Oklahoma parents are trying to turn the tables on conservatives so they can opt their children out of what they call right-wing “propaganda” in schools.  

Oklahoma approved new academic standards for the state earlier this month, pushed by the state superintendent, Ryan Walters, that require students to “identify discrepancies” in the 2020 election. Mr. Walters has also been pushing to infuse Christian themes and messaging in public schools and last year mandated that public schools include the Bible “as an instructional support into the curriculum.” Mr. Walters says he is trying to stop “woke indoctrination” in public schools. 

Now, parents in Oklahoma are trying to use the state’s parental rights laws — which were passed by Republicans to take on what they view as “woke” lesson materials — to opt their children out of what they view as conservative propaganda in schools.

The group behind the effort, We’re Oklahoma Education, which goes by the acronym WOKE, created a form for parents to submit to schools to try to get their children out of lessons about the 2020 election.

The form includes a series of lessons and parents can place checkmarks next to those they do not want their children to participate in, such as lessons involving the 2020 election or material from PragerU or Hillsdale College. Another box offers parents the option to ask for their children to be excluded from “any interaction with State Superintendent Ryan Walters in any capacity, including viewing any video or audio recording of Mr. Walters.”

Other lessons that parents can request their children avoid include those that would require that they “identify and explain the meaning of the United States’ official motto, ‘In God we trust,’” or identify stories from Christianity or Judaism that influenced the Founders. 

Oklahoma’s law states that parents have the “right to direct the upbringing” and the “moral or religious training” of their children. The law also gives parents the ability to withdraw their children from receiving certain learning materials for moral or religious reasons. 

In recent years, conservatives have been pushing to prevent schools from teaching so-called gender ideology or to allow parents to opt their children out of such lessons. Critics of the opt-out push have said that the idea could be a double-edged sword and that in order for them to stand up to scrutiny, such laws and policies would have to let parents opt their children out of conservative lessons.

The director of WOKE, Erica Watkins, told the Oklahoma Voice that the group has 200 volunteers, most of whom are parents who are displeased with the “ideologically charged” content being pushed by Mr. Walters. 

“If you believe parents know best, then that applies to all parents,” Ms. Watkins said. “And so that’s why we went ahead and used the channels that they put in place to push back against some of their more indoctrinating things that they’re putting into our schools.”

In a statement about the push to opt students out of lessons involving the Bible, Mr Walters said, “We want parents to have control of their child’s education. If they choose to opt their child out of certain lesson plans, then the child won’t take part in that lesson plan. If the parent wishes their child take part in certain lesson plans, then the child will take part in those lesson plans.”

However, he said it is not “appropriate for an outside, Left-wing organization to interfere in this process.” He added, “This non-profit who is self-described as a ‘Woke MOB’ would prefer Oklahoma students be indoctrinated with a Left-wing, radicalized ideology in the classroom.”

Mr. Walters said that the decision to opt children out of lessons is “between the parents and the school” and “not an outside, politically motivated organization.”