In a victory for religious freedom, public education and church-state separation, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has temporarily blocked Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) from spending taxpayer dollars on bibles and bible-infused instructional materials.
The order came in the lawsuit Rev. Lori Walke v. Ryan Walters, which was filed in October 2024 on behalf of 32 Oklahoma families, teachers and faith leaders. The plaintiffs are represented by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Oklahoma Foundation and Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law & Justice.
The court’s order temporarily stayed “work on any new request by the OSDE for the purchase of Bibles.” In addition, the order paused work on a request for proposals issued by OSDE on Feb. 21, 2025. This request for proposals sought suppliers for “supplemental instructional materials that effectively integrate the Bible and character education into elementary-level social studies curriculum.”
The organizations representing the plaintiffs will continue fighting Walters’ bible-education mandate and additional filings are expected soon.
They issued the following joint statement on the win: “This victory is an important step toward protecting the religious freedom of every student and parent in Oklahoma. Superintendent Ryan Walters has been abusing his power and the court checked those abuses today. Our diverse coalition of families and clergy remains united against Walters’ extremism and in favor of a core First Amendment principle: the separation of church and state.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national educational nonprofit with 40,000 members, founded in 1978, that works to protect the constitutional separation between state and church and educate about nontheism.
Founded in 1947, Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a religious freedom advocacy organization that educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
The ACLU of Oklahoma works to secure liberty, justice and equity for all Oklahomans through advocacy, litigation, and legislation, leading by example and fueled by people power.
For more than 100 years, the ACLU has worked in courts, legislatures, and communities to protect the constitutional rights of all people. With a nationwide network of offices and millions of members and supporters, the ACLU takes on the toughest civil liberties fights in pursuit of liberty and justice for all.
Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice is a 501(c)3 public interest law firm that fights for the rights and opportunities of every Oklahoman.
