Walters says diversity, equity, inclusion efforts are Marxist, calls for spending reports
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All Oklahoma public schools must report their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to the state, as top education leaders continue their opposition to these programs.
The Oklahoma State Board of Education unanimously voted Thursday to require every public school district in the state to submit a special report detailing all spending, materials, personnel and third-party contractors focused on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives this school year.
State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters called DEI “Marxist at its core.” He similarly required all public colleges and universities in Oklahoma to report their spending on these programs.
“It would be more accurate to call them divide, exclude and indoctrinate,” Walters said at Thursday’s board meeting.
Calls for more diversity and inclusion initiatives rang nationwide after the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests, although these programs long predate that period. Republican leaders across the country have since responded with heavy opposition to DEI, calling it divisive and contrary to American principles.
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Walters said these concepts are vehicles to teach “harmful ideologies” under the guise of promoting tolerance.
Districts have a preliminary deadline of June 9 and a final deadline of Sept. 1 to report the information. They must list all staff who spend at least 25% of their work time on these efforts and name all third-party vendors hired to provide DEI services.
DEI trains students to have the soft skills that businesses demand, said Rep. Melissa Provenzano, a Democratic lawmaker and former school administrator.
“Why our State Superintendent would display his lack of understanding of these basic workforce needs is hard to fathom,” Provenzano, D-Tulsa, said in a message to The Oklahoman. “These words are not scary. When applied, they help us work productively and professionally with people that may be different than us in some way. That’s it.”
DEI programs have not yet been banned in Oklahoma, but two school districts suffered penalties to their accreditation last year because of related activities.
The Oklahoma State Department of Education decided an implicit bias training for Tulsa Public Schools teachers “more likely than not” included comments that were inspired by concepts prohibited by House Bill 1775, a 2021 state law that banned certain race and gender concepts from schools.
State officials acknowledged Tulsa’s training didn’t include any statements HB 1775 outlaws, but the state Board of Education lowered the district’s accreditation anyway.
The training course had encouraged teachers to examine implicit racial biases and understand “how societal and systemic systems are biased against minority students,” state documents show.
Mustang Public Schools received the same punishment because a middle school student felt uncomfortable during a team-building activity. During the activity, students were asked whether they had ever experienced discrimination.
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Oklahoma colleges to spend $10.2 million on DEI programs
Gov. Kevin Stitt joined the chorus against DEI in his State of the State address this year.
“When we send our kids to college, we expect our tuition to pay for their education, not their indoctrination,” Stitt said in his February speech. “I want our universities to have less DEI officers and more career placement counselors.”
Oklahoma colleges and universities project $10.2 million in collective spending on DEI this academic year, according to a report from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
Of that total, $3.4 million would come from state funds.
The $10.2 million, most of which is paid from federal funding and some private donations, will cost only three-tenths of 1% of all higher education spending in the state, according to the report.
School districts also will have to specify how much state, federal and private dollars they put toward DEI.
University accreditation and federal laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, which public K-12 schools also are subject to, require Oklahoma colleges to have DEI initiatives.
The regents’ report shows state colleges use DEI funds to pay for inclusion training, to support and recruit students from underrepresented groups, to engage diverse speakers, to host multicultural events and to connect students with mentors.
“As you will see from the responses, diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at our college and university campuses are designed to facilitate student engagement and provide support services to students with varied backgrounds and needs,” Oklahoma’s higher education chancellor, Allison Garrett, wrote in a response letter to Walters.
Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel covers K-12 and higher education throughout the state of Oklahoma. Have a story idea for Nuria? She can be reached at nmartinez-keel@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @NuriaMKeel. Support Nuria’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: State orders all Oklahoma public schools to report diversity spending
