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The lawsuit filed with the Oklahoma Supreme Court also asks the
court to stop Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters from
spending $3 million to purchase Bibles in support of his
mandate.
The suit alleges that the mandate violates the Oklahoma
Constitution because it involves spending public money to
support religion and favors one religion over another by
requiring the use of a Protestant version of the Bible. It also
alleges that Walters and the state Board of Education don't have
the authority to require the use of instructional materials.
“As parents, my husband and I have sole responsibility to decide
how and when our children learn about the Bible and religious
teachings,” plaintiff Erika Wright, the founder of the Oklahoma
Rural Schools Coalition and parent of two school-aged children,
said in a statement. “It is not the role of any politician or
public school official to intervene in these personal matters.”
The plaintiffs are represented by several civil rights groups,
including the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United
for Separation of Church and State, and the Oklahoma Appleseed
Center for Law & Justice.
The suit also notes that the initial “request for proposal”
released by the State Department of Education to purchase the
Bibles appears to have been carefully tailored to match Bibles
endorsed by former President Donald Trump that sell for $59.99
each. The RFP was later amended at the request of state
purchasing officials.
It is the second lawsuit filed in Oklahoma seeking to challenge
Walters' mandate. Another lawsuit filed in June by a Locust
Grove man currently is pending in Mayes County.
Walters said in a statement posted to his account on X that he
will “never back down to the woke mob.”
“The simple fact is that understanding how the Bible has
impacted our nation, in its proper historical context, was the
norm in America until the 1960s and its removal has coincided
with a precipitous decline in American schools,” Walters wrote.
Walters, a former public school teacher elected in 2022, ran on
a platform of fighting “woke ideology,” banning books from
school libraries and getting rid of “radical leftists” who he
claims are indoctrinating children in classrooms.
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