The PragerU test that Ryan Walters has implemented for out-of-state teachers doesn’t seem to actually accomplish very much.
As reporters like Quorum Call's Shawn Ashley and StateImpact Oklahoma’s Beth Wallis have pointed out, the test, which is “designed to reinforce foundational civic knowledge and promote traditional American values as part of the state’s commitment to educational excellence,” according to the website, has no way to stop test-takers who give wrong answers from receiving the certificate of accomplishment anyway.
I took the test. It’s a multiple choice test; you click your answer, and the test tells you if you’re wrong or right. Here’s the first question: “According to the Supreme Court cases Meyer v. Nebraska (1923) and Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), who has the ultimate right to direct a child's education?” Knowing that Ryan Walters hates himself and the institution he is the head of, I felt certain that the answer would not be its corollary, “The federal Department of Education,” and so I clicked that. Immediately, the test told me, “Sorry, that is not right.” Weirdly, the test allowed me to go back and change my answer, which was, of course, “The parents.” We’re individualists, after all! The second I clicked the right answer, the test, gratified as only a dumb machine can be, rocketed me into the second question.
There were plenty of questions whose objectivity feels questionable, like, “Why is the distinction between male and female considered important in areas like sports and privacy?” The inclusion of an option like “To enhance the self-esteem of transgender children” felt like a slap in the face, given Walter’s obsession with the topic, and his appointment of LibsOfTikTok’s Chaya Raichik, about as anti-trans as it gets in the national discourse, to Oklahoma’s state library committee.
All in all, it’s 34 questions, some of them extremely normal, some of them extremely out there. The answer to “Should teachers be allowed to express their own political viewpoints in the classroom in order to persuade the students to adopt their point of view?” is “No, the classroom is not an appropriate venue for political activism.” That’s a hard line to draw, and it forces any teacher who agrees to it to place themselves into a weird bind; if you’re teaching a book about race, are you no longer allowed to talk about how minorities are still oppressed?
The fact that the test cannot be failed makes it seem like less of a real test, and more of a warning shot. The test that cannot be failed says, You’ll pass this, but in doing so, you will acknowledge that these are the beliefs of the state of Oklahoma. PragerU has your email address, your phone number, and your mailing address, and if you act in ways that are contrary to what you’ve stated, we have some sort of weird public/private recourse to prove that you agreed that you believe this.
It’s messy. It barely seems to accomplish its own goals. In fact, in many ways, since you don’t actually have to know the answers to get the achievement, the certificate is really more of a participation trophy.
