Editor’s note: This is the sixth opinion piece in a new series on religious liberty authored by BJC Fellows and made possible by a grant from the Prichard Family Foundation. Religious practices, actors, displays and institutions are becoming increasingly…
Oklahoma joins Florida in allowing PragerU content in public schools
Oklahoma’s controversial new state superintendent of public education has launched a statewide partnership with a private faith-based video-education firm criticized for dealing loosely with history while advancing conservative talking points. “I am thrilled to announce this partnership with PragerU,” said…
‘Vengeance is mine,’ says school board trustee who snuck into library to look for objectionable books with a flashlight
A small-town Texas school board member who believes there are pornographic books in the school library was censured by the other trustees of Granbury Independent School District Aug. 23. Trustee Karen Lowery — who ran for office last fall on…
What really happened at that meeting with the Oklahoma superintendent of schools is worse than you’ve heard
My husband and I both grew up in Norman, Okla. Until last year, July 2022 to be exact, we had been Texas residents for 17 years. What brought us back home to Norman was a traumatic event with the public…
Oklahoma superintendent of schools says Tulsa Race Massacre wasn’t due to color of anyone’s skin
This story was updated July 7 to include new comments from Ryan Walters. It’s OK to teach Oklahoma schoolchildren about the Tulsa Race Massacre, just don’t tell them it was motivated by the color of anyone’s skin, the state…
DeSantis and Florida Legislature want to control pretty much everyone
Hardly a constituency or demographic in Florida has escaped the legislative onslaught of Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Republican supermajority in the statehouse. Over the past year, bills have been introduced or signed to impose strict controls on public and…
Enrollment surging at private Christian K-12 schools
The majority of private Christian schools in America have been growing in enrollment as conservative parents worried about COVID closures and worried about “moral and social issues,” according to a new national survey. “Post-pandemic, eight out of 10 Christian school…
Oklahoma elects secretary of education who wants to require training in ‘Christian’ version of American history
The man elected to lead Oklahoma public schools for the next four years believes the state’s teachers all need remedial education from a conservative evangelical school in Michigan in order to teach “true history” that favors “Judeo-Christian values.” Republican candidate…
Only one-fourth of Republican parents say children should be taught the legacy of slavery still affects Black people today — and other findings from a new Pew survey
Parent eruptions at local school board meetings over the past couple of years are based in real and dramatic differences of opinion about what should be taught in America’s public schools, according to new data from Pew Research. For example,…