Oklahoma Dept. of Education announces partnership with PragerU

The State of Oklahoma has officially accepted the conservative media group PragerU as an educational resource, the organization announced on Wednesday.

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters noted his excitement for the partnership and stated that "this expansion of our available resources will help ensure high-quality materials rich in American history and values will be available to our teachers and students. We will work together to find ways for PragerU to create content that will enrich the education of Oklahoma students.”

"PragerU Kids" officially has content as part of the state's Social Studies curriculum since the partnership, though the organization stresses that the resources provided are not mandatory for teachers to use.

Why is there controversy?

Decisions to include PragerU content in school curriculums have been met with much controversy because the organization is known to be partisan and only promotes conservative viewpoints on various political, economic, and sociological topics, and therefore is met with much opposition from students, parents, and teachers that don't agree with the content being taught.

"Many more American students will now have the opportunity to learn from PragerU’s wholesome, patriotic, and age-appropriate content," the organization said.

The conservative organization previously announced that Florida is the first state to approve its "curriculum," long before Oklahoma, according to a report by the Miami New Times. Another controversy about the organization is that PragerU is not an accredited academic institution nor hands out degrees, the Times say.

70 thousand parents have signed a petition to allow PragerU to be taught in schools across the country, the organization said.