EXCLUSIVE: Oklahoma’s 2025 school-year curriculum will look markedly different after major adjustments are made to eschew "woke garbage" while making sure students learn all aspects of complex figures like Thomas Jefferson and Donald Trump, and issues like the BLM and Capitol riots.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said Wednesday his state is "taking the lead" on a "direct rejection" of politicizing influences on the curriculum like teachers' unions and activist educators.

"What we are not going to allow is these radical teachers' unions to push lies in the classroom. That's not how we're going to teach."

Walters said school curricula are set every six years, and that he plans to hold schools accountable by withholding accreditation from any institutions that don’t follow suit.

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He suggested the new rules are an extension of Oklahoma’s previous push to return the Bible to the classroom as an "important historical document" that shaped America’s founding – in that it is important to similarly give students a fuller perspective on landmark events and figures throughout the rest of U.S. history.

"We are driving out this woke indoctrination and woke nonsense that has been injected into the classroom by undermining Republican presidents and American exceptionalism," he said.

"So our kids are going to know America is a great country. They're not going to be taught to hate this country. They're going to be taught to love this country and a patriotism to come from the principles that our country was founded in our history."

Giving the example of former President Ronald Reagan in the last generation’s education, and how some curricula focused more on shortcomings during Iran-Contra and Col. Oliver North's hearings, Walters said he will not tolerate educators "maligning" President-elect Trump in the same way.

"You're not going to come in and teach President Trump wanted an insurrection on Jan. 6 [2021]. We're not going to allow it. We will be crystal clear on what President Trump's victories were in the White House," he said.

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Similarly, the new curriculum will take a broader look at Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and the repercussions of coronavirus lockdowns.

He cited a recent clip he saw of a student stating that the only thing they knew about Thomas Jefferson was that he was a slaveholder, and did not know he was a president or the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.

"And so we will drive these lies out of the classrooms and get back to an understanding of American greatness throughout our history," he said, noting that Oklahoma will teach "the good with the bad."

Walters was asked how the curriculum would teach COVID-19 lockdown history, given how states like Pennsylvania, New York and Hawaii were confident their zero-tolerance edicts were the right response, just as much as Florida believed its less restrictive response was right.

"I don't care to appease the left or make them happy. We're going to teach facts. We're going to stick to accurate history here. And they can be offended by that," Walters said.

"It is not debatable. Rights were taken from individuals during COVID. That's not debatable. It's also not debatable that lockdowns hurt kids. Lockdowns hurt families and businesses," he said, adding that current curriculum often glosses over that argument and offers only a more proverbially-northeastern view of the COVID years.

"We are ultimately going to let [students] come to their own conclusions," Walters said of the curriculum writ-large.

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U.S. history is strewn with successes and failures on all sides, he said, adding that the most responsible way to prepare the next generation to lead the country is to instill in them the widest view of its history and law possible.

"The left wants to browbeat kids into believing to hate their country, while conservatives, we just want history taught, and show that America is the greatest country in the history of the world."

"It will show you what policies work, what policies don't work. A kid should come to their own conclusions. That’s why every state has to look at their [civics curriculum] standards."

Fox News Digital also reached out to union leader Randi Weingarten via the AFT for comment on the general tenor of partially blaming teachers unions for purportedly slanted curricula.

Oklahoma will consider a new measure to make the role of school district superintendent an elected position in response to a spate of controversial situations involving scholastic leaders, Fox News Digital has learned.

There have been allegations and news reports about several issues: the refusal to remove "pornographic books" from school libraries, the dismissal of a teacher for failure to comply with a COVID-19 face mask mandate, and media coverage of "nothing [being] done" in response to reports a school football coach was bragging about sexual conquests with parents.

In 2021, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt called firings of mask-averse teachers "preposterous" and said their talents are needed more than ever.

"This is about a school district not following state law — this isn’t a debate about masks," he said, after the Oklahoma City district reportedly fired multiple educators, adding the state previously banned such firings.

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In February, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Schools Ryan Walters — who is an elected official himself — threatened to lower the accreditation of Edmond, Oklahoma, schools if it didn’t remove the books "The Glass Castle" and "Kite Runner" from its high school libraries.

Walters called the inaction "subversion of accountability," though Edmond’s superintendent said the state lacked authority to remove the books based on a 1997 district policy.

In another case, in Edmond, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz from neighboring Texas, among others, blasted videos showing a portion of a school fundraiser wherein students were licking each other's toes. 

In a public statement, school officials appeared to celebrate the event:

"This afternoon, Deer Creek High School announced a grand total of $152,830.38 raised for Not Your Average Joe Coffee, an organization created to 'inspire our community by including students and adults with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities," school staff wrote. 

"All participants in the assembly were students who signed up for the game(s) they played ahead of time. No Deer Creek faculty or staff participated in any of the games during this Clash of Classes assembly," a portion of the latter part of the statement read.

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Walters called the fundraiser "filth," and Cruz said it was "child abuse."

In another district on the Arkansas line, now-former Muldrow Superintendent Leon Ashlock resigned after driving drunk and crashing a school vehicle on Creek Turnpike. Two 100-proof bottles of cinnamon schnapps were found in its console, according to KOCO.

Walters told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that a case involving a school’s response to an athletic director’s criminal exploits with a student also drew his attention.

