Oklahoma adds 2020 election lies to high school curriculum, expanding right-wing revisionism trend

State Superintendent Ryan Walters of Oklahoma tosses out "Make America Great Again" ball caps at a rally on Nov. 1, 2022, in Oklahoma City. His campaign platform focused on fighting "woke ideology" in public schools and claimed "radical leftists" were indoctrinating children in classrooms across the state. | AP/Sue Ogrocki

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.—In a move that has alarmed educators and civil rights advocates alike, Oklahoma has approved new educational standards allowing teachers to present widely debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 U.S. presidential election as part of the high school curriculum. Under the guidance of State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the revisions signal a further shift in public education toward partisan reinterpretation of recent political history.

The new framework encourages instructors to introduce the idea that the 2020 election was compromised by widespread fraud, claims that have been repeatedly disproven by federal courts and even officials from the Trump administration. Nevertheless, these falsehoods are being rebranded as “alternative viewpoints” and given space in classroom instruction.

Oklahoma is the latest in a wave of red states, states that predominantly vote for or support the Republican Party, reshaping school curricula to reflect a conservative ideological agenda. These changes are often informed by organizations like the Heritage Foundation, which advocate for a “patriotic education” model that downplays systemic inequality and elevates American exceptionalism.

States where the curriculum is being politicized:

• Florida: Recent history standards include language that enslaved people “developed skills” that “could be applied for their personal benefit”—a claim that sparked backlash from scholars and civil rights groups.
• Texas: Proposed textbook changes aimed to describe slavery as “involuntary relocation” and minimize references to racism in American history.
• South Dakota: Guidelines crafted under Governor Kristi Noem removed references to Native American genocide and labor history.
• North Carolina: Proposed social studies revisions would downplay Jim Crow laws and rewrite civil rights milestones to focus on “American unity.”

This wave of educational revisionism is part of a broader campaign that extends well beyond the classroom. Since 2021, dozens of states have passed laws restricting how teachers can discuss race, gender, and American history. In many cases, the same political operatives pushing these laws are also behind coordinated efforts to inject curricula with nationalist and religious ideologies.

The Heritage Foundation’s “Education Freedom Report Card” has become a blueprint for these changes. In it, states are rated higher if they restrict instruction on racial justice, promote school vouchers, and limit teachers’ unions. Critics argue this model promotes a sanitized, ideologically rigid version of history that erases the struggles of working people, people of color, and other marginalized groups.

Oklahoma’s curriculum changes go a step further than previous cases by targeting not just historical interpretation, but real-time political disinformation. Adding baseless election fraud conspiracy theories to a state-approved curriculum, observers warn, undermines civic literacy and risks sowing even more distrust in democratic institutions among the next generation of voters.

“This isn’t about differing historical perspectives—it’s about embedding falsehoods into public education,” said Dr. Raymond Dawson, a professor of history education at the University of Tulsa. “We’re no longer talking about how the past is taught. We’re talking about rewriting the present.”

Organizations like the Zinn Education Project and local teacher unions have begun mobilizing against these curriculum overhauls, offering alternative lesson plans and legal challenges where possible. But they face an uphill battle. State departments of education often have wide latitude in determining what students are taught, and in many red states, the trend is moving swiftly in one direction.

What’s happening in Oklahoma today may soon surface elsewhere tomorrow. As the culture war over American history heats up, the classroom has become its most strategic—and contested—front line.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Joseph Coleman

Joseph Coleman is a historian, educator, and proud union rep. He earned a B.A. In Philosophy and an M.A. in History.  He writes about the weaponization of history, historical amnesia, public schools under siege, and empire in decline.