The lawsuit, filed in October by religious leaders and parents, argued the request for proposals was unlawful and seeks to rescind Walters’ mandate to require Bibles in Oklahoma classrooms.
In February, the Supreme Court issued a stay in the case, pending its outcome, at the request of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. OMES asked the court to require the office to halt the awarding of any purchasing contract for classroom Bibles, which was granted.
The next month, the Oklahoma State Department of Education initiated a vendor search for supplementary “Biblical Character Instruction” for elementary students. Lawsuit petitioners applied for an additional stay of the Biblical Character Instruction request for proposals, and it was granted.
Tuesday, Walters filed a motion with the court to lift the stay.
“The Left has launched an all-out assault on Christianity in this country and will stop at nothing to destroy the Bible’s significance in our country and the principles that shaped this country,” Walters said in a news release.
Walters’ motion argues that the reason the petitioners gave for opposing the Bible mandate and supplemental material — that OSDE did not follow correct procedures to adopt new rules — was moot. He said the law does not apply to learning standards, and new academic standards were approved by the State Board of Education and tacitly approved by the state legislature.
The new standards include dozens of mentions of Christianity and reference the Bible.
According to the filing, OSDE is currently accepting contract bids for textbooks and supplemental curricular material.
“In order to be adequately prepared for the impending 2025-2026 school year, OSDE must be able to move forward with selecting appropriate instructional materials,” the motion said. “Therefore, it is essential that [OSDE] be authorized to move forward with securing and purchasing in accordance with the standards approved by both the State Board of Education and the Oklahoma Senate.”
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