OK Anti-Woke Teachers Test From Prager U Is Impossible To Fail

The Ryan Walters saga of stupid continues. Walters is the Superintendent of Oklahoma, where he oversees a state education system that ranks near the bottom among states, while also carving out time to lick Donald Trump’s boots as thoroughly as possible. Between naked attempts to sell the Trump bible in state schools and attempting to make Trump’s favorite election conspiracy theories part of the state’s curriculum, you would think that he would be in MAGA’s good graces. Unfortunately, due to his own verbal missteps and a strange occurrence of mild porn showing up on a TV screen in a school board meeting, the administration has been giving him the cold shoulder as of late.

Perhaps as part of a plan to get back in MAGA’s good graces, Walters also announced that transplant teachers from “woke” states like New York and California would be forced to take an “anti-woke” teaching exam before being granted a teacher’s license. This supposed exam was to be developed by Prager U, itself a propaganda outfit run by Dennis Prager.

Here’s how Walters described the test back when we first wrote about it.

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s superintendent for public instruction, told CNN that if applicants do not pass the test, they will not earn a teaching certificate to be able to teach in public schools in the state this school year, which begins for some Oklahoma districts on Monday. The superintendent’s office notified CNN on Friday that it had not yet been released as of noon, but that it was coming soon.

So, if you don’t pass the test, you don’t get a teacher’s license. I asked at the time what was to keep so-called nefarious, woke-minded, uber-communists from the Soviet states of New York and California from simply, you know, lying on the tests?

Well, it turns out I was overthinking it even by wondering that out loud. It turns out that the test is one in which failure is impossible.

First reported by Quorum Call’s Shawn Ashley, the 34-question test is available on the state department’s website. StateImpact took the test and confirmed it is impossible to fail. If test-takers respond incorrectly, they’re prompted to try again until they land on the correct answer. The test includes several questions on biological sex and transgender rights, as well as others on civics and U.S. history.

At the end, test-takers are presented with a certificate affirming the “demonstrated understanding of foundational civic knowledge and commitment to traditional American values, in alignment with the educational principles upheld by the State of Oklahoma.”

And so the open question is that what is the point of this test, other than more performative ego-fondling of the Trump administration? A test you can’t fail certainly isn’t “weeding out” all of these woke transplants looking to move to Oklahoma from the coasts. A test that let’s you keep answering the question until you get it “right” is less about withholding teacher’s licenses and more about the compulsory affirmation of Walters’ personal beliefs before the license is granted. So what are we even doing here?

Asked if a test that’s impossible to fail is effective at achieving this goal, Walters’ office did not respond.

“Sorry, that is not right. Try again.” This isn’t WarGames. Not playing is not an answer.