President Trump signed an Executive Order on March 20, 2025, to initiate the process of downsizing the Department of Education’s (DOE) functions, with the expressed purpose of returning education governance to the individual states. The Executive Order severely damaged the liberal policy pipeline of the major labor unions: the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The position of authority they held for forty-five years enabled them to set a liberal policy agenda for all of America’s public schools, which ultimately contributed to liberalizing America’s culture as a whole. With the dismantling of the DOE, the NEA and the AFT lost a key institutional partner through which they could advocate for their liberal national standard.

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America stands at the threshold of a reformation in public school policy. The liberal programs that inundate our children with anti-God and anti-American curriculum can be uprooted and removed from our public schools. A recent article by Newsweek praised red states for leading the way in education reform. Michael J. Petrilli, the president of Fordham Institute, also observed that red states tended to take the lead in education reform and outperformed blue states in leading their respective states in policy reform.

While states like Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee have made progress, A Superintendent of Public Education in Oklahoma, Ryan Walters, has taken an aggressive stand to implement policy reform since he took office in 2023. Often standing against strong opposition, Walters knows the opposition and persecution involved in implementing education reform, which will ultimately lead to cultural changes in America.

Listed below are twelve of the significant policy changes Walters made, or attempted to make, in Oklahoma’s public schools:

• Revised social studies standards that emphasize “American exceptionalism.”
• Provided an extracurricular curriculum to include the Bible as a historically relevant document. Stressing the use of the Bible by our Forefathers when writing our nation’s founding documents.
• Requesting teachers to have a hard copy of the Bible in their classrooms.
• Penalized districts if more than half of their students performed below a “basic” level on reading and math tests.
• Recently, Oklahoma Public Schools partnered with PRAGERU to create an “America First” certification test for teachers relocating from blue states. The test would put measures in place to ensure that teachers entering Oklahoma classrooms would reflect American Values as well as adhere to the state’s curriculum standards.
• PRAGERU historical videos are allowed for classroom viewing.
• Advocated for revoking the Teaching Certificate of any school employee found guilty of sexual misconduct with a student. The employee’s name would also be added to a national registry of teachers convicted of sexual misconduct, making future employment in a school difficult.
• Advocated for the revocation of a teacher’s Teaching Certificate if they are found guilty of sexual misconduct with a student.
• Banning DEI programs in all school districts in Oklahoma.
• Prohibiting schools from altering sex or gender designations on student records.
• Restricting students to use only bathrooms designated for their birth sex.
• Advocating for tax credits for a conservative online school.
• Mandatory free meals for all students.
• Presenting a new law that allowed students “release time” for religious instruction.
• When Oklahoma needed over 5000 extra teachers for the 2025-2026 school year, Walters worked with the legislature for hiring incentives to attract new teachers. Certified teachers received a $20,000 hiring bonus for the first year and an additional $5,000 if they stayed for the 2025-2026 school year.

Walters’ fight for policy changes has not been easy, but he has led the way for other states to follow. He knows that without new policies, reformation in our public schools and ultimately in our nation will not happen.

The Lord is moving in Oklahoma. Share your prayers for Him to move in your state below!

Nancy Huff is an educator with a mission to equip believers to pray strategically for the Cultural Mountain of Education. She has authored Taking the Mountain of Education: A Strategic Prayer Guide to Transform America’s Schools, Decrees for Your School, and Safety Zone: Scriptural Prayers to Transform Your School. She leads prayer groups to pray at key educational locations across the U.S. For additional information, go to: https://takingthemountainofeducation.com/author/nancyahuff/. Photo Credit: Ryan Walters/Facebook.