Tulsa Schools Warned After Violating CRT Ban
Oklahoma’s largest school district is being punished after Oklahoma’s State Board of Education found the school violated the state’s critical race theory (CRT) law, according to Fox 25.
On a 4-2 vote, Oklahoma’s State Board of Education determined Thursday that Tulsa Public Schools and Mustang Public Schools, in Mustang, Oklahoma, violated Oklahoma’s CRT ban in a staff training and teacher lesson, according to Fox 25. The finding, an “accreditation with warning,” requires both school districts to prove to the board that they have made changes to the curriculum.
Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt announced the investigation into Tulsa Public Schools on July 7 for allegedly violating the state’s ban on CRT, which prohibits teaching that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another.”
“I am so proud of our school board. It was a four-to-two vote and just super disappointing that two people voted against it,” Stitt told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It’s just unbelievable. How in the world could they vote against warning a school district for violating state law? It’s pretty cut and dry for most Oklahomans.”
The complaint about Tulsa Public Schools revolved around a 2021 staff training that was cited at a June School Board of Education meeting. The staff training was called “Changing Discourse” and put on by the National Equity Project, which works to “acknowledge and make meaning of the historical and ongoing impacts of racism and white supremacy,” according to its website.
“In this training, it is clear there is no statement or sentiment pronounced that people are racist – due to their race or any other factor,” Tulsa Public Schools said in a statement to the DCNF. “We would never support such a training.”
Today I am calling for a special audit of Tulsa Public Schools and the potential mishandling of public funds. I'm also concerned TPS may have violated state law by teaching critical race theory.
We will get to the bottom of what’s going on at Tulsa Public Schools. pic.twitter.com/0nhMhfRXh2
— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) July 7, 2022
A teacher at Mustang Public Schools conducted an anti-bullying lesson that was brought forward in a January 2022 complaint, which was found to violate the state’s CRT ban, Fox 25 reported.
In a statement provided to the DCNF, Mustang Superintendent Charles Bradley said he was “shocked to learn” of the warning.
“We are disheartened that this single outlier event has resulted in this harsh action,” Bradley said.
“The parents are the ones that vote for the school districts and vote for these folks at the local level, so hopefully they will stand up and demand accountability and change leadership and rework their school system,” Stitt told the DCNF.
Oklahoma Secretary of Education Ryan Walters said critical race theory in Oklahoma schools is part of a wider push by the Biden administration.
“This is being pushed in by the far left and by the Biden administration to get critical race theory in our schools and indoctrinate our kids,” Walters said. “Their end game is to create a group of young people that don’t love this country, that do not want our history to be taught, that want to create division.”
Oklahoma State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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