OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A group of parents of Oklahoma public school students, teachers and pastors said Thursday that top state education officials are forcing schools to include the Bible in lesson plans for students in grades 5 through 12. They filed a lawsuit demanding that the enforcement stop.
A lawsuit filed in the Oklahoma Supreme Court asks the court to block Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters from spending $3 million to buy Bibles to support his mission.
The complaint alleges that the order violates the Oklahoma Constitution because it favors one religion over another by spending public money to support religions and requiring the use of Protestant versions of the Bible. claims. They also argue that Walters and the State Board of Education do not have the authority to require use of the materials.
Plaintiff Erica Wright, founder of the Oklahoma Association of Rural Schools and parent of two school-age children, said, “As parents, my husband and I need to know when and how our children are exposed to the Bible and religious teachings.” “You have the sole responsibility of deciding how you want to learn.” statement. “It is not the role of politicians or public school officials to intervene in these personal matters.”
The plaintiffs are represented by several civil rights organizations, including the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Religious Freedom Foundation, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. There is.
The complaint also alleges that the initial “Request for Proposals” issued by the state Department of Education to purchase Bibles was carefully designed to match the Bibles promoted by former President Donald Trump and sold for $59.99 each. He points out that it appears to have been adjusted. The RFP was subsequently amended at the request of the State Purchasing Officer.
This is the second lawsuit filed in Oklahoma to challenge Walters’ commission. Another lawsuit filed in June by a Locust Grove man is currently pending in Mays County.
“We will never back down from the woke mob,” Walters said in a statement posted on his X account.
“The simple fact is that understanding how the Bible has influenced our country in its proper historical context was standard in America until the 1960s, but its removal is This coincides with a rapid decline in schools,” Walters wrote.
Walters, a former public school teacher elected in 2022, will fight “woke ideology,” ban books from school libraries and eliminate “radical leftists” who he claims are indoctrinating children in classrooms. I ran as a candidate on the platform of
