
Oklahoma to Roll Out 'America First' Test for New Teachers
"One of the things that we wanted to do is, first of all, make sure that they're great teachers, right? And No. 2, make sure we're not getting these woke, indoctrinating social justice warriors in the classroom," the state's Superintendent Ryan Walters said in an interview with Fox Digital.
Walters said that every teacher moving to work in Oklahoma must pass the test in order to begin teaching, and that Conservative think-tank PragerU will assist in the development of the test.
'We put the Bible back in our history standards," Walters said, adding that the 'America First' test would include questions based on American history and 'common sense.'
Walters said the teaching of gender identity in other states was one motivation for the test, which will roll out in time for the upcoming school year. 'We started seeing states like California, New York, Maine as well, that are putting out directives… saying 'In this state you've got to teach your 27 genders',' he said.
California state law requires students to be taught about 'gender, gender expression, gender identity, and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes… schools must teach about all sexual orientations and what being LGBTQ means,' the state's Department of Education says.
None of the Education Departments in California, New York, and Maine make reference to teaching students about 27 genders.
Maine has pushed back against President Donald Trump's directive to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports.
At the start of his second term in office, Trump issued an executive order saying that there are only two recognized genders.
'We love President Trump in Oklahoma,' Walters said, adding that the MAGA agenda is 'saving education.'
Walter also claimed teachers coming into Oklahoma were "fleeing the teachers unions, the grip that they've had on them in these blue states.'
In 2023, Walters announced a maximum $50,000 bonus for teachers moving to the state with more than 5 years of experience, and for those in the top ten percentile in the United States. Smaller bonuses were offered depending on length of experience and what districts teachers had previously worked in.
A spokesperson for PragerU said: 'We fully understand why superintendents of education, like Ryan Walters, feel compelled to protect their students from the extreme left-wing ideologies being promoted in schools through teachers who often do not even realize the damage caused.'
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New York Post
40 minutes ago
- New York Post
Legal group accuses Rutgers U. of discrimination against white students
A legal advocacy group has accused New Jersey's flagship public university — Rutgers — of discrimination for excluding white students from scholarship programs that recruit African-American, Native American and Hispanic students. The Equal Protection Project filed a civil rights complaint against Rutgers University with the US Department of Education, claiming the scholarship programs violate federal anti-discrimination laws and are unconstitutional. 5 The Equal Protection Project filed a civil rights complaint against Rutgers University with the US Department of Education. RICHARD HARBUS 'What doesn't Rutgers understand about non-discrimination? Discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin is barred under federal law, state law, and even under Rutgers' own rules. At the Equal Protection Project, we are calling on Rutgers to live up to its own set of rules — that shouldn't be controversial,' said William Jacobson, a Cornell University law professor and founder of the Equal Protection Project. 'Where were the administrators and staff whose jobs supposedly are devoted to preventing discrimination? Why was there no intervention to uphold the legally required equal access to education?' 5 'At the Equal Protection Project, we are calling on Rutgers to live up to its own set of rules — that shouldn't be controversial,' said William Jacobson. The group's Aug. 1 complaint filed with the Education Department accuses four different Rutgers programs of discrimination by excluding white students, a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Law of 1964, as well as the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. The Albert W. Dent Graduate Student Scholarship is designated for minority students enrolled in their final year of a healthcare management graduate program. The GEM Fellowship Program provides both financial support and internship opportunities to highly qualified, underrepresented students who wish to pursue graduate study in engineering or science. 5 The group's Aug. 1 complaint filed with the Education Department accuses four different Rutgers programs of discrimination by excluding white students. Robert Kalfus The National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering scholarships are for under-represented students identified as 'African American, American Indian, or Latino and/or first generation.' Lastly, General Motors offers an endowed scholarship at Rutgers for GM workers or their spouses and children and students of 'underrepresented minorities.' According to the complaint, Rutgers considers 'minorities' to be those who 'designate themselves as Black, non-Hispanic; American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, or Hispanic.' Educational institutions that receive federal funding must comply with laws against discrimination. The US Education Department monitors compliance and investigates complaints. 5 Rutgers, in a statement on Sunday, said it will review the complaint but indicated that it has already scrapped two of the programs. RICHARD HARBUS President Trump also issued an executive order directing federal agencies to scrap funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Rutgers, in a statement on Sunday, said it will review the complaint but indicated that it has already scrapped two of the programs. 'Rutgers University remains firmly committed to equal protections afforded under law and rejects discrimination in all its forms. The university will closely review the complaint, but based on preliminary information, two of the scholarships are not administered by the university and the remaining two are no longer being awarded,' the university said in a statement. 5 The group has challenged over 100 colleges and universities for 500 alleged discriminatory scholarships and programs. Robert Kalfus 'As a best practice, the university continuously reviews its websites, programs, and practices to ensure compliance with federal and state law.' The Equal Protection Project asked in the complaint that 'the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights promptly open a formal investigation, impose such remedial relief as the law permits for the benefit of those who have been illegally excluded from Rutgers' various scholarships based on discriminatory criteria, and ensure that all ongoing and future scholarships and programming at Rutgers comports with the Constitution and federal civil rights laws.' The department has taken action against Columbia University and the City University of New York for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students from discrimination, leading to settlements. The legal advocacy group has filed similar discrimination complaints or lawsuits against the New York State Education Department; State University of New York campuses including SUNY-Albany and SUNY-Buffalo Law; and Fordham University and Alfred University. The group has challenged over 100 colleges and universities for 500 alleged discriminatory scholarships and programs. 'Unfortunately, there is a culture on many campuses that excuses racial discrimination against white students. Racial discrimination in education is wrong and unlawful, no matter who benefits or who is harmed.' Jacobson said. The US Education Department had no immediate comment.


