For starters, Oklahoma’s test is less a measure of teaching ability or civic literacy than a quiz of rudimentary political knowledge, coupled with MAGA-aligned talking points on gender, religious liberty, and parents’ rights. The test asks how many senators there are, the names of the “two parts” of Congress, and the first three words of the U.S. Constitution. It also poses questions such as “What is the fundamental biological distinction between males and females?” (Correct answer: chromosomes and reproductive anatomy) and “Why is the distinction between male and female important in areas like sports and privacy?” (Correct answer: “to preserve fairness, safety, and integrity for both sexes”).
A teacher may know basic facts about Congress or biology and still be terribly woke.Checking rudimentary civic knowledge is fine, but this is a really low bar—and not an especially good way to weed out woke indoctrinators. After all, a teacher may know basic facts about Congress or biology and still be terribly woke. And ideological or ignorant teachers also hail from the other 48 states (trust me on this). Assessing all would-be teachers regarding civic knowledge and professional ethics would be a good thing. But this isn’t that. Moreover, targeting California and New York as Walters did reveals the whole thing to be a performative stunt, engineered to capture the attention of MAGA social media.
Well, just the other week, Walters announced he’d be resigning in order to serve as the CEO of a new education advocacy group. That means his successor has the opportunity to take up this initiative and get it right. That will require three things: acknowledging the problem, offering a principled solution, and seizing the opportunity to rethink teacher licensure.
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When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?