The suit names Walters, the Oklahoma State Board of Education, the Oklahoma State Department of Education, and the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services. It was filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the ACLU and ACLU of Oklahoma Foundation, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice.
The suit asks the high court to stop the directive announced to schools this summer in a memo and subsequent guidance sent to districts. Dozens of schools have pushed back, saying they are not requiring their educators to teach from the Bible.
For one, the suit contends the directive violates the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act. The OAPA defines an administrative rule as any statement from a state agency “that implements, interprets or prescribes law or policy or describes the procedure or practice requirements of the agency.”
It argues the directive constitutes an administrative rule and should be subject to required processes, which include issuing a public notice, allowing for a public comment period and filing the rule with the Secretary of State.
The suit also notes state law prescribes exclusive authority over textbook and instructional materials to school districts — not a state agency. Administrative rules are not allowed to contradict state law.
And, because the directive violates the OAPA, the suit argues spending public funds on classroom Bibles would also be unlawful.
Walters wants to spend at least $3 million to supply Oklahoma classrooms with the Bibles — specifically, Bibles that originally appeared to be narrowly tailored to those endorsed by former President Donald Trump. OMES eventually revised its Request for Proposal with minor alterations, though it is unclear if it will broaden available vendors.
Plaintiffs argue because of those reasons, the RFP violates state procurement requirements.
Walters’ office told nonprofit news outlet Oklahoma Watch the $3 million would come from payroll savings. The lawsuit makes the same argument made by Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore). He recently asked the Oklahoma Attorney General to weigh in on whether funds allocated by the legislature for administrative purposes can be used for something entirely different.
Lastly, the suit argues the directive violates the state constitution, which says public money cannot go to the “use, benefit or support of any sect, church, denomination or system of religion.” It contends using $3 million to purchase Bibles would support a system of religion because Bibles are religious in nature.
The chief plaintiff in the suit, Rev. Lori Walke, is the senior minister of Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ in Oklahoma City. She is also a plaintiff in a lawsuit against what would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious school.
In a statement, Walke said as a faith leader and taxpayer, she “cares deeply about our country’s promise of religious freedom and ensuring that everyone is able to choose their own spiritual path.”
“The state mandating that one particular religious text be taught in our schools violates the religious freedom of parents and children, teachers, and taxpayers,” Walke said. “The government has no business weighing in on such theological decisions.”
The Oklahoma Constitution also says that no inhabitant of the state “shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her mode of religious worship, and no religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.”
By requiring the King James Version Bible, the suit argues the state would be representing a preference for one religion over another, saying that version is different from those typically used by Catholics and Jews.
Racher Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the lawsuit was filed in the State Supreme Court because it has the authority over cases of statewide importance.
She said the suit is about protecting students.
“It’s a lawsuit about making sure that our kids, who are captive audiences in schools and who are impressionable, who listen hard to what their teachers say in their classrooms … to make sure that they don’t feel like they’re less important or less equal in their classrooms,” Laser said. “To make sure that they don’t worry about being ostracized or bullied because of their family’s faith.”
Walters said in a statement to StateImpact he would “not be bullied by out-of-state, radical leftists who hate the principles or nation was founded upon,” and he would “not back down to the woke mob.”
“The simple fact is that understanding how the Bible has impacted our nation, in its proper historical and literary context, was the norm in America until the 1960s, and its removal has coincided with a precipitous decline in American schools,” Walters said. “It is not possible for our students to understand American history and culture without understanding the Biblical principles from which they came.”
Laser responded to Walters' statement. She said religious freedom was in the “DNA” of America.
“What’s radical is to deny this core part of our values and our history in order to advance a Christian nationalist agenda that is trying to seek special power and privilege for one narrow set of people in this country,” Laser said. “Everybody gets to believe as they choose, with this caveat: so long as they don’t harm others. Because when they’re harming others, then they’re asking our government to give them favor over other people, and that is antithetical to our democracy’s promise of equality for all.”
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