OKLAHOMA CITY — State Superintendent Ryan Walters released guidelines for teaching with the Bible in Oklahoma classrooms on July 24.
Almost a month ago, Walters announced a memo in a State Board of Education meetingrequiring all teachers to have and use a Bible in their classrooms.
On July 9, Walters announced a "complete overhaul" to the state's social studies standards. He also announced a board of at least 10 people he said would help craft the new academic standards.
Since then, several schools in the state said they will not be changing their curriculum, including Bixby and Jenks in Green Country.
In response, Walters shared five pages of guidelines detailing how the Bible should be used in education. These include using it to teach history, literature, music, and art.
READ the full guidelines here.
WATCH: 2 News talked to Walters about how the guidelines will be implemented.
As of March 2024, There are 509 public school districts with 41,323 teachers in Oklahoma.
When Walters announced the mandate, he said, "Every teacher in every school in the state will have a Bible in the classroom."
If his mandate comes to fruition, state schools need around 40,000 Bibles would need to be available for teachers.
2 News asked Walters who pays for these books.
“Look, we’re working on multiple options there so you know we’re going to be excited about kind of rolling some of those things out," he said. "But look, districts should have this.”
Walters announced the Bible mandate just days after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the state must end its contract with St. Isidore Virtual Catholic School, citing it is unconstitutional. Set to open in the Fall, St. Isidore would be the nation’s first religious charter school.
WATCH: Catholic charter school delays opening, may appeal ruling
2 News asked Walters if he's worried this mandate could lead to lawsuits.
“I don’t worry about lawsuits," he said. "I get sued every day by these left-wing groups to try to come in and stop our agenda. The reality is I know that it is clearly legal. It is clearly in line with the Constitution.”
Walters is named in several other lawsuits across the state.
One school defying Walters' mandate is Bixby Public Schools.
Superintendent Rob Miller said the district defends the rights of students and employees to pray and worship at school. Students are also already permitted to bring religious texts to school and worship.
READ MORE: Green Country school districts address Bible as curriculum
While the district agrees with Walters on the importance of studying religion in historical contexts, they maintain teaching any specific religious doctrine or ideology is not part of the current state standards and they are keeping current curriculum.
Walters claims they aren't changing standards but rather enforcing them. He said this after he announced the "complete overhaul" of social studies standards on July 9.
“It’s effective immediately because what we’re doing is giving guidelines on how to follow the standards. We’re not changing the standards," he said. "The standards are clear."
2 News asked how the state plans to enforce the mandate. While Walters didn't have a direct answer, he said OSDE has multiple ways to enforce it.
“They will comply. So, we have multiple ways. I will hold every individual accountable who tries to defy this direct order by not teaching the standards," he said. "Look, they don’t get to choose what standards they teach and which ones they don’t.”
Current state representative and former teacher John Waldron talked about these developments on his Facebook page:
Jenks Public Schools provided an additional statement after Walters released guidelines:
“As stated in a message to our staff and parents earlier this week, Jenks Public Schools’ current curriculum and resources are already aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards approved by the Oklahoma State Legislature. The guidelines distributed today by the State Department of Education lead to more questions than answers. JPS administrators will take time to review and digest this guidance. We will continue to make decisions based on JPS Board Policy and state law. Jenks Public Schools will always respect the religious beliefs of all students and staff members while fostering a safe, inclusive learning environment.”
2 News is working to learn more about how this will impact Oklahoma teachers and students. Stay tuned.
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