The Oklahoma school chief is looking for donations to put bibles in classrooms

By Sean Murphy

Oklahoma City (AP) – The senior Oklahoma education official said he was teaming up with Country Music singer Lee Greenwood by asking donations to get bibles “God injuries the USA” at $ 59.99, after a legislative panel rejected his $ 3 million request to finance the effort.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters said this week that he joined Greenwood to ensure that the Bibles, who were approved by President Donald Trump, go to the Oklahoma schools.

“The Bible is essential to understand the development of Western civilization and American exceptionalism, history and all similar subjects,” Walters said in a statement. “The attempts in progress to remove it from our classrooms are an attack on the basics of our country.”

The Walters’ push to demand public schools to start joining the Bible in the course plans for students from 5th to 12th year led to a group of parents and teachers from public schools. Many schools have simply ignored the mandate.

The directive is the last salvo in an effort of the states led by the conservatives to target public schools. Louisiana forced them to publish the ten commandments in classrooms, while others are under pressure to teach the Bible and prohibit books and lessons on the race, sexual orientation and gender identity. Last year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court blocked an attempted state to have the first school with a religious charter publicly financed in the country – a case pending before the United States Supreme Court.

Former public school teacher who was elected to her post in 2022, Walters ran on a platform for the fight against “woken up ideology”, prohibiting the books of school libraries and getting rid of “radical leftists” which, according to him, indoctrine children in classrooms.

There are signs that even his republican colleagues tire of the Walters policy brand. In addition to the Legislative Committee refusing the request of $ 3 million in Walters to pay the Bibles, Governor Kevin Stitt recently rejected Walters’ proposal to demand that schools collect children’s immigration status.

Questioned this week on the mandate of the Walters Bible, Stitt mentioned a free popular biblical application created by the pastor of Oklahoma Bobby Gruenwald, and said: “I am sure that most children have the biblical application on their phone.”

Originally published: March 7, 2025 at 1:13 p.m. PST