Buzz Feed
3 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Toxic American Behaviors That Are "Glorified"
As we all know, Americans do A LOT of weird stuff. While some of it might seem harmless, there are many toxic ideas and behaviors that have become popularized and in some cases, even glorified in the US... That's why when Redditor u/imwith2 asked, "What's something we glorify in American culture that's actually extremely toxic?" thousands of both Americans and non-Americans shared the most bizarre things that have been normalized in the US. Without further ado, here are 17 of their most enlightening examples: "Absurd and excessive consumerism that only serves to represent status." "The notion that everyone's opinion is equally valid." "Perfect attendance, at work or school. Please stay home if you're sick." "At least in the South: Big, intimidating, and expensive weddings. It hurts everyone when something is that expensive, including the people traveling. They have to pay for their hotel bookings, dry cleaning, dog sitters, etc. Just make weddings chill." "Instant gratification. Not many people actually wait and save up for things anymore; instead, they buy on credit and ultimately wind up paying far more in the long run." "Individualism: We have gotten so individualistic that our communities have almost completely fallen apart. Millions of Americans are hostile to the very idea that they even need to get along with others." "Treating political leaders like gods." "Being positive at all times." "Gun ownership culture: I was raised as a hunter and was on the rifle team in college; however, gun culture is out of hand, including the glorification of firearms in movies and media." "Hustle culture: People are more important than money. A person doing an honest day's work should earn enough to have access to a decent life and there should be no need for side hustles, aka second or third jobs." "High school and college athletics: It's extremely toxic that 26 percent of high schoolers' parents want their children to become professional athletes one day, and some greater percent of kids push themselves to play three seasons." "Celebrity obsession.'" "Competition: A little competition is good, fun, and aids productivity. But we Americans take it way too far." "Being prudes about nudity/human bodies." "Cars/car-centric life: You have toxic fumes from the engines, toxic debris from the tires and brakes, and toxic fluids leaking everywhere, as well as the vast amount of concrete and pollution that is associated. All of these issues are known to affect the health of humans nearby. When we got rid of lead in gas, the population at large became less violent." "The obsession with group identity: Democrat, Giants fan, blue collar, college-educated, Christian, etc." "'The American dream.'" Did any of these examples surprise you? What are some other toxic aspects of American culture that have been glorified? Tell us about it in the comments or answer anonymously using the form below!


New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Tulsi Gabbard explains why Russia must have thought Hillary Clinton win was ‘inevitable'
The Russians privately felt it was 'inevitable' that Hillary Clinton would triumph in the 2016 election, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Miranda Devine's 'Pod Force One' podcast. Despite widespread narratives that Russia was in President Trump's corner, Moscow's objective was to sow chaos in the American political process and brace itself for a Clinton presidency, Gabbard claimed, citing the trove of intelligence documents her team has released. 'It surprised me that all of these documents still existed, quite frankly,' Gabbard said in an episode set for release Wednesday. 'As we've learned in later documents that we've reviewed throughout that campaign, Russia believed that Hillary Clinton would win the election. Advertisement 'They felt it was inevitable.' Last month, Gabbard's team began disclosing a trove of documents that gave a behind-the-scenes look at the intelligence community's machinations during the 2016 election cycle regarding the probe of Russian interference. 4 Tulsi Gabbard accused the Obama administration of mounting a campaign to subvert President Trump. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post Advertisement 4 Hillary Clinton once implied that Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian asset. Getty Images This included a House Intelligence Committee report from 2020 that claimed the Russians may have had intelligence that Clinton was 'placed on a daily regimen of 'heavy tranquilizers' and while afraid of losing.' That was supposedly due to her alleged 'psycho-emotional problems, including uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression, and cheerfulness.' Gabbard pondered why that supposed Russian intelligence wasn't leaked to the public if Moscow's chief objective was to prop up Trump and undermine Clinton. Advertisement 'If Russia aspired to help Trump get elected, which is what the manufactured January 2017 intelligence community assessment says with high confidence, according to Brennan and Clapper, then Putin would have released the most damaging information and emails to help President Trump,' she said. 'It was intentionally withheld and not released because they assumed that Hillary Clinton would win that election, and their plan,' Gabbard added, citing the 2020 House Intelligence Committee report, '[was to] wait until maybe days or weeks before her inauguration to release these documents.' The Russians were widely alleged by US officials to have hacked Democratic National Committee emails during he 2016 campaign. 4 Narratives about Russian interferences in the 2016 election haunted President Trump during his first term. