Oklahoma Supreme Court Pauses State Bible Purchase For Classroom
From Forbes.com
Oklahoma Secretary of Education Ryan Walters suffered a setback for his plan to put state-purchased Bibles in classrooms.
In June, 2024, Walters issued a letter requiring schools “to incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support” in grades 5 through 12. There was pushback almost immediately from superintendents who announced that there would be no such change in their curriculum, along with civil liberties groups, citing the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion. Walters has previously written that the separation of church and state is a “radical myth.”
In October, 2024, the lawsuit Rev. Lori Walke v. Ryan Walters was filed on behalf of thirty-two Oklahoma families, teachers and faith leaders. In that same month, the department released the specifications for the Bibles, which appeared to narrow the field down to the Lee Greenwood “God Bless The USA” Bible (list price: $59.95).
According to an ACLU press release, the Court’s order temporarily stayed “work on any new request by the OSDE for the purchase of Bibles.” In addition, the order paused work on a request for proposals issued by OSDE on February 21, 2025. This request for proposals sought suppliers for “supplemental instructional materials that effectively integrate the Bible and character education into elementary-level social studies curriculum.”