"Even in a conservative state like Oklahoma, where voters have overwhelmingly made clear they want the radical progressive policies of the left out of public schools, we continually see superintendents defying their will, ignoring their concerns, and refusing to take action necessary to improve education outcomes while protecting Oklahoma children," Walters said.

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"This has to end."

"And, the best way to do that is by requiring superintendents to be elected by the voters."

Walters called the legislation a common-sense solution to efforts to improve education for Sooner State children.

Walters previously made headlines when he led his state in becoming the first to appropriate funding toward supplying a Bible to each school. The official said the move blunts "woke curricula" and provides students a "historical document" that the founders used to form their government.

Fred Harris, a self-described populist Democrat from Oklahoma who served eight years in the U.S. Senate before an unsuccessful campaign for president in 1976, has died. He was 94.

Harris’ wife, Margaret Elliston, confirmed his death to the Associated Press in a text message on Saturday, writing: "Fred Harris passed peacefully early this morning of natural causes. He was 94. He was a wonderful and beloved man. His memory is a blessing."

Harris, who was living in New Mexico, died in a hospital in Albuquerque, Elliston told The New York Times.

Harris first served for eight years in the Oklahoma State Senate after winning election in 1956. He then launched his career in national politics in 1964 when he won a Senate race to fill the vacancy left by Sen. Robert S. Kerr, who died in January 1963.

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"I’ve always called myself a populist or progressive," Harris said in a 1998 interview. "I’m against concentrated power. I don’t like the power of money in politics. I think we ought to have programs for the middle class and working class."

As a U.S. senator, Harris was a member of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, the so-called Kerner Commission, appointed by then-President Lyndon Johnson to investigate the urban riots of the late 1960s.

The commission released its report in 1968, declaring, "our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal."

Thirty years later, Harris co-wrote a report that concluded the commission’s "prophecy has come to pass," stating that "the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and minorities are suffering disproportionately."

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In 1976, Harris ran a failed bid to earn the Democratic presidential nomination, bowing out of the race after poor showings in early contests. The more moderate Jimmy Carter went on to win the presidency.

Harris moved to New Mexico that year and became a political science professor at the University of New Mexico. He wrote and edited more than a dozen books, mostly on politics and Congress. In 1999, he broadened his writings with a mystery set in Depression-era Oklahoma.

Harris was born Nov. 13, 1930, in a two-room farmhouse near Walters, in southwestern Oklahoma. The home had no electricity, indoor toilet or running water. He worked on the farm starting at age 5, driving a horse in circles to supply a hay bailer with power – earning 10 cents a day.

He later worked part-time as a janitor and printer’s assistant to help pay for his education at the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a law degree in 1954. He practiced law in Lawton before beginning his career in politics.

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Harris married his high school sweetheart, LaDonna Vita Crawford, in 1949, and had three children, Kathryn, Byron and Laura. After the couple divorced, Harris married Margaret Elliston in 1983. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt says his state is creating a plan to deport criminal illegal immigrants who are in custody in state prisons, in a boost to President-elect Trump’s proposal to conduct a mass deportation operation next year.

Stitt announced that he is directing the state’s commissioner of public safety to lead the effort to expel inmates in Oklahoma prisons who are in the country illegally, by creating a plan to deal with them. That plan will be delivered by January, and the state says it will consult with the Trump transition team and incoming administration to implement it.

Stitt downplayed the complexity of the effort, saying it was "common sense and restoring Oklahoma to the rule of law," while speaking to Fox News Digital.

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"So these are people that are here illegally, that have committed crimes, and we want to make sure that they're not burdensome to the taxpayers of the state of Oklahoma," he said.

The state says there are more than 500 criminal illegal immigrants in Oklahoma’s correctional facilities, and it costs taxpayers $36,000 a day to house them. 

Trump has promised to launch the operation next year, sparking opposition from some Democrats in "sanctuary" jurisdictions and elsewhere. His incoming border czar, Tom Homan, has said the priority will be public safety and national security threats, but no one is off the table.

Stitt said he is surprised by the opposition from some Democrats, given the focus is on removing criminals from the country.

"What's amazing to me is you have some Democrat governors that are now talking about not supporting President Trump, and I don't think they learned anything from the election, that the American people want safe communities, and we want to have strong borders," he said.

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"When you think about someone that's here illegally, that's breaking the law, that's pushing fentanyl, or they have been convicted of rape or burglary, and they're not U.S. citizens, and they're here illegally. I don't know who could argue with me on ‘We want to make sure that those people are out of our country and not allowed to return,’" he said.

Oklahoma isn’t a border state, but Stitt says it has still been affected like every other state by the historic crisis at the southern border. He said fentanyl deaths are up 500% since he took office. He also noted the recent foiled Election Day terror plot; the suspect was living in Oklahoma.

Stitt stressed that he isn’t against immigration more broadly.

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"If you're at the University of Oklahoma on a education visa, we certainly want to be able to convert that to a workforce visa if we have an employer that needs that job, and if you want to chase the American dream, if you want to be part of paying taxes, part of our society, then we absolutely want to work that angle as well," he said.

He said there is now optimism in the U.S., and he believes there is enthusiasm about the prospect of being able to make communities safer across the U.S.

"I think the American people have spoken loud and clear with Trump's victory that they believe in safe communities. And so I think it's, I think it's just the right thing to do, and I'm excited about some of the Cabinet picks that President Trump has put in place, and it's going to be, it's going to be a fresh day for America," he said.