Matthew Wilson
The new Oklahoma Schools Superintendent is removing the mandate that made it mandatory to place Bibles and to teach Bible lessons in public schools.
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What Happened: The Oklahoma State Department of Education announced it will also be filing a motion to dismiss lawsuits against the previous superintendent’s office over the Bible plans. According to CBS affiliate KWTV, there’s been “significant turnover among public officials named as respondents.”
Basically, there’s new leadership, and that leadership is removing the mandate on its own.
- “We plan to file a motion to dismiss, and have no plans to distribute Bibles or a Biblical character education curriculum in classrooms,” said Superintendent Lindel Fields, who recently took over that role, in a statement. “If resources are left to be allocated, the timing is fortunate since the team and I are currently reviewing the budget.”
Oklahoma Removes Mandate
Officials Speak Out: This comes after former Superintendent Ryan Walters planned to make it mandatory to have Bible lessons for grades 5 through 12 in Oklahoma. It was an effort to incorporate religion in the classroom, but it drew criticism from civil rights groups.
- “The Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the country,” Walters said at the time. “Every teacher, ever classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom, and will be teaching from the Bible.”
Ultimately, Walters resigned in September from the role. Fields then took over as superintendent and began work on reversing the decisions.
- “The attempts to promote religion in the classroom and the abuses of power that the Oklahoma State Department of Education engaged in under Walters’ tenure should never happen in Oklahoma or anywhere in the United States again,” the attorneys involved in the litigation said in a statement.
The current superintendent plans to review several of Walters’ decisions, including requiring an ideology exam for out-of-state teachers.
“We need to review all of those mandates and provide clarity to schools moving forward,” the department said about the matter.
