All Oklahoma schools are now required to teach the Bible andTenCommandments. During the State Board of Education meeting on June 27, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced that schools must incorporate both religious readings in their curriculum, effective immediately.
Walters said his reasons for requiring the readings is because the Bible is “one of the most foundational documents used for the Constitution and the birth of our country.”
He also said it is a crucial tool to teach Oklahoma children about their history.
“It’s crystal clear to us that in the Oklahoma academic standards under Title 70 on multiple occasions, the Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system,” Walters said.
All classes from grades 5 through 12 must have a Bible and all teachers must add it to their curriculum.
The requirement comes on the heels of the Oklahoma SupremeCourtstrikingdown using public funds for a private religious charter school. Thesupremecourtnotedthat funding for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School was not permitted because the school is catholic. Walters said he believes the court was wrong in their decision.
“It’s my firm belief that once again, the Oklahoma Supreme Court got it wrong,” Walters said in an interview. “The words ‘separation of church and state’ do not appear in our Constitution, and it is outrageous that the Oklahoma Supreme Court misunderstood key cases involving theFirstAmendment and sanctioned discrimination against Christians based solely on their faith. Oklahomanshavedemanded school choice not religious targeting.”
Walters said he will not stop fighting for the parents who want public funds to be used for private religious schools.
“This ruling cannot and must not stand,” he said. “There will be additional legal action in support of those parents and the millions of Oklahomans who believe deeply in religious liberty, and I will never stop fighting for Oklahomans’ constitutional, God-given right to express their religious belief.”
Oklahoma isn’t the only state pushing to put religion back into school. Louisiana enacted a law that requires publicly funded K-12 schools and colleges to display the Ten Commandments. That law is currently being challenged in court. Texas recently publishednewreading standards that incorporate the Bible, they are awaiting approval.
In an interview, Walters associated the possibility of a teacher not adding the Bible in the curriculum with omitting the history of the Civil War. He said their punishments would be similar.
“Any teacher that would knowingly, willfully disobey the law and disobey our standards — there are repercussions for that,” Walters said in an NBC news interview. “So we deal with that on a case-by-case basis, but yes, teachers have to teach Oklahoma Academic Standards and this is absolutely going to be part of them.”
Two Oklahoma groups are bucking against Walters and his legislation, stating is inappropriately promoting Christianity in schools. The Jewish Federation of Tulsa and the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations both called the new law inappropriate.
Other groups like the Americans United for Separation of Church and State also voiced their concerns.
“Walters is abusing the power of his public office to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else’s children,” the group stated in an email. They also said they were “carefully assessing options.”
Walters said that he and the department has been working on getting the Bible added to class curriculum because it 'is the book that's under assault.'
Even though the legislation is facing backlash, Walters said he feels confident that it will withstand the criticism because of the justices that then-President Donald Trump appointed to the Supreme Court.
“He’s helped provide a path for us to be able to do this as states,” Walters said in an interview. He said that if Trump is elected for another term, that his presidencey will help us to keep the legislation going in a forward motion.