Oklahoma parents and educators initiate legal action against the prominent education authority to impede their compulsory Bible instruction policy in classrooms.
The legal action submitted to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Thursday aims to obstruct Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters from allocating $3 million to procure Bibles, as per his decree.
The complaint asserts that the decree contravened the Oklahoma Constitution due to the expenditure of public funds to promote religion and the preferential treatment of a single religion over others by mandating the utilization of a Protestant translation of the Bible. Additionally, it argues that Walters and the state Board of Education lack the power to impose the utilization of instructional materials.
Erika Wright, the founder of the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition and mother of two school-aged children, asserted in a release, "As parents, my spouse and I have the inherent right to determine when and how our children learn about the Bible and religious teachings. It is not the purview of any politician or public school official to meddle in these private matters."
The plaintiffs are backed by various civil liberties organizations, including the Oklahoma branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law & Justice.
The suit points out that the initial "request for proposal" issued by the Department of Education to acquire the Bibles seems to have been explicitly designed to match Bibles endorsed by former President Donald Trump sold at $59.99 apiece. The proposal was later revised at the request of state purchasing officials.
This lawsuit marks the second challenge to Walters’ decree in Oklahoma. A lawsuit filed in June by a Locust Grove resident is currently under consideration in Mayes County.
Walters declared in a statement posted on X, "I will never cower to the progressive herd."
"The uncomplicated reality is that grasping the influence of the Bible on our nation, within its appropriate historical context, was once the norm in America until the 1960s, and its removal has coincided with a dramatic fall in American schools," Walters wrote.
Elected as Superintendent in 2022, Walters ran on a platform of combating "woke ideology," banning books from school libraries, and removing "radical leftists," who he alleges are brainwashing children in classrooms.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit believe that the decision made by Walters and the state Board of Education infringes on their rights as parents to teach religion to their children at home, stating, "As parents, we have the inherent right to determine when and how our children learn about the Bible and religious teachings."
Furthermore, the civil liberties organizations supporting the lawsuit argue that Walters and the state Board of Education do not have the authority to mandate the use of a specific Bible translation in schools, as this could be seen as promoting one religion over others.
