According to Walters, the Bibles would be given at least to social studies and English Language Arts teachers in grades five through 12.
“This would give us the ability to utilize $6 million in less than two years to ensure that the Bible hasn’t been driven out of Oklahoma classrooms, and would be a significant step for the state of Oklahoma to ensure that we’re not allowing the left to censor American history,” Walters said.
Walters did not make himself available to media members after the meeting, as he usually does, for further clarification. The department did not immediately return questions on where the initial $3 million is coming from or the timeline for its disbursement.
The request comes three months after Walters announced schools would be required to have Bibles in classrooms and teachers would be required to teach about them. A survey published earlier this month by StateImpact found among the 54 district superintendent respondents, about 90% say they are not changing their instructional practices to teach the Bible, and about two-thirds say they will not supply physical copies of the Bible.
Walters said in the meeting the Bibles would be the New King James Version. He said the department found in its research the “vast majority of textbooks of American history that use quotations from individuals throughout American history” cite the King James Version.
Board member Sarah Lepak brought several concerns about the policy to Walters, saying she has been asked about which classroom subjects will use the Bible. Walters answered it would be “any classroom where the [Oklahoma Academic] Standards apply directly to the Bible,” and also alluded to potentially including science classes in the future.
Social studies standards are currently being reviewed for potential adoption next school year. Walters said “one of the key initiatives” he’s asked the review committee for is more “specificity” in prescribing how educators should teach about the Bible in social studies classrooms.
“So when you’re teaching the pilgrims, what are we saying about religion? I think you want to be crystal clear there, and then you provide those guiding the [academic] frameworks to say, ‘Here’s examples of that, here are examples of how you would use these [Bible] verses,’” Walters said.
Walters said science standards are being rewritten in a “very similar” manner.
Oklahoma City TV news station Fox25 reported earlier this month when a social studies standards review committee met to discuss what they thought was a final review, they were presented with a completely rewritten set of standards that left one member telling reporters they wanted to “throw up.”
StateImpact submitted an Open Records Request for the rewritten standards draft, but it has not been fulfilled.
Walters also announced in July he was tapping prominent conservative figures like the Heritage Foundation president and David Prager to head up a social studies standards executive review committee.
The social studies standards are up for public comment in December.
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office reiterated state law to StateImpact in an email, saying school districts have the exclusive ability to determine instruction, curriculum, reading lists, instructional materials and textbooks. It also said the decision to spend money on classroom Bibles was ultimately up to the legislature.
“The legislature sets the state’s fiscal policy and annually appropriates funds to support programs in public schools. … The State Superintendent can ask the legislature for whatever he wants, in any amount, and the legislature will have to decide these matters,” the statement said.
House Democratic Leader Rep. Cyndi Munson (D-Oklahoma City) released a statement Thursday afternoon, saying the budget request shows Walters “continues to ignore the Oklahoma Constitution.”
“He wants to use millions in public taxpayer dollars to fund religion in public schools — something the majority of Oklahomans are adamantly against — while Oklahoma public schools remain some of the most underfunded public schools in the nation. … There are major gaps in funding public education in Oklahoma, and yet the State Superintendent continues to abandon the needs of our public school districts to push for policies that do not benefit teachers, students or families,” Munson said.
The rest of OSDE’s budget proposal
The Bible budget was part of an overall $4.1 billion proposal for the legislature to mull over next spring. If approved, it would increase the agency’s funding by $102.7 million. Last legislative session, lawmakers disregarded most of Walters’ budget initiatives.
Walters proposed half a million dollars to train volunteer school staff to carry firearms. It would also provide signage at school sites saying individuals on campus carried guns, “to ensure that these school districts are not targeted by evil individuals that, unfortunately, have been targeting our schools.”
Walters also requested $1 million to recruit law enforcement and military veterans to become teachers.
After the passage of 6 weeks of paid teacher maternity leave in 2023, the agency predicts it will need an additional $4 million to cover maternity leave for the next fiscal year.
Other budget requests include a $2.3 million cost-of-living increase for agency employees, an $85 million increase for school employee flex benefit allowance, $5 million to modernize IT infrastructure and $300,000 for resources related to academic standards reviews and implementation.
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