Oklahoma House Bill 1775 (2021)

Oklahoma House Bill 1775 (2021) began as a bill to require schools to have emergency medical plans for athletic activities, but it was entirely rewritten by the Oklahoma Senate to instead be a bill to ban critical race theory.[1] The new version of the bill was authored by Representative Kevin West and Senator David Bullard.[2][3] After the bill was changed, the Oklahoma parliamentarian ruled the bill violated the rules of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, however the chamber voted to suspend the rules and pass the bill.[1] After irregularities in the first vote, the Oklahoma House had to pass the legislation by a second vote.[4] When the bill was sent to Governor Kevin Stitt, the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission called on him to veto the bill saying "“If this bill becomes law it will have serious implications on teaching the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in schools."[5] Stitt signed the legislation into law on May 5, 2021.[6] In May 2021 shortly after the signing the bill Governor Kevin Stitt was removed from the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission. Stitt called his inclusion in the commission “purely ceremonial” and accused the commission of sowing "division based on falsehoods and political rhetoric."[7]

In July 2021 the Oklahoma State Board of Education adopted the first set of rules to implement HB 1775. The rules called for a school district found in violation to be have their accreditation downgraded to “accredited with deficiency” and for an employee found in violation to have their teaching license suspended.[8] In June 2022, Tulsa Public Schools and Mustang Public Schools were found to be in violation of HB 1775 by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.[9] Tulsa was penalized for a slide during a professional development presentation on implicit bias presented only to teachers which said “because our culture has shifted from one predominantly designed around White, middle-class systems to one that is much more multi-cultural, we can no longer assume every child will respond to the same strategies.”[10][11] Mustang was penalized for lessons which asked students whether they had personal experience with discrimination.[12] In July 2022, both districts were found to violate HB 1775 and Tulsa Public Schools was marked as "accreditation with warning" meaning the district "fails to meet one or more of state standards and that deficiency seriously detracts from the quality of the school’s educational program."[13] Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters called for two teacher's licenses to be revoked for violating HB 1775 in January 2023.[14]

In October 2021, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma sued over the law, claiming it violated the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment.[15] Oklahoma responded in its filing that "there is no constitutional right to teach or learn about implicit bias or subconscious racism in public schools."[16] As of August 2023, Judge Charles Barnes Goodwin has made no ruling in the case.[17]

In October 2022, the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Tribes called on HB 1775 to be repealed. Cherokee Nation principal chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. released a statement saying "We should respect Oklahoma students enough to know they can handle the truth."[18] Later that month, the Osage Nation voted to call for the bill's repeal citing concerns the bill will suppress teaching of the Osage Indian murders.[19] In December 2022, the Tulsa World also endorsed the bill's repeal.[20] In January 2023, Representative Jacob Rosecrants introduced unsuccessful legislation to repeal HB 1775.[21]

HB 1775 has been criticized for having a chilling effect on education in Oklahoma.[22] After the bill's passage, a teacher in Dewey, Oklahoma cancelled their lesson plans involving the book Killers of the Flower Moon.[23] Some school districts removed books such as To Kill a Mockingbird, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and A Raisin in the Sun.[15] Osage Nation tribal councilor Eli Potts claimed schools had cancelled speaking engagements with David Grann over concern with the bill.[19]