Amid an ongoing teacher shortage, Oklahoma announced plans for a new test to screen teachers from states considered “woke.”
The state education department announced Wednesday that it is partnering with the conservative media company PragerU to develop a new certification test for teachers relocating to Oklahoma from states with “a history of promoting anti-American narratives.”
While Oklahoma has reciprocal certification agreements with all 50 states and the District of Columbia, teachers from so-called “woke” states would also have to pass a new test of their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, American exceptionalism, and “their grasp of fundamental biological differences between boys and girls.”
“We’re sending a clear message: Oklahoma’s schools will not be a haven for woke agendas pushed in places like California and New York,” said state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters in a statement, adding the state is dedicated to “raising a generation of patriots, not activists.”
A majority of states require additional subject matter licensure tests from out-of-state teachers, but Walters said Oklahoma’s requirement is the first of its kind in the country.
Heather Peske, the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington-based research and advocacy group, said regardless of teachers’ subject-matter knowledge, such a test “could be a deterrent for some teachers moving to Oklahoma who don’t want to get embroiled in politics.”
The details of the assessment requirements are so far uncertain
The state education agency provided Education Week no additional details on how states other than California and New York would be chosen to fall under the new requirements, beyond those that have “progressive education policies” or “radical Leftist ideology.” Nor did the department clarify whether Oklahoma students who attend teacher-preparation programs in affected states or students from affected states who attend Oklahoma teaching programs would fall under the new requirement.
The state is finalizing the new assessment with PragerU in the next few weeks, and in a statement to Education Week, Walters said it would be in place by the start of the 2025-26 school year. However, the department did not clarify whether out-of-state educators hired to teach in the 2025-26 school year will have to pass the new requirement before starting this fall.
If so, that may prove a hurdle for the state’s recent efforts to draw in out-of-state teachers.
Already, the state struggles with its teachers crossing the border into New Mexico, Colorado, or Texas, where they can typically make more money. The average teacher salary in Oklahoma is $61,686, according to a 2025 National Education Association estimate.
Oklahoma did not provide details of how many teachers from New York or California have sought to relocate to the state, but as of 2025, New York teachers made on average more than $98,000 and California teachers’ pay topped $100,000.
Teacher workforce studies in 2021 and 2024 found that recruitment and retention continues to be a problem for the state, particularly in rural districts and priority subjects like STEM and special education. The Sooner State relies heavily on emergency certified teachers who have no formal training to fill in the gaps.
Citing “persistent shortages” in special education and secondary science and math, Oklahoma has since the 2023-24 school year offered multiple rounds of signing and retention bonuses—some for as much as $50,000—for certified teachers who commit to teach in Oklahoma public schools, as long as they have not taught in any Oklahoma public schools the prior school year. The education agency caught flak from the state legislature for a botched implementation of the bonuses in 2023.
The new certification test comes on the heels of the state’s transition this June from the portfolio-based Praxis Performance Assessment for Teachers to a new state-developed multiple-choice and constructed-response Assessment of Professional Knowledge for all grade levels and subject areas.
However, Oklahoma does not require elementary teacher candidates to pass separate math or reading licensure tests. NCTQ’s most recent state policy reports rated the state’s optional subject-matter assessments as “acceptable” or “weak.”
“Strong licensure tests are critical guardrails ensuring teachers have the knowledge to be effective,” Peske said, but recommended the state focus on improving reading and math licensure tests generally instead of introducing an assessment for teachers from specific states.
