, September 11th 2023, 8:02 pm

By: Amy Slanchik

News On 6 is seeking clarification from the state superintendent when it comes to bringing PragerU materials to Oklahoma schools.

The non-profit media company said it offers a free alternative to what it calls "dominant left-wing ideology."

Ryan Walters spoke in Tulsa Sunday night, telling a crowd that PragerU content will be in every school instead of just an option.

Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association said districts do not have to use this material.

Several, including Broken Arrow, Jenks, and Union, have said they don’t have any plans to use PragerU's content, but the State Superintendent got the crowd excited about the idea Sunday night. At an event at Sheridan Church featuring Lara Trump, Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters had this message for the crowd:

“And what are we doing here in Oklahoma, folks? We are continuing that MAGA agenda. We are gonna put parents in charge of their kids. We're not gonna have pornography in schools; we're gonna have -- hey -- no pornography. We're gonna have PragerU in every school. How about that?"

But last week, Walters said the State Education Department would not require schools to use the material.

“This is an option that’s available,” Walters said.

Monday, when asked about PragerU, Governor Kevin Stitt told reporters he wasn't familiar with it.

"Yeah, not really familiar with all those different materials, but there's a lot of different things. I leave that up to the education community. And he's a separately elected person that is gonna be running that I'm sure the things that he's promoting are gonna be healthy and good for Oklahoma and a good option for parents," Stitt said.

In a statement, the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association said in part, "It is beyond distressing that the State Department of Education would endorse this inaccurate, unvetted, non-evidence-based material..."

Tulsa Public Schools said in a statement it "...supports the outlined and approved curricular resources that are currently being implemented at our sites. We have not reviewed PragerU as a curricular resource and have no plans to alter the curricular selection process that we follow in Tulsa Public Schools when adopting and implementing new curriculum."

News On 6 asked Walters' spokesperson for any clarity on his comments.

After our 6:00 broadcast, a spokesperson for OSDE reached out with this comment when asked to clarify the difference in comments between last week and this week: “ Respectfully, they are not. Those materials are available in every school. The inference you are making is false.”