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement The 2020 House Intelligence Committee report had concluded that Russian strongman Vladimir Putin's 'principal motivations in these operations were to undermine faith in the US democratic process' and that he didn't necessarily prioritize propping up one candidate over the other. 'The American people, I think, have been, and our republic, has been most harmed by this,' Gabbard said of the Russia collusion narrative. 'Of course, President Trump went through hell and his family because of this Russia hoax that was manufactured by President Obama and his administration.' Critics such as former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper accused Gabbard of peddling 'patently false' accusations about their Russiagate activities. Much of what Gabbard has released centered around rebuffing a 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA), which concluded among other things that 'the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.' Brennan, Clapper and others have pointed to a 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report, which noted the panel 'heard consistently that analysts were under no politically motivated pressure to reach specific conclusions.' Clapper and Brennan recenty penned an op-ed insisting that the intelligence community report never referenced 'collusion' between Trump and the Russian government, and stood by their claims that the Kremlin prefered him in the 2016 election. Tulsi Gabbard's Russiagate claims Tulsi Gabbard's claims of election interference focus on the controversial 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, which President Barack Obama ordered his intel chiefs to compile. The report fueled the Russiagate investigations against President Trump. Gabbard alleges it amounted to a political hit job, claiming Obama officials knowingly used shaky intel and then lied about it. Gabbard's new claims are based on a 2020 House Intelligence Committee report, which she has publicly released. Its findings differ in some key ways from both the Obama report and a previously released Senate Intelligence Committee report. Democrats, however, point to the Senate report, which was backed by then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — now Trump's secretary of state. That supports some of the findings of the Obama report. Here are the biggest points — and what the dueling intel reports say: The Steele dossier The House report contradicts the claims of Obama officials that they never relied on the discredited Steele dossier — which was compiled by Hillary Clinton's campaign — as part of the Russiagate investigation. In a 2017 House hearing, Obama CIA Director John Brennan denied that his agency used the Steele dossier for intelligence assessments. However, the full Steele dossier was still included as an attachment to the Obama intel report, the newly public House report found. Additionally, according to the House report, Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe pushed to use the Steele dossier for the Obama intel report. Senior intel officials also confronted Brennan about the legitimacy of the Steele dossier, the House report said, but he shrugged it off. Brennan's response was reportedly, 'Yes, but doesn't it ring true?' The Senate investigation found that the Steele dossier was not used as part of the Obama intel report. Obama's involvement Gabbard claimed Wednesday that Obama ordered the creation of the 2017 intel report and suggested it 'was subject to unusual directives directly from the president and senior political appointees.' She added: 'Obama directed an intelligence community assessment to be created, to further this contrived false narrative that ultimately led to a year-long coup to try to undermine President Trump's presidency.' The 2020 Senate intel report confirmed that Obama ordered the report to be drafted, but did not comment on the political motivations. Obama said that 'the bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.' Did Putin want Trump to win? The Obama report said that 'Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability' and that Putin had a 'clear preference for President-elect Trump.' But the House report contradicted this, saying that Putin's 'principal motivations in these operations were to undermine faith in the US democratic process.' The Russian strongman also seemed to expect Clinton to win, and held back on 'some compromising material for post-election use against the expected Clinton administration.' The Senate report said lawmakers were given 'specific intelligence reporting to support the assessment that Putin and the Russian Government demonstrated a preference for candidate Trump.' Did Russia alter the 2016 election? To buttress her claims that the Obama intel report was political interference, she highlighted the findings of multiple intelligence agencies that Russia 'had neither the intent nor capability to impact the outcome of the US election.' On this, all three reports are in agreement. Gabbard pointed to how Obama ordered the 2017 ICA of Russian interference in the 2016 election and his administration's machinations detailed in the document dump to accuse the 44th president of subversion. Advertisement 'What we now know came from President Obama was a covert mission, essentially, to subvert the will of the American people, create this lie that would challenge the legitimacy of President Trump's election and the four years of his administration, resulting and affecting in what was truly a years' long coup,' Gabbard said. Reps from Obama have refuted those characterizations, saying that the 'bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.' 'Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes,' Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said in a statement last month. 4 Tulsi Gabbard has drawn President Trump's attention with the document dump on Russiagate. REUTERS Advertisement Gabbard made referrals to the Justice Department based on her findings, and the DOJ has since formed a 'strike force' to comb through the claims.