Oklahoma's public-school teachers now required to teach from Bible
June 27 (UPI) -- Oklahoma's public schools are now required to add the Bible and the Ten Commandments to their student teaching plans, the state announced Thursday.
Each 5th- through 12th-grade Oklahoma classroom will be required to have a Bible from which the teacher is now required to teach.
"The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone," Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said in a State Board of Education press release that followed a meeting. "Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation. This is not merely an educational directive but a crucial step in ensuring our students grasp the core values and historical context of our country."
The Oklahoma action follows a new law in Louisiana passed June 19 that requires the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public school classrooms in that state.
A group of parents has filed suit in that case, claiming the law violates U.S. Supreme Court precedent and the First Amendment.
Developments in Oklahoma on Thursday are almost certain to attract the same kind of response from that state's stakeholders who are concerned about issues of separation of church and state.
But state education leader Walters said, "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clear to us that in the Oklahoma academic standards under Title 70 on multiple occasions, the Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our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."
Oklahoma's new policy "is in alignment with the educational standards approved on or about May 2019, with which all districts must comply," according to a news release.
Walter's action was instantly challenged by critics who called it unconstitutional and a farther reach toward blurring the lines between church and state.
"Public schools are not Sunday schools. Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters has repeatedly made clear that he is incapable of distinguishing the difference and is unfit for office. His latest scheme -- to mandate use of the Bible in Oklahoma public schools' curriculum -- is a transparent, unconstitutional effort to indoctrinate and religiously coerce public school students," said Rachel Laser, president, and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
The state education department's mandate comes just after the Oklahoma Supreme Court blocked an effort to establish the first publicly funded religious charter school in the country, a move Walters called "one of the worst" decisions the state Supreme Court has made. He pledged to "fight back."
"Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school," wrote Justice James R. Winchester, saying a charter school is a public school and, as such, must remain nonsectarian. He said using a religious curriculum in the charter school would amount to state-sponsored evangelism.
"What the court did was rule against the parents of Oklahoma who have demanded more choices for their kids. We have a great opportunity to make sure that parents have the most options of any parents in the country here in Oklahoma, by giving them the ability to go to a public school, charter schools, private schools, this would have been the most unique charter school in the country," Walters argued.
School superintendents were told to expect more information from the Education Department for the 2024-25 school year.
