When I think I’ve seen the worst that Oklahoma State Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters will attempt to do to Oklahoma schools, he manages to surprise me.
Now he announces a partnership with PragerU “to develop an assessment for teachers relocating from states with progressive education policies, such as California and New York, seeking certification to teach in Oklahoma schools” (“Oklahoma partners with PragerU to vet Teachers from ‘woke’ states with America First Assessment,” Durant Weekly Democrat, July 25, 2025).
Walters’ announcement of the new assessment says that it is developed in collaboration with PragerU. Contrary to what its name suggests, PragerU is not a university, or even an accredited educational institution of any kind.
So what is it? PragerU denies on its own website, www.prageru.com, that it’s a university: “No, PragerU is proudly not an accredited university, nor do we claim to be. We do not offer degrees, but we do provide educational, entertaining, pro-American videos for every age. To learn more about PragerU, visit our About Us page.”
I must disagree with the statement that PragerU doesn’t claim to be a university. The fact that it’s called PragerU is clearly such a claim.
PragerU is, in fact, a media organization that disseminates rightwing propaganda. Its website lists numerous 5-minute videos that present a conservative version of history and of issues. Most videos apparently are in cartoon form to appeal to children.
I have watched several of the videos myself, as anyone can. They are available for free at the www. prageru.com website.
As one example of their content, videos about the discovery of North America by Europeans, such as one titled “Celebrating Christopher Columbus,” defend the explorer’s enslaving of native peoples he encountered on this continent by noting that, in Columbus’ day, slavery was common throughout the world.
As if the defense that “everybody did it then” should make that cruel practice acceptable.
PragerU’s website now features a video titled “Parent Alert: Okla- homa Teachers Now Required to Watch Prager U?” with a live speaker: Dr. Jill Simonian, who co-created PragerU along with Dennis Prager, a conservative talk-show host.
I was curious about the academic credentials that both Simonian and Prager have, so I read biographies of both on the organization’s website. Simonian’s says that she graduated cum laude from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and a “professional resume in musical theater.” Prager’s claims he holds undergraduate degrees from Swarthmore and Harvard Colleges, a master’s degree in theology from Harvard University and doctorates from Harvard Law School and Oxford University.
I could not independently verify details of Simonian’s background, but a Google search on Dennis Prager gave very different details of his background: “Dennis Prager did not graduate from Harvard College,” it points out, and goes on to say that he earned a B.A. from Brooklyn College in anthropology and history, then was a fellow at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs for two years, also taking courses at University of Leeds during that time, but didn’t complete his master’s degree. The only doctorate he holds is an honorary Doctor of Laws from Pepperdine University.
Not an academic history to sneeze at, but far from what the website claims.
Simonian’s video attacks those who criticize Walters’ decision to partner with PragerU, in making sure that teachers moving from states such as California and New York, which he calls “woke” states, will comply with his ideas about what they should think and teach.
She takes issue with the idea, stated in the press release from Walters’ office that was published in the Durant Democrat article, that PragerU will partner with Oklahoma on an America First Assessment.
“We are not evaluating teachers,” Simonian says, “and we don’t do assessments of them. Applicants moving from out of state will just be required to have a basic knowledge of the Constitution, for one thing.”
But trying to control what any teacher can think and say is a clear violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Walters and PragerU don’t seem to even see that clear contradiction.
Oklahoma lawmakers need to hear from citizens about Walters’ latest ploy to insert his own ideology into Oklahoma schools. Phone numbers to call are: U.S. Senator James Lankford, 202-224-5754; U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin, 202-224-4721; U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen, 202-225-2701; State Senator David Bullard, 405-521-5586; and State Representative for District 21 Cody Maynard, 405-557-7366.
Speak up, Oklahomans. It’s your children whom Walters wants to indoctrinate.