OKLAHOMA CITY – Several members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and state Senate sent a letter to state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister on Tuesday asking her to begin the process of promulgating permanent rules to implement House Bill 1775, which prevents schools from teaching certain theories, such as one race or sex is superior to another.
The Honorable Joy Hofmeister
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
2500 N. Lincoln Boulevard Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Superintendent Hofmeister:
As you are aware, H.B. 1775 took effect July 1, outlawing the teaching of race and sex-based discriminatory ideologies to students in Oklahoma schools. There is continued opposition to these ideologies from parents, educators, students and citizens statewide. We write today to urge you to immediately begin the process of promulgating permanent rules to implement H.B. 1775 and to do so by posting the State Board of Education’s existing emergency rules for public comment.
Given that we are now halfway through the 2021-22 school year, the members signed below believe it is past time for the permanent rules to be published for the 30-day public comment period, as required by the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act. Given the importance of these rules, members of the Oklahoma legislature will be closely monitoring both the substantive changes the State Department of Education makes to existing emergency rules and the process the Department utilizes to submit permanent rules to the legislature for final approval.
Time is of the essence given the continued public interest in this topic and the need for the timely submission of permanent rules ahead of the upcoming regular session of the Oklahoma Legislature. We hope the adoption of permanent rules is not unnecessarily delayed. We certainly hope that you will faithfully discharge your duties as State Superintendent of Public Instruction and comply with and enforce the provisions of 70 O.S. § 24-158
