Oklahoma Parents and Teachers Challenge Bible Mandate in Schools

In Oklahoma, there's a legal battle brewing over the use of the Bible in public schools. A group of parents, teachers, and ministers have filed a lawsuit against the state's top education official, Ryan Walters. They're trying to stop him from making schools include the Bible in lesson plans for students in grades 5 through 12. The lawsuit also questions Walters' plan to spend $3 million on purchasing Bibles. The parents and teachers argue that this mandate breaks the state's constitution by using public money to support a specific religion. They also think that Walters and the state's education board don't have the right to decide on instructional materials. Erika Wright, one of the parents involved in the lawsuit, said that parents should decide when and how their kids learn about religion, not politicians or school officials. Several civil rights groups are backing the plaintiffs, including the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The lawsuit points out that the initial plan to buy the Bibles seemed to favor a specific version endorsed by former President Donald Trump. This plan was later changed after state purchasing officials got involved. This isn't the first lawsuit trying to stop Walters' mandate. Another one is currently in progress in Mayes County. Walters, who was a public school teacher before being elected, has said he won't back down from the "woke mob. " He believes that understanding the Bible's impact on the U. S. , in its historical context, was normal until the 1960s. He thinks that removing it from schools has led to a decline in education standards. Walters was elected on a platform of fighting against what he calls "woke ideology," banning certain books from school libraries, and removing what he sees as left-wing indoctrination from classrooms.