Oklahoma is now requiring that all schools include teachings centered around the Bible in curriculums for grades five through 12.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters said in a memo Thursday that every Oklahoma school is mandated to teach students the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments. The memo states that adherence to the mandate is compulsory and Walters’ office will provide further instructions for monitoring and reporting the implementation for the 2024-2025 school year.
“The Bible is an indispensable historical and cultural touchstone,” Walters said in a press release unveiling the mandate. “Without basic knowledge of it, Oklahoma students are unable to properly contextualize the foundation of our nation which is why Oklahoma educational standards provide for its instruction. 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 Bible will be referenced as an “appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like, as well as for their substantial influence on our nation’s founders and the foundational principles of our Constitution,” the memo says.
Walters ordered the Bible in classrooms after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against what would’ve been the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school.
The state’s Virtual Charter School Board greenlighted an application for the school in 2023, which prompted state Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond to sue in October in a bid to block funding, characterizing it as an “irreparable violation of our individual religious liberty” and “an unthinkable waste of our tax dollars.”
Oklahoma’s Department of Education will supply teaching materials for the Bible to schools “if permissible,” the press release says.
