Current:Home > StocksOklahoma parents and teachers sue to stop top education official’s classroom Bible mandate -VitalWealth Strategies
Oklahoma parents and teachers sue to stop top education official’s classroom Bible mandate
View
Date:2025-04-15 08:06:45
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A group of Oklahoma parents of public school students, teachers and ministers filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to stop the state’s top education official from forcing schools to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for students in grades 5 through 12.
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.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Judge dismisses manslaughter charges against 6 Michigan prison employees in inmate's death
- Hollywood writers, studios reach tentative deal to end strike
- How Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton Became Each Other's Sweet Escapes
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- Dane Cook Marries Kelsi Taylor in Hawaiian Wedding Ceremony
- 2 Puerto Rican men plead guilty to federal hate crime involving slain transgender woman
- Parts of Lahaina open for re-entry as town seeks closure after deadly wildfires
- The seven biggest college football quarterback competitions include Michigan, Ohio State
- 3 Top Tech Stocks That Could Help Make You Rich by Retirement
Ranking
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Kim Kardashian rocks a grown-out buzzcut, ultra-thin '90s brows in new photoshoot: See the photos
- Stock market today: Asian shares dip with eyes on the Chinese economy and a possible US shutdown
- Steelers' team plane forced to make emergency landing on way home from Las Vegas
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Democratic Sen. Menendez says cash found in home was from his personal savings, not bribe proceeds
- Toddler, 2 adults shot and killed in Florida, authorities say
- Oregon’s top court asked to decide if GOP senators who boycotted Legislature can be reelected
Recommendation
Tropical weather brings record rainfall. Experts share how to stay safe in floods.
Sophie Turner, Joe Jonas reach temporary agreement over children amid lawsuit, divorce
Nicolas Kerdiles, former NHL player and onetime fiance of Savannah Chrisley, killed in motorcycle crash at age 29
UK police open sexual offenses investigation after allegations about Russell Brand
Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
AP PHOTOS: Rugby World Cup reaches the halfway stage and Ireland confirms its status as favorite
Sophia Loren recovering from surgery after fall led to fractured leg, broken bones
London’s top cop seeks protections for police as armed officers protest murder charge for colleague