The move by Stitt signals a growing weariness among some elected Republicans with Walters, Stitt's former secretary of education who has spent much of his first term in office attacking what he describes as “woke” ideology in public schools, requiring Bible instruction in classrooms and attempting to ban books from school libraries.
The proposed rule, which requires the governor's approval before it takes effect, mandates that parents or legal guardians provide proof of citizenship of their children when enrolling them in public school, including a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, consular report of birth abroad, permanent resident card or other legal document.
“The governor’s sound rejection of a radical attempt to undermine the right to education is a result of the concerted advocacy of parents, educators, and advocates across Oklahoma who mobilized to oppose it,” Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center, said in a statement.
Kevin Stitt said he will stop a plan pushed by the state’s top education official to collect the immigration status of children when they register for public school.
“Collecting 6, 7, 8-year-old kids’ addresses and immigration status in the state of Oklahoma, that’s not a public safety issue,” said Stitt, a second-term governor who is term-limited in 2026.
