The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling Oklahoma education Superintendent Ryan Walters’ new memo on integrating the bible into all classrooms and curricula not only outrageous but also without any legal basis.
Walters released “Standards Guidelines for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year” today mandating that his memo, along with “a physical copy of the Bible, the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Ten Commandments,” must be “provided to every teacher” and used “as resources in every classroom in the school district.” Walters’ memo adds, “These documents are mandatory for the holistic education of students in Oklahoma.”
However, Oklahoma Statute 70-11-103.6a states: “School districts shall exclusively determine the instruction, curriculum, reading lists and instructional materials and textbooks.”
“Superintendent Walters has no authority whatsoever to dictate curriculum to school districts and individual teachers under state law,” notes FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “His memo is reckless grandstanding that school boards should ignore.”
FFRF has no objection, of course, to teachers being provided a copy of the U.S. Constitution, which was the first in history to separate religion from government. This foundational document bars any religious test for public office and includes the Bill of Rights with the First Amendment proscription against government-established religion. But it is patently unconstitutional for the state government to provide a bible or a state-chosen version of the Ten Commandments to every teacher. Walters clearly intends a Christian bible, not a Jewish version (minus the New Testament) and there are multitudes of English-language translations that don’t always agree with each other.
The state of Oklahoma cannot pick a so-called holy book to promote over other sacred books, or bless a particular version or translation of such a book. And it may not promote a religious point of view over a nonreligious point of view. Walters can no more demand that every teacher be provided a bible and keep it in the classroom than he could that the Quran or Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion” be provided to all teachers and used as a resource.
“Taking sides on religion is precisely what the First Amendment bars the government from doing. And the statutes of Oklahoma also bar the superintendent from sticking his nose into curriculum decisions expressly left to local school boards,” adds FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott.
FFRF has never opposed optional academic classes or minicourses at the high-school level teaching about the bible from a bona fide academic perspective. But Walters’ demand that the bible be integrated into all classes from kindergarten through high school, presumably including gym, foreign language, computer and art classes, is patently inappropriate and unconstitutional. FFRF is reviewing all potential avenues to ensure that schools don’t take inappropriate action in response to Walters’ nonsensical, unconstitutional memo.
FFRF is part of a coalition of civil rights groups suing Louisiana over its new law mandating the posting of Ten Commandments in every classroom there. It’s also assisting in an ongoing lawsuit challenging the creation of a Catholic public charter school in Oklahoma.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 40,000 members across the country, including hundreds in Oklahoma. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
