Republican Rep. Chad Caldwell recently introduced HB 2077, a bill that would require the Oklahoma Department of Education to allow parents to review their schools’ curriculum on an “online transparency portal.” In response, Democrat Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin referred to the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda as “God” and called for the silencing of voices opposed to those initiatives. Caldwell argued that his legislation is a “simple middle-of-the-road common-sense solution” to address parents’ education concerns. The bill has sparked intense debate about education transparency and DEI initiatives.
“A very controversial bill” that would burden educators with “government overreach.”
Democrat Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin criticized Republican Rep. Chad Caldwell’s HB 2077 during a March 2 meeting, calling it “a very controversial bill” that would burden educators with “government overreach.”
The legislation would give parents the right to review and comment on their schools’ curriculum and instructional materials, including those related to DEI initiatives. Supporters argue that it supports parental rights, while opponents claim it undermines efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in education. The bill has ignited a heated debate among lawmakers and education advocates in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin criticized a bill introduced by Republican Rep. Chad Caldwell that would require the Oklahoma Department of Education to allow parents to review their schools’ curriculum on an “online transparency portal.” During a meeting on March 2, Goodwin called the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda “God” and urged for opposing voices to be silenced. She referred to Caldwell’s legislation as “government overreach,” arguing that teachers should be left alone to do their job without having to “share every waking moment of what they do.”
Ray Bahner/OU Daily
During a recorded Appropriations and Budget meeting on Thursday, Democrat Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin referred to the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda as “God” and called for voices opposed to those initiatives to be silenced.
Goodwin’s comments were in response to HB 2077, an education transparency bill introduced by Republican Rep. Chad Caldwell.
Caldwell’s legislation would require the Oklahoma Department of Education to allow parents to review their schools’ curriculum on an “online transparency portal.” He referred to the proposed bills as a “simple middle-of-the-road common-sense solution” that would address parents’ education concerns.
“The bill would support parental rights to access, review, and comment upon curriculum, instructional materials, textbooks, and library materials being used by the school district where their child attends school, and which their child might be exposed to without prior parental knowledge or consent,” said Caldwell.
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“Long story short, this is a very controversial issue, it’s a very controversial bill, there’s nothing that’s simple about it,” Goodwin said. “And when we start having government overreach, which I often hear folks talk about here, this is a prime example of government overreach, and I would hope that we would allow our teachers and our folks that are really trying to do the work of educating — leave them be.”
Goodwin argued that teachers should not have to “share every waking moment of what they do, and how they do it” because it is “not productive.”
The state representative compared DEI initiatives to God and called for silencing those against the agenda.
“DEI is a deity; diversity, equity and inclusion is God.”
“That’s very disturbing, to say the least, when we have, again, a state superintendent who does not want to have anything to do with diversity, equity and inclusion,” she said. “DEI is a deity; diversity, equity and inclusion is God.”
Videos of the meeting circulated on Twitter, where users blasted Goodwin’s extreme views on DEI initiatives in education.
Oklahoma Democrat Representative @reginatgoodwin says the quiet part out loud about how WokePokes view the Divisions of Ideological Enforcement known as #DEI
“DEI as in Deity. DEI is god.” pic.twitter.com/xz0GLpUIpl
— The UnWokable Podcast (@UnWokablePod) March 7, 2023
After a video of the Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin calling for those opposed to the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda to be silenced circulated on Twitter, users blasted her extreme views. One user wrote, “‘It’s not like a religion, it is a religion,'” while another replied that Goodwin’s views sounded like they were “framed through womanist (black feminist) liberation theology.” During the recorded Appropriations and Budget meeting, Republican Rep. Chad Caldwell asked Goodwin to provide an example of voices she would like silenced, to which Goodwin replied, “Voices that should be silenced, quite frankly, I would hope any thinking human being would know anybody that thinks diversity, equity, and inclusion is a bad idea, perhaps those voices that don’t want to include all of humanity in this world and in our curriculum and in our education, perhaps those are the voices that should be silenced.” Goodwin’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
