A lawsuit was recently filed against Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters by a group of parents, teachers, and members of different faith groups over a recent initiative of his to promote the presence of the Bible in public classrooms across the state. Walters had championed Christian causes in Oklahoma education such as incorporating the Bible into publics school teaching curriculum and planning to allocate $3 million to purchase Bibles that would be placed in schools.
However, the superintendent has predictably faced backlash from opponents of his pro-Christian efforts. The lawsuit filed against him claims that Walters’ actions interfere “with the parents’ ability to direct the religious and moral upbringing of their children” and “violates the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act.”
The complaint continues, “OAPA requires detailed procedures to be followed to issue a rule, including provision of notice and a comment period. Superintendent Walters made no effort to follow these procedures.” The legal action against Walters further claims that his initiative subverts the authority of school districts to determine what instruction is appropriate for its students.
Andrew Seidel, vice president of strategic communications with Americans United, said in a statement to The Christian Post, “The vast majority of Oklahomans, from all walks of life and all religions, are united in supporting inclusive public schools free of indoctrination. Teachers, parents, students, taxpayers, indigenous people who are all too familiar with the history of government schools preaching the Bible, LGBTQ+ families and students, students with disabilities, Christians, atheists, and so many more want to preserve their freedom by keeping church and state separate.”
However, the Oklahoma State Department of Education has indicated that it won’t back down from the initiative to promote the Bible in public schools. “Oklahomans will not be bullied by out-of-state, radical leftists who hate the principles our nation was founded upon,” according to a statement from Walters. “The simple fact is that understanding how the Bible has impacted our nation, in its proper historical and literary context, was the norm in America until the 1960s and its removal has coincided with a precipitous decline in American schools,”
Highlighting the importance of the Bible being incorporated into education, he said, “It is not possible for our students to understand American history and culture without understanding the Biblical principles from which they came, so I am proud to bring back the Bible to every classroom in Oklahoma. I will never back down to the woke mob, no matter what tactic they use to try to intimidate Oklahomans.”
The Christian Tribune previously reported on comments from Walters maintaining that he would ensure Bibles make it into every public school in the state. “That is what will be a new announcement today: We are actually going to purchase them, deliver them to the schools. And then number two, we’re going to be asking for $3 million moving forward to continue to supply the schools with Bibles moving forward,” he said.
Speaking about the importance of the Bible in education, he added, “It is essential that our kids have an understanding of the Bible and its historical context. So we will be issuing a memo today that every school district will adhere to, which is that every teacher every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom, and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom to ensure that this historical understanding is there for every student in the state of Oklahoma, in accordance with our academic standards and state law.”
Featured image credit: Joshua Keller, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gutenberg_Bible,_New_York_Public_Library,_USA._Pic_01.jpg