Lucy Devine
One US state will demand teachers take a 'MAGA loyalty test' if they are applying for jobs from two specific states.
Teachers from New York or California, who are applying for a teaching role in Oklahoma, will need to pass a test to prove they don't have 'radical leftist ideology'.
Ryan Walters, Oklahoma's public schools superintendent, has said that the test will be administered by PragerU - a non-profit organisation known for creating conservative content.
"As long as I am superintendent, Oklahoma classrooms will be safeguarded from the radical leftist ideology fostered in places like California and New York," Walters said in a statement.
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Meanwhile, in an interview with USA Today, he said that the test will be introduced soon, adding on X that the exam would be a way of educating kids 'without liberal indoctrination'.
"These reforms will reset our classrooms back to educating our children without liberal indoctrination," Walters wrote on X.
"We’re proud to defend these standards, and we will continue to stand up for honest, pro-America education in every classroom."
According to The Associated Press, who have reportedly seen the first five questions, the exam asks applicants to list the first three words of the US Constitution and to explain why freedom of religion is 'important to America's identity'.
USA Today claim that other questions on the test include:
The American Federation of Teachers' President Randi Weingarten has criticised the test - and Walters - explaining: "This MAGA loyalty test will be yet another turnoff for teachers in a state already struggling with a huge shortage."
Meanwhile, John Waldron, who is the Oklahoma Democratic Party chairman, explained that if he had to take the test when he moved from Washington DC to teach in 1999, he would have believed that Oklahoma 'wasn’t serious about attracting quality teachers'.
“Teachers are not rushing here from other states to teach. We’ve got an enormous teacher shortage and it’s not like we have a giant supply of teachers coming in from blue states anyway,” he said.
UNILAD has reached out to PragerU and the White House for comment.