The Oklahoma State Board of Education approved a slate of administrative rules at its Thursday meeting, including one that would remove a requirement for incoming Oklahoma teachers to take the U.S. Naturalization Test for certification.
The rule was implemented last year under former State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ administration.
The vote to remove the rule was unanimous. One board member, Michael Tinney, was absent from the meeting.
The board has been completely replaced since the previous rule was voted on.
Walters’ rule originally would have required all Oklahoma teachers to take the test. The Legislature then partially approved the rule to only include new teachers seeking certification.
It is now up to the Legislature to approve the rule’s removal during this spring’s legislative session.
The other proposed rules approved by the board relate to laws already passed by the Legislature or make small procedural changes.
It’s not the first reversal from the new administration.
Current State Superintendent Lindel Fields also pulled a Walters mandate to require Bibles in classrooms and promised a revision of Walters’ controversial social studies standards that featured 2020 election denialism. Last month, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the social studies standards were unenforceable because the board violated the state’s Open Meeting Act when it approved them.
This article was originally published by KOSU. You can see the original story here.