OK Dept. of Ed. Curriculum Censorship Executive Summary
🚨 WHAT WAS REMOVED FROM OKLAHOMA’S APPROVED 2025 SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS?
RELIGIOUS & FOUNDING REFERENCES REMOVED
• • “Under God” (Grade 1 – Pledge explanation removed)• “In God We Trust” (Grade 2 – removed)• Natural rights given by the Creator (Grade 4 – removed)• “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” (Grade 5 – removed)• Biblical influence on the Founders (Grades 5, 8, US Government – removed)• Washington’s warnings about religion & morality (Grades 5 & 8 – removed)• Religion’s role in Civil Rights movement (U.S. History – removed)• Religion and morality influencing the Constitution (U.S. Government – removed)• Judeo-Christian ethics as foundational to American law (Modern World History & U.S. Government – removed)
REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT ROOTS REMOVED
Grade 7 standards deleting:
• • Athenian democracy• Roman Republic contributions• Magna Carta & English Bill of Rights
U.S. Government deletions include:
• • Safeguards against authoritarianism• Purpose of a written Constitution• Founders’ concerns about democracy• Civic virtue & shared American identity• Civil society (religion, ethics, self-reliance) sustaining limited government
📉 ECONOMIC LITERACY STANDARDS REMOVED
Entire sections deleted covering:
• • Property rights• Voluntary exchange• Comparative advantage• Trade barriers• Fiscal vs. monetary policy• Tax structures (progressive, proportional, regressive)• Price signals & market distortions• Monopoly vs. competition• Role of incentives• Enforcement of contracts• Effects of government economic policy
📚 ENTIRE COURSES REMOVED
• • Ancient & Medieval World History• History of 20th Century Totalitarianism
Both courses are now ENTIRELY DELETED.
✂️ ADDITIONAL CONTENT REMOVED
Examples include:
• • Industrial-era immigration concerns• Alexis de Tocqueville on American exceptionalism• Immigration Act of 1924 debate• Eisenhower’s warning about the military-industrial complex• Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation• Economic system comparisons (prosperity, freedom, equality)• Role of law enforcement in development
⚠️ WHAT THIS MEANS
This is not minor editing. This is structural contraction.
• • Religious foundations removed• Representative government roots reduced• Economic literacy reduced• Entire courses deleted
🗣 WHAT YOU CAN DO
1️⃣ Submit public comment – PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ENDS FEBRUARY 18TH
2️⃣ Ask the Board to restore the 2025 approved standards
3️⃣ Demand reinstatement of deleted courses
4️⃣ Use your own words — do NOT copy/paste scripts
Silence will be interpreted as approval.
Email the Board, Superintendent & leadership TODAY:
brian.bobek@ok.gov
christopher.vandehende@ok.gov
becky.carson@ok.gov
wes.nofire@ok.gov
ryan.deatherage@ok.gov
mike.tinney@ok.gov
lindel.fields@sde.ok.gov
tom.newell@sde.ok.gov
dan.hamlin@gov.ok.gov
CC your State Rep & State Senator.
Click the link above or scan the code for public comment