Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office is pushing back after a quote it says was taken out of context later sparked false claims that Oklahoma students would have to attend college, a trade school or join the military to graduate.
Oklahoma has no such law or initiative, but commentary on comments made by the governor led to widespread speculation online.
According to StateImpact Oklahoma, Stitt told local news station Fox25 about some of his ideas for improving post-graduation readiness in an interview.
“I want every kid ready for a career,” Stitt said. “And so, I’m thinking about even making it a requirement to graduate from Oklahoma high schools — you’ve got to either be accepted to college, you have to be accepted into a career tech or you have to be going into the army, you have to have some kind of plan post-graduation to go get a great job.”
In the story, Fox 25 characterizes Stitt’s comments as:
“Stitt announced Friday that he wants to prepare every student for success in the workforce. … He has some ideas to make this happen, like requiring students to graduate from Oklahoma high schools. Stitt also wants students to have to be accepted into a college. If not college, he says kids should be accepted into a CareerTech. Otherwise, Stitt says a student would have to be going into the army.”
The “announcement” refers to a social media post made by Stitt highlighting education policy changes made in 2024.
Stitt’s office clarified in a statement to The Oklahoman that there is no plan or legislation for a policy change at this time.
“That was a quote taken out of context. There was no suggestion that there should be a requirement for military service. The governor threw out an idea to require kids come up with a plan for what they’re going to do after graduation,” said Abegail Cave, director of communications for the governor’s office, in an email.
Where did the controversy come from? What’s ‘Classroom to Careers’?
On Dec. 27, Stitt shared a post on social media titled “Classroom to Careers” that detailed four elements of education in Oklahoma that were addressed over 2024, including high school graduation requirements and credit for CareerTech programs.
In the caption of the post, the governor said Oklahoma is “turning classrooms into career launchpads,” and that “we want to prepare every student for success in the workforce.”
Over the weekend, the governor drew backlash as parents and educators read Stitt’s comments in a news article as potentially requiring students to be accepted into college, a trade school or join the military in order to graduate.
These fears appear to stem from Stitt’s subsequent comments about the post to news outlets, where he listed the three pathways as strong options for Oklahoma students post-graduation.
Oklahoma does not have a law forcing college, CareerTech or military attendance on high school students to graduate.
Later, Stitt’s office clarified to Fox25 that the comments made were ideas, not an initiative or plan.
More: More Oklahoma college students are earning degrees. Here’s a look behind the numbers
What are parents saying?
In response to Stitt’s initial post on Friday, Dec. 27, several families took to social media to express the importance of flexibility in their children’s futures.
Many note that children with learning or intellectual disabilities may not be suited to any of the three choices. Others feared that restricting graduates to college, military or technical programs would hinder artists or musicians seeking to join the workforce in their own way.
“How about letting students and their families decide what is best for them,” one Facebook commenter said.
What are Oklahoma’s new high school graduation requirements?
Oklahoma legislators passed, and Stitt approved, several graduation requirement bills in 2024. None of them force students to exclusively follow one of three pathways, but many of the measures are aimed at expanding the CareerTech footprint within Oklahoma schools.
House Bill 3278 requires a school district’s board of education to establish pathway units and modify graduation curriculum requirements. This bill ultimately changed the graduation requirements by aligning a student’s course with their Individualized Career and Academic Plan, allowing them to take more classes toward a certain career.
In addition to graduation requirements, there was a specific focus on preparing students with financial literacy. The Oklahoma Legislature recently passed HB 2158, which supports this portion by adding a list of topics that can be taught in schools’ financial literacy classes.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Stitt’s office says ‘Classroom to Careers’ comments out of context
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