What to Know About Oklahoma’s Top Education Official Ordering Biblical Instruction in Schools

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s top education official outraged civil rights groups and others when he ordered public schools start incorporating the Bible in lesson plans for students in grades 5-12.

Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters said in a memo Thursday to school leaders across the state that the Bible is a cornerstone of Western civilization and that its use in classrooms is mandatory.

“It is essential that our children have an understanding of the Bible and its historical context,” Walters said.

Here are some things you should know about Walters’ order, which requires schools to incorporate the Bible as an “instructional support in the curriculum.”

Walters said Thursday that state law and Oklahoma academic standards are “crystal clear” that the Bible can be used to instruct students in public schools. In fact, Oklahoma social studies standards List several biblical stories, as well as other religious scriptures from Buddhism and Hinduism, as primary instructional resources for students.

What’s not clear is whether Walters can mandate the use of the Bible in classrooms. Oklahoma State Law says individual school districts have sole authority to determine curriculum, reading lists, instructional materials and textbooks.

Andy Fugitt, an attorney with the Oklahoma Education Law Center, said his organization has received numerous calls from districts seeking guidance on Walters’ order. Fugitt says the order will likely be challenged in court by First Amendment groups who believe the order may violate the Establishment Clause that prohibits the government from “establishing” a religion.

A school district could also sue over the order if it was threatened with punishment for noncompliance, Fugitt said, but Walters’ order did not suggest any kind of repercussions for noncompliance.

The Oklahoma directive is the latest salvo in an effort by conservative-led states to target public schools: Louisiana required them to publish the Ten Commandments in classroomswhile others are under pressure to teach the Bible It is ban books and lessons about race, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Earlier this week, the Oklahoma Supreme Court blocked an attempt by the state to have the first publicly funded licensed religious school in the country.

“It may well be that some of these developments are appropriate and some of them go too far,” said Richard Garnett, law professor and director of the Notre Dame Program on Church, State & Society.

“There have been times in recent decades when people have gone too far in expelling religion from the public square. The Supreme Court has told people that this is not what the First Amendment requires. Now you’re seeing adjustments.”

Walters’ order sparked immediate outrage from civil rights groups and those dedicated to the separation of church and state.

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which recently joined a coalition of groups suing Louisiana about his new Ten Commandments law, promised to take action to stop Walters from forcing the Bible into Oklahoma public schools.

“Walters’ concern should be the fact that Oklahoma ranks 45th in education,” foundation co-president Dan Barker said in a statement. “Maybe education would improve if Oklahoma’s superintendent of education spent his time promoting education instead of religion.”

Bob Gragg is superintendent of Seminole Public Schools, a central Oklahoma district with about 1,400 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Gragg said he reads the Bible every morning at the kitchen table, but he also believes strongly in the separation of church and state.

“With separation, I believe church and state are stronger,” Gragg said. “(Walters) is heading down a slippery slope that, even if successful, will have serious consequences for our schools, churches, families, state and nation.”

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